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Eleanor shrugged. “If your feelings for him will never fade, then why rush to run away together? Take your time, have a season, wear pretty dresses, show each other off properly, then marry at the end of the season, and make it an event everyone talks about,” she added with a wink.

“But it feels like it’s just too big to wait.” Sarah sat up. “Like, if we don’t do something about it right now, it’ll just disappear. It’s too big to hold onto, so we need to grab it while we can.”

Eleanor shook her head. “We’ve established that I may not know the ins and outs of love, but I will say, if love disappears because you can’t shout it from the roof tops and make it official, then I don’t think it’s a love worth having.”

Sarah tilted her head.

“What?” Eleanor questioned defensively. “I don’t want love that needs to be paraded around. I don’t want grand gestures that are just for show. I want a love that is there in the quiet times. I want a love that makes me feel safe and protected. I want kind gestures and soft touches to get me through the hard days. I want meaning and understanding everlasting. There should be no timetable with love.”

“There’s a timetable with you and the Viscount,” Sarah said quietly.

Eleanor sighed. “Yes, well, His Grace was right that first night we dined with him. I had my chance to look for that kind of love, and I didn’t take it.”

The girls sat for a moment, melancholy settled over them.

Eleanor stood, forcing a smile on her face. “That’s why it’s so important you do this the right way. If Bryon is truly the one foryou, waiting another year until your debut will do nothing but strengthen that bond.”

She helped Sarah under her covers.

“Now, I think we both should get to bed. We’ve both had exhausting nights, you more than me,” she said raising her eyebrow at her sister.

Sarah grimaced. “Sorry for waking you.”

“It’s all right, I was already awake.” Eleanor cringed the moment the words left her mouth.

“Why? Thinking about the Viscount?” Sarah said with a smile.

“Um, yes. I was. Now, no more talking. Go to bed.” Eleanor placed a kiss on her sister’s forehead and left her room, closing the door behind her.

Eleanor leaned against the door and hung her head.

Emotions she held back flooded through her, and tears rolled down her cheeks. What she wouldn’t give to feel the feelings her sister described. To have that energy course through her and leave her breathless with possibilities.

Her head snapped up, and her heart stopped.

She did experience those feelings. Only it wasn’t with Simon… it was with the Duke.

CHAPTER 20

The lines on the ledger began to blur, and Derek’s head began to pound. Stopping a runaway girl was not on his agenda for the week, but there he was recovering from a night of being yelled at by an overcharged young woman dead set on running away with a boy barely out of leading strings.

Derek leaned over his desk and rested his head in his hands, rubbing his temples. When he first heard of the duchy, he was a bit excited at the prospects and connections he would make that would aid his businesses. He did not stop to consider the family responsibilities that would come with it or the emotional women he’d have to handle.

There was a light knock on the door that echoed through his head. Cringing he yelled for whomever it was to go away.

The knocking abruptly stopped only to pick up again.

“What?” he demanded.

The door creaked open, and a blonde head followed by owlishly big green eyes popped up from behind the door.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you, Your Grace, but may I have a word?”

Eleanor.

Derek inwardly groaned. He had not had enough rest to navigate these waters.

He rubbed his eyes to clear his vision of sleep and sat back in his chair. He extended his hand to the chair in front of his desk.