Page 52 of His Temporary Duchess

Eleanor had not known it was possible to be this happy.

Sebastian walked beside her in the gardens, plucking an early rose and handing it to her with a bow and a flourish.

“If you had ever been of an inclination to flirt, you would have been a dreadful one,” she said with a laugh, accepting it.

“I was always of an inclination to flirt. Do you not remember the first time we met?”

She flushed. She had given altogether too much thought to the time they had first met. The way he had approached her, thedare she had uttered, and the way he had matched it effortlessly. His charm.

“I thought you were a different person when we first married,” she admitted. “I wanted to know how to find that man again.”

“The flirt?” He arched a brow.

“Does not every wife desire to be flirted with?”

“I know not. I only have the one.” He looked down at her and trailed a finger along her rosy cheeks. “Tell me, did you think of that kiss as often as I did?”

“You thought of it?”

“I tried not to.” His expression turned grave. “For a long time… you must know that I did not marry out of a wish to.”

“Yes,” she said dryly, a slight morsel of hurt stabbing through her.

He caught her expression and drew her closer, a possessive hand on her waist. A bee hummed nearby, coming to investigate the rose she still held. “I did not want to marryanyone,” he emphasized. “And you know why. My luck has not been… good. So I thought that if I didn’t care for you, things would be easier.”

Her heart, which had fallen into her boots, now rose and fluttered. “But you do care?”

He gave her a sidelong glance. “What do you think?”

“IthinkI would like to hear you say it.”

“Very well.” He hesitated, and she could see the way the words weighed on him. But then he looked down at her, a small smile on his face. “I do care. While I resisted your charms, I did my best not to think of that kiss, but I ended up thinking of nothing more.” He bent his head to her neck, and Eleanor prayed there were no gardeners to see them. “I thought about the way you smelled. The way you tasted. The sounds you made.” His lips brushed up the column of her throat to her jaw. “And it made me want nothing more than to do it again.”

Oh Lord.Her knees felt weak. She had now lain with her husband and she knew how it felt to have all of him—but he was right. She wasinsatiable.

She washappy.

“There,” she murmured in response. “This was the husband I hoped I’d receive.”

“Then brace yourself.” He nipped at her lower lip. “There is a great deal more of it to come.”

Eleanor stared at the letter in her hands, fingers trembling as she read the words written across it in a neat script. She’d forgotten all about writing to Lady Lydia—forgotten, that was, until the butler placed this letter before her.

Dear Duchess,it ran.

I thank you for your letter, and I confess that reading it nearly brought me to tears. That period of my life is one I reflect on with great shame, and I would be delighted if I could meet with dear Sebastian to resolve our past misunderstandings. I do not want him to go through life thinking that I never cared for him, because that would both grieve me deeply and be grossly incorrect. There are many things I have to say. Would you be so good as to facilitate the meeting? I know my behavior then did not reflect well on me, and no doubt led Sebastian to believe things about himself that are untrue.

Thank you, my dear Duchess, and may I congratulate you on your husband. He is a man well won.

Lady Lydia

Eleanor stared at the letter blankly for long moments. This missive, unlike the notes Sebastian had kept, was not perfumed, but she could imagine the scent, anyway.

Of course Lady Lydia was still in love with Sebastian. That fact seemed as obvious as the nose on her face. No doubt a simple misunderstanding had brought about their separation, and both parties spent a few long years regretting it.

She glanced across the table at Sebastian, who now breakfasted with her as a matter of course, having risen from her bed a mere hour or so previously. At her attention, he lowered his newspaper and raised his brows.

“Anything interesting, my dear?”