Page 17 of The Duke’s Ultimatum (Unrelenting Lords #1)

CHAPTER 17

E leanor took a deep breath before she pushed open the door to the study. Her mother and Sarah were already in the room with a very nervous viscount.

“Ah, there you are! Look who’s come to visit!” Charlotte was practically beaming as she walked towards her daughter and placed a kiss on her cheek.

Eleanor’s eyes landed on Simon’s. With a slight nod, she smiled. “Good afternoon, Lord Hountshire. It is good to see you again. I hope you’re well.”

The Viscount swallowed and rubbed his hands on his trousers. “I… I am. Thank you.”

Eleanor walked towards him and sat in the chair across from where the Viscount was standing. “What brings you here today?”

Hountshire’s eyes flew to the door just as the Duke walked in.

Eleanor raised an eyebrow in his direction, challenging him to behave. Graynor smiled at her before bringing his attention to the Viscount.

“Hountshire. Good to see you.” Nothing in the Duke’s voice hinted he was happy to see the Viscount.

Hountshire rolled his shoulders back and stood a bit taller—for that Eleanor was proud of him. “Your Grace, I’ve come to ask Lady Eleanor if I may court her.” His voice held a slight shake which bothered Eleanor. When he steeled his back, she had higher hopes for him. Cowardice was never attractive.

Graynor’s eyes slid to Eleanor’s. “Well, what did the Lady say?”

Hountshire’s ears reddened. “Oh, I haven’t asked her yet.”

Eleanor clucked her tongue. She was not a fan of being discussed as if she weren’t in the room. Hountshire looked back at her to which she just tilted her head in anticipation.

“Lady Eleanor? May I court you?” Now that his eyes were solely on her, he seemed more at ease. She couldn’t blame Hountshire for shrinking a bit in the Duke’s presence—he was a larger than life man. She imagined it would be hard for any man to stand toe to toe with the Duke.

Before answering, Eleanor glanced at her mother, whose own eyes were large and hopeful. “I would love nothing more.” Eleanor’s voice was strong and defiant. She resisted the urge to look at Graynor while she said it. It wouldn’t be right to say the words and not look at the person for whom they were for. But by God did she want to, just to see the look on the Duke’s face as she said it.

Hountshire clapped his hands. “Splendid! Are you available now? We could go for a walk. If we leave now, we may be able to get back before the rain begins.”

Eleanor nodded. “That sounds like a lovely time.”

Charlotte leapt to her daughter’s side. “Let me grab my coat, and I will be your chaperone. Sarah, why don’t you go tell Beatrice, and we’ll all go for a walk before the rain comes.” Charlotte turned and fluttered out of the room.

Eleanor smiled. A walk with the entire family, I’m sure this is exactly what Simon had in mind.

Graynor walked over to the window and peered out into the garden. “You know, I think I will join you.”

Eleanor grimaced. A walk with her mother and sisters was one thing, but a walk with the Duke in attendance was definitely not wanted. “We wouldn’t want to bother you, Your Grace. I know you said you had a lot of work to attend to today. Mother said she will chaperone us.”

Graynor looked back and smiled at the couple. “Nonsense. It is a bit stuffy in here today, and I think some fresh air will do me good.”

Eleanor bristled at her own words being used against her.

“Unless there’s a reason why you don’t want me to come along?” It was now his turn to lift an eyebrow, challenging her.

Eleanor swallowed and shook her head. “None, I can think of, Your Grace.” She looked up at Hountshire, who did not look thrilled his promenade was going to be monitored by the Duke.

She nudged him. “Shall we go?”

Hountshire dragged his eyes from the Duke to hers. “Yes. I think we shall.” He lifted his arm, and Eleanor slipped her hand through. She placed her other hand on top of his arm. At her touch, Hountshire’s eyes softened, and his shoulders relaxed.

The couple, followed by the Duke, met Charlotte in the hallway. “I do hope the rain holds off. I don’t want my dress to get ruined.”

“I’m sure we’ll be fine, Mama,” Eleanor assured her. Without realizing it, her eyes tracked to Graynor who was staring at her. Well, at least she hoped they’d be fine.

Graynor walked with Charlotte behind Hountshire and Eleanor. While Charlotte blabbered to Sarah and Beatrice about the weather and how she didn’t want her dress to be ruined, Graynor kept his eyes on the couple in front of him.

He noticed every time Eleanor’s head leaned into Hountshire’s body to catch what he was saying. How her laugh rang out when he said something funny. With each tracked movement, his vision blurred a bit more until he had to slightly shake his head to clear his sight.

It is no secret that Hountshire would not be his pick for Eleanor, but the chit seems to have made up her mind about the man. His stomach felt unsettled at the thought.

“Charlotte! I’m surprised to see you out on a dreary day like this.” A friend of Charlotte’s caught up with them. The thought of listening to more women talk about the impending storm annoyed him.

“You and the girls catch up with your friend, Charlotte; I’ll continue on with Eleanor and Hountshire.”

Charlotte looked ahead at the couple still walking. “Thank you, Your Grace. We’ll catch up when we’re done.”

Graynor smiled. “Please. Take your time.”

Graynor nodded to the women before lengthening his strides to catch up to the couple.

“That sounds like quite the ordeal,” Eleanor said, and if he wasn’t mistaken, she sounded bored.

Graynor came up on the other side of Eleanor. “Forgive the intrusion. Charlotte ran into an old friend, so I told her I would carry on with you two. I hope you don’t mind me joining you. I was lonely back there.”

Eleanor shot him a warning look. Graynor lifted his eyebrows, exuding innocence. “I promise you won’t even know I’m here. Continue on with your conversation.”

Eleanor pursed her lips before turning her attention back to Hountshire.

“Please continue, Simon.”

Hearing his Christian name fall from her lips did something to Graynor. His spine tingled, and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. It was then he noticed her free hand hung by her side.

Graynor continued to walk next to Eleanor while she listened to Hountshire talk about hunting. As he matched his strides to hers, he let his hand swing freely. With the movements of their bodies, his hand brushed hers.

She inhaled sharply.

“Everything all right, Eleanor?” Hountshire stopped and looked down at her.

She had the offended hand held to her chest. “I’m fine. I think a bee was buzzing around me, and it touched my hand.”

Graynor looked down in between them. “I didn’t see a bee.”

Eleanor’s eyes snapped to the Duke’s. “It must’ve flown away,” she said pointedly.

Graynor’s mouth widened into a devilish grin. He enjoyed having an effect on the ever-proper Eleanor. His mind whirled with ideas to pull her attention from the insipidly boring Viscount.

The couple resumed their walk with Graynor still at Eleanor’s side. Her focus was begrudgingly still attuned to Hountshire. Every few steps, Graynor allowed his body to sway, causing his arm to brush her shoulder.

At first it didn’t seem to bother her, but by the third time, he noticed her eyes had slid to glance at him from the corner of her eyes. Feeling her eyes on him, he acted completely oblivious of his actions. He felt her bristle at his side, and she doubled down her efforts to pay attention to Hountshire.

Their walk was interrupted by a group of the Viscount’s friends approaching them, led by a young man about Hountshire’s age.

“Lady Eleanor, may I introduce a good friend of mine, James Peterly; his family and mine are old friends.”

Ever the Lady, Eleanor dipped her head and gave a demure hello and smile.

Graynor coughed.

Now, Graynor never considered himself much for the protocol of high society, but when it came to dealing with the Viscount, he wanted to kiss whoever established such a hierarchy. Seeing the poor lad have to acknowledge not only Graynor’s presence but his station made Graynor feel like a king.

Hountshire’s eyes narrowed as he huffed out a breath. “James, may I also introduce, His Grace, the Duke of Graynor.”

Hountshire’s female friends all smiled coyly while the men in the group nearly tripped over each other to introduce themselves. So much so that Hountshire had to take a step back, so his friends didn’t knock him over.

Graynor felt uncharacteristically generous in the moment and shook each hand. After all, he was never one to tire of people telling him how impressive he was with his business dealings. Especially when a foe was in his midst. When he decided the Viscount was his opponent, he didn’t know or care to question, but in this moment, he felt as if he had the Viscount under his thumb.

Graynor looked over to Eleanor, who stood there with an unimpressed look on her face. That feeling of victory quickly dwindled.

Hountshire recaptured his friend’s attention with an inside joke to James from when they were younger. Graynor allowed the conversation to shift, more curious about Eleanor’s reaction.

To the outside world, it would look as if he were paying attention to the conversation happening in front of him, but inside, he was analyzing the woman next to him. She laughed when she needed to laugh, smiled at Hountshire when the situation called for it, and nodded when appropriate. It was as if she were just going through the motions of what was expected of her.

As if she felt him invading her mind, her spine straightened. Her eyes quickly scanned the path. Once she found what she was looking for, she touched Hountshire’s arm.

“Excuse me, but I’m feeling a bit tired. Would you mind if I go sit on that bench while you catch up?”

“Would you like me to join you?” To Hountshire’s credit, the bloke did look concerned, but Graynor couldn’t give up the opportunity to pull Eleanor away from him.

“Nonsense, Hountshire. You stay here and catch up with your friends. I’ll see to Lady Eleanor.”

Hountshire ignored Graynor and continued to look at Eleanor. “Are you sure?”

Normally, Graynor would be offended at the slight of being ignored, but at this moment, Graynor was coming out on top. If ignoring him made Hountshire feel like a man in front of Eleanor and his friends, let him have it. Graynor was the one who would be keeping Eleanor company, and to him, that was another victory.

Eleanor smiled up at Hountshire and placed her hand over his. Graynor couldn’t remove his eyes from her offending hand. That is, until he heard her words.

“I am, Simon. You stay with your friends; His Grace will attend to me. I want to be rested for our outing tomorrow night.”

She dipped her eyes and looked up at Hountshire through her lashes. Graynor’s vision exploded red with rage. What kind of evening did they have planned?

Without looking at Graynor, she turned and walked to the bench just off to the side of where Simon stood with his friends.

Graynor stood speechless, staring at the space she just vacated. When his eyes finally moved, they were met with the triumphant mockery of Hountshire’s.

Graynor’s jaw ticked as he walked over to the bench and sat down next to Eleanor.

“What are your plans for tomorrow that require you to rest so much beforehand?” Graynor tightened his hands into fists on his lap. It was all he could do from reaching out to shake sense into the woman sitting next to him.

Completely unaffected by his presence Eleanor looked ahead and smiled. “What interest is it of yours? We’ll be adequately chaperoned by my mother, so you needn’t worry about it.”

“I will absolutely worry about it if it besmirches our name.” Graynor’s jaw was starting to hurt with how hard he was clenching his teeth.

Eleanor gasped, mockingly. “Your Grace, you are not insinuating my mother would allow for untoward things to happen in her presence, are you?”

Graynor was running out of patience. “Eleanor. Do not toy with me. What are your plans for tomorrow evening?”

Eleanor shook her head in comical disbelief. “Calm down, Your Grace. Tomorrow night is the charity concert Caroline and I have been working on. If you made yourself aware of your surroundings, you would know people have been talking about this performance for weeks.”

Graynor looked at Eleanor, who was still looking towards the group she just left.

“I always pay attention to my surroundings.”

Graynor watched as her eyes widened and turned towards him. Her head snapped back forward but not before her eyes met his.

“Don’t act like you are the injured party here.” Her voice rushed out in annoyance.

Graynor huffed a laugh. “What do you mean?”

Eleanor fisted her hands. “You know how to walk.”

Graynor lifted an eyebrow. “Yes, for some time now.”

She pursed her lips. “Then why did you keep bumping into me?”

Graynor couldn’t contain his smile if he wanted to. He did affect her. “Was I?”

She turned to him and huffed. “Don’t play coy with me; you know exactly what you were doing! And don’t you dare say it was because I pushed you to do so. All I did was walk.”

Graynor clucked his tongue. “My, my, Eleanor, we think highly of ourselves don’t we? I was merely walking. I can’t help if, when I’m enjoying the scenery, my footsteps fall out of line, and I happen to brush against someone’s arm.”

Eleanor closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. A blonde curl fell from its pin. Graynor reached up and tucked it behind her ear.

Eleanor stilled at his touch.

“What are you doing?” Her words were hushed.

“A curl fell; I was merely fixing it for you.”

“Then why is your hand still touching my face.”

Graynor looked at his hand and sure enough, after it tucked the curl behind her ear, his knuckles stayed to brush against her cheek.

Graynor’s hand dropped like a weight. What the hell had come over him?

“Eleanor!” Charlotte’s voice rang out.

Both Graynor and Eleanor startled as Charlotte rushed over to them. “Eleanor, are you all right? The Viscount said you weren’t feeling well.” Charlotte looked over her daughter with a mother’s worry.

“I’m fine, Mama. I was feeling a bit woozy from all the walking. I’m sure it’s from all the excitement.”

Charlotte blew out of a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank heaven. I’d hate for you to be ill for tomorrow. You and Caroline have worked so hard on this event. Everyone is looking forward to it, especially the Viscount,” she said with a wink. “He seemed so honored you are allowing him to escort you in. You know,” she leaned in conspiratorially, “I think you’re right. I think he’ll be the one to propose. How exciting! Don’t you think, Your Grace?”

Graynor did nothing but sit there, staring at his hand that was still tingling from touching her cheek.

Charlotte reached out and took Eleanor’s hands. “Come. I think we should head back and get you some proper rest before tomorrow’s festivities.”

The woman began to walk back to the Viscount. “Your Grace?” Eleanor’s voice called out.

Graynor looked up.

“Thank you for sitting with me.”

He said nothing but gave one subtle nod.