Page 53 of His Illegitimate Duchess

“No, I -” She was startled by his question, clearly having been lost in her thoughts.

She sat up and laid the book down next to her on the chaise longue.

“Thank you for ordering all these novels for me. I know you don’t personally enjoy them.”

“But?”

“I just find myself disliking the heroine, Emily. She cries too much, even though she really has nothing to cry about! And her father keeps encouraging her spoiled behaviour with his attentiveness, -” Elizabeth stopped herself, looking ashamed at something she’d said.

Colin understood where her feelings were coming from and why she, perhaps, found fault with all fathers.

Or is she simply envious of young women who are not fatherless? He wondered.

He then briefly thought about his own parents, the cruel mother and the weak father who had run off to war to escape the unhappy home he had created for himself.

Didn’t my experiences with them forever shape my views on marriage and family?

*

Two days later, when he set off on his (by now habitual) mid-morning search for his wife, he found her in her preferred drawing room (the one they had defiled on their first morning at Norwich two months ago) with tears streaking down her lovely face.

“What happened? Has someone died?” he asked, glancing at the letter in her hand.

A gentleman always looks away from someone’s open letter; the long-ago words of his tutor rang in his head but were quickly followed by, Devil take it.

Luckily, she handed the letter to him unasked.

Your Grace,

First, let me offer my official felicitations on the most unexpected match you have made with His Grace, the duke of Norwich, who is an exceptional gentleman, descended from an honourable and noble line.

Since you have successfully entered matrimony in a manner befitting of the duke’s daughter that you are, the other Patronesses of Almack’s and I have decided it would be most prudent to give your voucher to an unwed young lady of good breeding whose comportment would be in accordance with the values we espouse, so that she may make an equally advantageous match.

As I’m sure you are aware, it is our duty to guard our ranks and our rooms from the upstart pretensions of those unworthy of them, and I hope you shall assist us in this endeavour.

Yours faithfully,

The Marchioness of Sefton

Duke Talbot heard the rustling of paper first, then realised he was crumpling it in his clenched fist. Lady Georgiana was about to be put on the same list as Mr Thorpe.

“I cannot believe those stupid old goats!” he said angrily. “Did you know they were reluctant to even introduce the waltz into their ballroom because of their excessive worry about propriety?”

His wife didn’t seem comforted by that revelation, since she said nothing and simply continued sniffling. Colin had never experienced such helplessness before. He desperately wanted to shout at someone, punish them for the pain they were inflicting on the person he loved best in the world.

His conscience whispered to him that he should be looking in the mirror to find the culprit for her tears, but Talbot shoved the thought aside.

I shall protect her from further harm, he decided before walking over to the bell pull and calling for Mary.

“No more tears, kitten, I shall see to it that they regret this,” he told her in what he perceived to be a helpful tone as he sat down next to her and took her hand in his.

“You don’t understand,” she said between sobs, and since he really didn’t, he just held her hand until Mary came into the room.

“Get Lady Burnham as quickly as you can and bring her over here. Your Mistress needs you both.”

“Please stop crying, darling.” He hugged his wife as he said it, but it only made her cry more.

*

A week later, Talbot was away from the manor from sunrise until dinnertime, assisting Brandon with a fence dispute between two particularly belligerent tenants. When it was finally over, he practically ran over to where Bruiser was patiently waiting for him.

“Aren’t you going to invite me to join you for dinner?” Edward smiled knowingly as he caught up to him.

Talbot said nothing, not in the mood to be teased or held up any further.

“I would like to call on you a bit, to discuss some estate-related issues I’ve been thinking about,” his idiot friend continued, needling him.

Talbot took his upper lip between his teeth to stop his grin and looked at his friend sternly as he mounted his horse.

“Do you happen to be in a hurry to get home for some reason, Your Grace?” Brandon asked, feigning innocence.

“You’re the wrong person to be mocking me for this,” Talbot warned him.

“I never tried to hide how besotted I am by my wife,” Edward shouted after him with laughter in his voice, “I tell anyone who will listen.”

Am I besotted? Talbot wondered.

Poor Bruiser certainly thought so as Colin mercilessly drove him to go ever faster.

The duke managed to walk into his home with calm and measured steps, but then he impatiently thrust his hat at Stevenson (who simply said, “Her Grace’s dressing room.”) and almost ran up the stairs.

Elizabeth, who had been seated at her vanity, jumped up when he entered her room and ran over to hug him. Colin lifted her from the ground and softly laughed into her hair.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in weeks, kitten,” he said breathlessly.

“I thought something was wrong with me. I felt so lost all day,” she replied, and he shook his head.

“I’ve felt the same way.”

He felt her small arms squeezing his waist and took a deep breath, savouring the smell of her soap combined with the unique fragrance of her skin. He gently lowered her back to the floor.

“I missed you today,” she murmured into his chest.

Even if I burn in hell for how I tricked her into this marriage, he thought, it will have been worth it for this moment alone.

No more sadness , he vowed to himself, she will only be happy from here on out.

And the Duke of Norwich, like always, imagined his will to be stronger than anything else in the world.