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Sarah, who was busy staring daggers at the Duke, just nodded in acknowledgment. Eleanor smiled. Sarah may be a romantic, but cross her, and she would hold a grudge. The Duke had no idea what trouble he would cause if he told Sarahnoon something she truly had her heart set on.

Without a look at the Duke, Eleanor left the parlor and walked out onto the veranda. She made her way to her favorite bench in the garden. When she reached it, she stopped and scowled. Her favorite spot was now tarnished with the memory of her first kiss with that blasted man.

“Ugh, must he ruin everything?”

“Shall I assume you’re talking about me?”

Eleanor screamed, covering her mouth and her heart with her hands. She turned to see Graynor strolling towards her.

“You! Are you following me?” She sat on the bench, taking slow breaths, trying to regulate her breathing. “You scared me nearly to death. Don’t you know it is rude to sneak up on someone?”

Graynor raised an eyebrow and looked down at his body. “Eleanor, do you see me? Do I look like I am capable of sneaking up on anyone?”

Eleanor refused to look at him.

“Aw, come now, are you giving me the silent treatment?” His voice was dripping in saccharine sarcasm.

Eleanor huffed and shifted her body away from the Duke.

“Tsk. Tsk. Eleanor. This does not seem very polite of you.” His voice was taunting and grating.

Eleanor closed her eyes and bit her tongue.I will not give in. I will not give in.

The repeated words in her head were her lifeline for her sanity.

She felt his presence next to her, and she stiffened. The Duke’s warm body nestled next to her, his chest pushing ever so lightly against her back.

“Eleanor,” his voice seductively dragged out her name into her ear. “Why aren’t you talking to me?”

Eleanor’s eyes opened in a flash. The rage she was trying to maintain bubbled over, and she sprang up.

“You’re asking why I’m not talking to you? Do you remember what we, whatyoudid last night?” Her voice was a harsh whisper. They may be in a secluded garden, but just over those walls, anyone could be walking by.

Graynor smiled smugly. “I remember everything about last night. Even who you danced with afterward,” he added with a snarl.

Eleanor threw her hands into the air. “You do not get to snarl at me. You left me completely beside myself with no idea of what just happened. And I couldn’t just stay in that hallway the entire night; I had to gather my senses and return to the dance. I had to put a display of perfect upbringing and etiquette while inside I felt as if I were on fire.”

The Duke had the audacity to sit there with that stupid grin on his face. “You were beside yourself, huh?”

Eleanor groaned. “Do not look satisfied with yourself. I am done with you, with this.” She frantically waved her hand in between the two of them.

Graynor tilted his head to the side and stretched out his legs. He looked like he was enjoying this which fueled her rage even more.

“There is nothing between us.” He lifted a shoulder in a nonchalant shrug.

Eleanor’s vision blurred, and she rocked back on her heels. “There’s nothing… there’s nothing… then what was that last night?”

“I was doing it for your own good, Eleanor.”

For once in her life, Eleanor was speechless. She stood there staring at him. There were no words she could piece together that could adequately berate this man and question his line of thinking.

Eleanor scoffed. “In what world does that make a modicum of sense?”

The Duke just sat there, looking up at her, completely nonplussed.

Eleanor began to pace. “No, please tell me. Was you pulling me away from Mr. Riggins and Lord Bellfry for my own good? Or was it when you pushed me up against a wall and ran your hands…”

She stopped and shook her head; she wouldn’t allow herself to bring up the memory. She turned to him and propped her hands on her hips. “Well?”