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The server nodded and went off to fulfill the order.

“Some day, you will look back on all of this and laugh,” Robert assured him.

“We shall see,” Edwin muttered.

ChapterTwenty-Six

Old Habits

Beatrice lay awake in her bed. She heard the Duke return from his evening with Lord Pemberton. She looked up at the ceiling, trying to listen for any sign that her husband was coming to her room. She needed him in her bed.

There was movement from downstairs, and then he entered the adjoining room. Beatrice rolled onto her side, staring at the door that connected their room.

Pleasurable pressure grew in her core again, making her ache for him. She glared at the door as if it were the one keeping them apart. She longed not only for his touch but his company, too.

She waited until there was silence.

He is not coming for me.

She needed to take matters into her own hands. She got out of bed and went to the door, pressing her ear to the wood. When she could not hear any sounds from the other side, she knocked gently on the door.

“Come in,” the Duke called.

Beatrice suddenly felt naked in only her shift. She opened the door, but not fully, and looked inside to find Edwin sitting in the chair close to the bed. He looked up at her, but there was no happiness on his face.

“Is everything well?” Beatrice asked, not wanting to step into the room. “How was your supper with Lord Pemberton?”

“It was fine,” Edwin replied. “We spoke about the scandal, but so far we don’t have any leads.”

“I am sure Miss Jennings is behind it,” Beatrice commented.

“As am I,” Edwin admitted. “But there is nothing to be done yet, as there is no proof she has done anything.”

“I will speak to her myself,” Beatrice stated, annoyed that her husband had lost some of the merriment she had seen in him.

“I will handle it,” Edwin insisted. “It will take time, but it is my concern.”

Beatrice did not want it to be his concern, even if she felt comforted and secure under his watch.

“Is there anything I can do? Anything you need?” she asked.

“No,” Edwin replied. “I will sit here and think for a while, and then I shall go to bed.”

“All right,” Beatrice sighed.

She took one last look at him, sad that she could not help him, and then she retreated into her room, disappointed.

She lay down on her bed, knowing that sleep would not come easily. The Duke had assured her multiple times that she was not to blame for what was happening, but she knew it was her fault. She ran away from her problems and then stole him from under Agnes’s nose.

Beatrice would not change that for the world. She could not imagine having as much fun with the two men she had been promised to as she was having with Edwin. There were ups and downs, but the ups made up for those downs.

A million thoughts were racing in her mind, but the biggest one was that she would not get to lie with the Duke again if he was so preoccupied with protecting her reputation. They could not move on with their lives when Agnes was disrupting them.

It was not long after that when Beatrice heard the Duke rise from his chair and go to bed. He lay on his bed, and she lay on hers, but they felt a world apart. She could not just lie there anymore.

Beatrice climbed out of bed and moved around her bedroom as quietly as she could. She had unpacked most of her trunks, but there was one hidden under her bed. She took a few minutes to remove it, not making any scratching sounds. Then she placed it on her bed and opened it.

She was not sure until that moment why she had brought the clothes. She had felt calmer by having them, as if they could provide an escape if she needed it. That night, they provided a temporary escape.