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Pleasant company, yes, but she couldn’t be seen enjoying herself too much.

“Far be it from me to deny a duchess her dinner.” Robert bowed with respect, punctuating his sentence. “Until we meet again, Your Grace.”

Sophia bowed in kind and retreated, her eyes immediately darting around, looking for the refreshment room. Her stomach was already grumbling, and she felt a bit foolish, starting her evening with a glass of punch. Even in small quantities, it could absolutely decimate a stomach… and one’s inhibitions.

She had just made it down the stairs, following the scent of mouthwatering food, when a hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder tightly, surprising her.

“I beg your par—” She turned with a mix of confusion and fear. “Thomas? What are you doing?”

“Say your goodbyes—we are leaving.”

“What? Are you quite mad? I haven’t even had anything?—”

“We areleaving.” His tone was familiar and horrible. It was the tone he used when he wanted a situation to be dealt with.

There was not going to be any negotiation… and certainly no affection or passion, not even in that dress.

What was I thinking?

He had not changed his behavior towards her when she was wearing nothing at all. Why had she thought a Mandolini gown would make a lick of difference?

CHAPTER 27

“Ihope you have a good excuse for all of this,husband,”Sophia muttered coarsely as Thomas dragged her deeper into the manor house, away from the noise and cheer of the garden party. He couldn’t bear the sound of so much laughter.

“Not here,” he growled.

“You’re hurting me,” she rasped as he dragged her down the nearest hallway, having no notion of where they were going.

He loosened his grip on her arm just a little, almost subconsciously.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked a moment later.

“Here.” He pulled her into the closest room with an open door.

It turned out to be an empty dining room, the staff too busy catering to the throng of guests outside in the garden. It was silent, and it was cold despite the balmy evening. The chairs and the table were eerie in the gloom, resembling squat figures—a jury ready to pass judgment on whatever Thomas said next.

Thomas brought her around and placed her in front of him. He couldn’tnotlook at her anymore, his heart racing with the urge to kiss her and hope that was remedy enough for what he had done.

“You are drunk,” he said instead.

“Drunk? I barely finished myoneglass of punch,” she scoffed. “Indeed, you are the one behaving like an inebriate brute, dragging me away like that.”

“You are slurring your words,” he insisted.

“Because it is cold in here and I am afraid of you!” she shot back, making him recoil.

But before he could ask what she meant by that, and why on earth she was scared of him, she made another sharp remark. “Not to mention that I am starving and was on my way to eat when you rudely apprehended me. I am always shaky when I haven’t eaten.”

“Oh, of course, you couldn’t find time to eat,” he grumbled, turning his back on her.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You know exactly what it means.”

“Oh,doI? Please, enlighten me anyway.” Her voice dripped with annoyance, and though he wasn’t looking at her, he could imagine the scowl she was leveling at the back of his head.

“Your behavior was unacceptable, Sophia,” he replied as evenly as he could, with his body on fire and his heart aching for her. “We are married, are we not? It reflects on me too if you behave badly, and?—”