Page 18 of Wedded to the Loveless Duke
CHAPTER 18
T he news of William’s passing came after two days of waiting. The butler entered the sitting room where Eleanor was embroidering a set of bed linens and bowed. “Your Grace, the Marquess of Winchester is here to see you.”
She rose and set aside her needlework, her stomach sinking. “Show him in.”
A few moments later, Edward stepped into the room, a grim look on his face. Tears filled Eleanor’s eyes, and she wrapped her arms around her middle. “Uncle Edward?”
“He is gone, Eleanor. I am sorry.”
Phillip entered the room then. He took one look at his wife’s face and rushed over to her, gathering her up in his arms as her knees gave out. She’d known it was coming, but some part of her had been praying it wouldn’t. Phillip rubbed her back and held her tight. “There now, love. Shhh… He is in a better place now, free from suffering. I know it hurts… I know.”
Eleanor clung to him, pressing her face against his chest and wishing her uncle wasn’t there to see her fall apart. When she finally stopped crying, Phillip guided her to the settee. He settled her down and sat beside her, taking her hands in his.
Edward took a seat across from them and gave her a sympathetic smile. She wiped her eyes with her handkerchief and tried to avoid his gaze, her embarrassment flaring. She hadn’t expected to fall apart given that she’d known the news would come eventually.
“He asked me to come when he was gone,” Edward explained. “He wanted me to explain what has been done, though the lawyer will come by in the next day or so to explain the will more thoroughly.”
Phillip squeezed her hands. “If you prefer that I deal with this so you may retire for some time to recoup, I will do so, dearest.”
Eleanor shook her head, sniffling. “No. He wanted me to know about these things, and he sent Uncle Edward to talk to me and you. I shall stay.”
“Are you certain you are ready for this, Eleanor?” Edward asked. “I can come back another time if you wish.”
“No. It will hurt no less later. What is it he wished you to tell me?”
“The whole truth.” Her uncle sat back in his seat. “Would you like to take some fresh air while we talk?”
She dabbed at returning tears and nodded. “I think that might be best.”
Phillip helped her to her feet and guided her towards the door that led out to the sitting room patio and the lawn beyond. She leaned into his side as they walked and glanced at Edward. He was smiling at them softly, and she remembered what her father had said about her uncle’s involvement in the matter.
“Did you arrange the first meeting with my husband as Father intimated you had?” she asked him quietly.
“I did. I believe my words to your father were that Richmond is a good man and a better friend, and that I did believe he might actually suit a certain headstrong, willful lady quite well once she had been given time to come round to the idea of being a married woman. Was I right?”
She blushed and glanced at Phillip. “I suppose you were. Why were you never around to visit, though? If you are good friends, I would have expected you to call.”
“Your father had informed me that you were quite upset with him. I thought it best I did not reveal my connection to His Grace until you had come round to the situation lest I suffer the same fate.”
She shook her head with a grimace. “I really do not know how to feel about your part in this.”
Phillip helped her down the stairs of the patio and to the lawn below as they walked. “I will forever be grateful to your uncle for approaching me, my love. I only regret what happened after.”
Eleanor pondered that for a moment. It was true that her uncle hadn’t been the one to suggest the proceedings afterwards. Or at least, she doubted he was. It wasn’t his style. Her father had undoubtedly kept his plots a secret from her uncle as well or had, at the very least, made him swear to keep quiet about it just as he’d done with Phillip.
“I suppose I cannot be too upset with you, Uncle. Your judgment was accurate, in the end. Phillip does suit me quite well.” She smiled up at her husband teasingly. “I have found him adequate.”
Phillip smiled back. “Merely adequate, my love? You wound me.”
The oppressive ache in her chest eased just a little. “You said you were to tell us the whole truth, Uncle?”
“Indeed.”
“Why did my father never tell me about any of this? Surely he did not believe I would not wish to know?”
“He discovered his illness two years ago,” her uncle said. “The day before he came to see me, he had been to the doctor and heard that his illness was incurable. He did not give me the particulars of it, only that he would not live many more months. As such, he was desperate to marry you off. He kept much of this secret from me when we met and only told me and His Grace once it was clear that a bargain would be struck. He begged us both to stay silent about his illness and warned your husband that the deal would mean he could not court you before your wedding.”
Eleanor gasped. “Then you knew my father’s intentions for my wedding?”
Edward grimaced and stared at the grass beneath his feet. “I knew he might not tell you the whole story. I swear to you that I did not know he had yet to tell you about your wedding.”
“Did you know that he had not told me?” she asked Phillip, eyeing him.
“Indeed I did not,” he muttered. “Had I known, I would have insisted that if he wished me to wed and protect his only daughter, he had best tell her before she walks down the aisle. I am sorry for how that was handled, Eleanor.”
Eleanor lowered her gaze to her feet, relieved. She’d never thought to ask Phillip if he’d known that she hadn’t been told about their wedding, likely because she’d assumed he was complicit in all of it. Only, the realization that her uncle had been involved but unaware of the secrecy of her wedding had made her wonder. Her father had rarely hidden anything from her or his brother. They were all he had left after her mother passed, and he’d cherished them both dearly. If he hadn’t told her uncle, there was a good chance he hadn’t told Phillip either.
A weight she didn’t known she’d been carrying finally lifted, and she sighed. “I am glad to know that. What else did you have to tell us, Uncle?”
“Your father put his affairs in order shortly before the wedding. As I said, he paid a visit to his lawyer and drafted his will. All of the financial and business matters are laid out there and will be revealed in short order. I am here to share what he was thinking in his final days.” Edward stopped and faced her, taking her hands in his. “Eleanor, whatever else you believe, know this. Your father loved you dearly. He needed to protect you, and as much as you wish it did not have to be done through marriage, that is the way of our world. He wanted to make sure you are safe and happy.”
Tears filled her eyes, and she squeezed her uncle’s hands. “I wish he had trusted me enough to tell me all of it before he married me off to Phillip.” Her voice fell to a pained whisper. “I am thankful to know all now, but I lost those final months with him because of this… I wanted to hate him for what I thought he had done to me.”
Edward smiled sadly and glanced at Phillip. “I daresay you are not alone in feeling anger and frustration at William’s meddling, but he meant well. You both know that, do you not?”
“We do,” Phillip murmured, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “I believe they made amends before he passed. Is that right, my love?”
Eleanor nodded and wiped her tears. “It is only… Why did he not trust me to obey?”
“You were set upon refusing to marry at all costs, and he did not wish for his final months on earth to be marred with fights about the matter or worries about your future. He wanted the matter resolved quickly and quietly, and he believed that could not be achieved if he told you the truth.” Her uncle frowned and released her hands. “Truth be told, I disagreed with him, but I believe he did not want his last months on earth to tie you down with so much grief that you will not be able to love another family as dearly as you have loved your first. He believed Richmond could break through to you, and he wanted to stand out of the way.”
“Then why did he come to see me a month ago?”
“He knew it was coming to a close, and he hoped to tell you the truth before you discovered it when he was on his deathbed. That was his one regret. Not being able to speak to you and tell you the truth when it was finally settled…” Edward sighed. “He was certainly the source of your stubborn streak, Eleanor.”
“I prefer to consider it a streak of determination. Stubborn makes me sound intractable.”
Phillip laughed. “Stubborn or determined, it makes no difference to me. I believe it to be one of your best qualities, most of the time.”
Eleanor bit back a smile. “Do you?”
“Most of the time,” Phillip repeated. “I must admit that it was quite frustrating at times, as it related to your father, but all is well now, so it seems my patience has been rewarded.”
She wrapped her arm around his bicep with a sigh. “I suppose so. Is there anything else, Uncle?”
“That was all your father wished me to share. I will leave you two to grieve as you see fit. The funeral arrangements have been left to me, so you need not worry about them. Take your time to mourn, Eleanor. I know how dearly you loved him, even when you were most angry with him.”
The pain of losing her father and the reality that he was gone returned with a vengeance, chasing away any humor she’d felt throughout the conversation. She was at peace with his death. Nothing that needed to be said had been left unsaid, and they had made their peace with one another. It didn’t make it hurt any less, though. William’s final months had been spent alone and hurting without the comfort of his only child to see him through because she had refused to believe he might have had good intentions. All could have been forgiven much earlier, but she would always regret that.
Still, as Eleanor watched her uncle return to the house to prepare for his return to London, she realized she wouldn’t change what had happened. If her father hadn’t done what he had, she might not have married Phillip, and she realized with a start that the idea of not marrying Phillip left her feeling as sad as the idea of being forced to wed him had once left her horrified and furious. Phillip was the man she needed to be with, the man she wanted to stand beside. Their path might have been hard, but she couldn’t find it in her to regret the hardships. After all, they had found contentment in adversity, so she had no doubt they would also find it in the days of companionship and friendship that lay ahead.