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The Duke of Wolves flashed him a grin. “Precisely. Just do nothing—see where the winds take you both. You do not always have to take action, you know.”

Do nothing and then what?

Wait and see, a small voice whispered in the back of his head.See where all of this will lead.

Ethan looked at Hudson in astonishment. For one who disdained the company of most other human beings, the man gave damned good advice.

“I think that is very wise,” Ethan said softly as he stood up. “Doing nothing.”

For now, at least.

As for how the rest of it would turn out… Well, that remained to be seen.

For now, he simply did not have to doanything.

“Thank you, old friend. I think I should return and leave you to enjoy your solitude.” He smiled at Hudson gratefully, before turning to leave.

He had reached the French doors when he heard his friend call out, “By the way, I enjoyed your Duchess’s work. Please do not aggravate her further, lest she stop writing and leave us all hanging on the precipice, waiting for the sequel.”

Ethan let out a soft laugh. “Phoebe will be happy to know that you liked it.”

But for her to know that, he would have to return and tell her about it himself.

Ethan shook his head and smiled to himself as he stepped back into his carriage.

For a man who claimed that he did not know much about the relationships between men and women beyond the transactional aspect, Hudson had a pretty good grasp of things.

Much better than Ethan, perhaps.

Phoebe woke up to a delicious ache in her body.

And a slight soreness right where she and Ethan had been joined last night.

Last night…

Her eyes flew open as she sat up in the bed. The silken covers slid down her body, baring her breasts to the chill in the morning air.

She was as naked as the day she was born, which meant that…

Heat suffused her cheeks as she scrambled to cover herself with blankets before anyone saw her. Heavens, what if Ella came in?

Or those maids who drew the bath for them last night?

Her mortification would know no bounds. She would be disgraced before the entire household.

And where was Ethan in all of this?

As her thoughts raced, her eyes fell on a folded note on the bedside table to her right.

Phoebe squinted her sleep-fogged eyes as she scrambled over to it, awkwardly dragging the sheets along with her to cover her nakedness.

Her name was scrawled in a strong yet graceful hand across one side of the note.

Three guesses who it’s from.

She unfolded it hastily, her eyes quickly scanning the few words Ethan had scrawled on it.

I had to take care of something. I shall be back before you wake up, wife. -E