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“Why, then, have you decided to return home if your husband had done nothing to you?”

“I am not quite certain why, but after the physician came and left, my husband disappeared.”

“Disappeared?”

“Indeed. He never checked on me, and he even slept in his study instead of our bed.”

Ava’s eyes widened. “You were already sharing a bed?” She looked positively surprised.

Eveline blushed, and she could not help but smile as she remembered all the memories they made on the bed—before it all came crashing down, of course.

“We have,” she confirmed. “We have, in fact, consummated our marriage.”

Stella gasped, and she scooted closer to her. “You must tell me everything. How was it? Was it as pleasurable as they say it is?”

Eveline felt overwhelmed by the questions, but it pleased her. After all, her sisters would never tell her they never loved her.

“Stop questioning her so. Eveline is not here to talk about her bedroom affairs,” Ava chided before turning to Eveline. “You are saying that you got hurt while riding with your husband, and he never cared to check on you?”

Eveline was not quite sure why, but she was inclined to defend William, even though he had hurt her.

“He was quite helpful, at first,” she explained.

Ava scoffed.

“Truly, he had been thrown into a state of panic, and he had even fetched the physician himself. He was certain I was dying, and it was only when the physician declared my injury a small one that he finally relaxed.”

“Then what was the matter?” Stella asked.

“It was when I went down for breakfast this morning and questioned him that he told me what he truly felt about me all this while,” Eveline explained.

“If you tell me he said awful things to you, he shall have my wrath to deal with,” Ava warned.

“He announced that he shall be moving out of our home,” Eveline said.

“Do you mean that the Duke wants both of you to move out of the estate?” Stella asked. “Does he not find the estate to be suitable enough? I would say it was more than sufficient when we first visited.”

“Stella, if you do not hold your tongue…” Ava threatened.

Stella gave her older sister a rather unkind look, but she did not protest.

“He truly wanted to move out of the estate. He wanted to leave me all alone in the estate while he went to his estate in Bath.”

“Is he simply taking a trip to Bath?” Stella asked.

Eveline shook her head. “He simply wants to move there alone.”

“What kind of marriage would that be if you lived miles apart?” Ava asked. “I truly want to believe that he gave you a good reason even though I know that is not the case.”

“The only reason he ever gave was that our marriage was one of convenience and he did not wish to make me think we are anything more than friends,” Eveline sighed.

“Friends?” Ava exclaimed.

“How could he?” Stella gasped, looking even more betrayed than Eveline had when she had first heard her husband say that.

“I was surprised when I heard him say it because truly, by all definitions, we have been more than friends.”

“Certainly you have. I do not reckon friends share a bed,” Stella said, frowning.