Page 8 of The Duke’s Replacement Bride (The Wild Brides #6)

“ Y ou look positively tormented,” Gregory Linwood commented as he and Levi sat down for drinks at their favorite tavern. “Is married life not what you thought it would be?”

“That’s an understatement.” Levi took a long swallow of his ale and sat back in his chair. “I thought this was going to be a simple matter of improving my reputation and my business interests.”

“And you no longer believe those things are going to happen?”

“I’m sure they will. What I don’t believe is that there’s going to be anything simple about it,” Levi said. “She has me driven mad.”

“Why? What has she done that’s so terrible? It couldn’t be anything that bad,” Gregory said. “Her reputation was always a bit questionable, but from what I understood, that was because she was a wallflower, not because there was anything scandalous about her. Was I wrong?”

“Oh, she’s no wallflower,” Levi said darkly. “That’s an impression she’s been putting on for the benefit of the ton, in my opinion. I know she didn’t plan to marry. She probably wanted to become a spinster.”

“No lady wants that,” Gregory objected. “You must have misunderstood her.”

“No, I truly don’t think I have, Gregory. I think she resents me for marrying her in the first place. But that hasn’t stopped her from invading every aspect of my life.”

“What does that mean? How has she invaded your life?”

“She can’t seem to leave well enough alone. Not when it comes to anything that’s mine by rights,” he said. “She’s already planning on renovating the whole house. Didn’t even bother to ask my permission.”

“Well, all right, she should have asked you,” Gregory allowed.

“But isn’t it the privilege of a duchess to remake her home as she sees fit?

Shouldn’t she be renovating? You say she didn’t want to marry, but it sounds to me as if she’s taken to her responsibilities handily.

You’re not happy with the way she’s doing it? ”

“It isn’t just the renovations.” Levi felt frustrated—he had anticipated more of a reaction from his friend.

Couldn’t Gregory see why this wasn’t acceptable?

“She—she barges in on me all the time. It’s incessant.

I’m never safe from it. No matter what I’m doing, I have to be prepared for the fact that she might walk in! ”

“And you don’t want her walking in?”

“Well, not all the time.” Levi was well and truly exasperated now. “I need to be able to spend time on my own occasionally, don’t I? I need to be able to focus on my work. She walks into my study without even…well, she does knock, but I feel unable to turn her away!”

Gregory sipped his ale. “I can see how maddening this must be for you,” he agreed. “I don’t know that I could abide a wife who…occasionally knocked on the door of my study.”

“Watch your mouth, Gregory.”

“I’m sorry, but I must say this. You’ve grown used to your solitude, and of course it would be an adjustment for you to have a lady in your home.

That’s to be expected. I think you have allowed your desire for solitude to go too far, however.

Your wife is supposed to be a part of your life, Levi.

You’re supposed to let her in. If she knocks at your study door, that’s only because she has a desire to see you—to speak to you.

And while you may struggle to see it, that desire is a good thing. ”

“A good thing, is it?” Levi growled. “What about the night she walked into my bedroom— without knocking? Also a good thing?”

Gregory raised his eyebrows. “I beg your pardon?”

“I was minding my own business, readying myself for bed, when she came marching through the door adjoining my room and hers as if she owned the place!”

Gregory sat back in his chair. “Well. That sounds dreadful, Levi. The last thing any gentleman should want or tolerate is a wife who comes to his chambers in the evening. What did you do? How did you manage that horrible situation?”

“I sent her away, of course,” Levi growled.

Gregory sighed. “Of course you did. I don’t know why I asked.”

“You know I don’t want a marriage like that. Haven’t I been clear and consistent?”

“Yes, you have, although I can’t imagine why. The duchess is a lovely woman. Better than a scoundrel like you had any right to expect.”

“I’m a duke. She’s the daughter of a baron.”

“Yes, but you have a reputation as a rake to contend with.” Gregory smiled good-naturedly at his friend.

“But the fact of the matter is that while you found your way into this marriage on luck alone, it was something more than that connecting you to this family in the first place. They were happy to secure an arrangement for the other daughter, even if she had the good sense to run away at the first opportunity—honestly, I think I would like to meet her. She must be a fascinating creature.”

“Well, nobody knows where she is, so I wouldn’t count on meeting her if I were you,” Levi said shortly. “And I swear to you, Gregory, if you don’t control your mouth, it will be my fist you’ll be meeting.”

Gregory took a sip of his ale and said nothing, perhaps sensing that he had come close to pushing Levi too far.

Levi considered getting up and leaving—he did not appreciate Gregory’s jabs at him, friendly though they might have been.

Sometimes, when his friend had a few drinks in him, he could take things too far.

But he didn’t leave. Instead, he signaled for another round of drinks.

“I just think about my mother,” he said after a while. “She was miserable in her marriage to my father, and she was bitter and wretched because of it.”

“You aren’t your father. Your duchess is not your mother, for that matter.

I know that you fear the life they had, but that need not be your fate.

And in the meantime, you’re allowing your past to dominate you, Levi.

You’re allowing it to steal something that ought to be yours—happiness with the woman you’ve married. ”

“What would you do in my place, then?”

Gregory grinned. “The next time she tries to come into your bedchamber, welcome her. That’s my suggestion.

Don’t you think you’ll be happy if you do?

Won’t it be good to have her by your side?

You deserve it, Levi. And you deserve a bit of fun, too—unless you’re keeping up your dalliances on the side, that is? ”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous.”

“It’s not ridiculous to ask. You would hardly be the first married man to have mistresses, and you did just say that you weren’t taking your wife to bed, so it seems a fairly reasonable question to me.”

“You just said that I wasn’t like my father,” Levi reminded his friend. “You know that I’m not the sort of man to betray my wife.”

“In which case you ought to indulge her in all the pleasures of a marriage.”

“And if she doesn’t want that?”

“Levi. Do try to be serious about this. If she didn’t want that, why would she have come to your bedchamber in the evening?”

“Duty, perhaps?”

“Perhaps. That tells me that you don’t know for certain,” Gregory said.

“You haven’t bothered to find out what would best please your own wife—and you should, Levi.

You owe her that. You owe yourself that.

If you don’t provide it, you can hardly claim to be the husband she deserves, and whether you believe it or not that makes you no better than your father. ”

“That’s a cruel thing to say.”

“Holding a lady at arm’s length is a cruel thing to do.”

Levi had had enough. “You don’t know her,” he said.

“You cannot speak for what she wants, so don’t pretend you can.

The only thing you can speak to is what you believe a lady wants, but you don’t know for certain.

And I did not come here to be shamed by you into questioning my choices when it comes to this marriage. ”

“You came here hoping I would join you in your complaints and agree that your situation is unbearable,” Gregory said.

“But I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong place if that is what you desire.

I think the duchess is lovely. And I think if she desires more of your company, that’s frankly more than a fool like you deserves, and you ought to quit complaining and be grateful for her. ”

“Some friend you’ve turned out to be,” Levi grumbled.

“You need a friend like me,” Gregory told him.

“I’m your only chance at seeing this situation clearly.

I’m the only one who’s going to have the courage to tell you what an absolute hash you’re making of it all.

So don’t act as if it isn’t something you need to hear, Levi.

You and I both know perfectly well that you’re failing to make the most of the situation that has been placed before you.

I hate to see you cost yourself the opportunity for a good life— a life you could enjoy. ”

“I didn’t marry with enjoyment in mind, Gregory.”

“I know you didn’t. You married for the sake of your reputation. All I’m saying is that two things can be true at the same time. You can enhance your reputation for the sake of your business interests and also enjoy yourself—enjoy your wife. You should let yourself have both.”

He rose from the table. “But you’ll either listen to me or you won’t,” he said. “It’s your decision. I cannot tell you what to do. What I can do is go and get you another drink, if you don’t object.”

“Why would I object to a drink?”

“I begin to think you’re in the habit of objecting to everything,” Gregory said wryly. He sauntered off toward the bar.

Levi sighed as he watched his friend go. It was clear that Gregory did not understand. He didn’t see Levi’s true purpose in getting into this marriage, even though he had been told.

It wasn’t necessary to have a close relationship with his wife. That wasn’t what he had married for, and it wasn’t something he was interested in.

He had married because he needed to appear respectable to the ton. To his business partners. Gregory had been very right about one thing—Levi did have a reputation as a rake. People knew that about him. And he couldn’t afford to be seen that way. It was bad for business.

He needed to appear to be settled. Stable. Mature. Having a wife would do those things. And in return, he would offer her the social stability and the lack of judgment afforded to a young lady who married well.

That was what this was—an arrangement that would suit both their interests. Nothing more.

And an arrangement like that did not require emotion or intimacy. Bringing those things into the picture would only complicate matters in a way that they didn’t need to be complicated.

No, Gregory was wrong in his suggestions.

Levi was making the right choices. Gregory might believe that it made sense to focus on a romantic relationship, but Levi knew better.

Such a thing would only distract them both and divert Levi from his true purpose in pursuing this marriage—and it ran the risk of making his wife resent him the way his mother had always resented his father.

Things were awkward between Levi and Caroline right now, but awkwardness was far preferable to resentment.