Page 80 of Duke in Darkness

They didn’t speak for the rest of the journey home, nor when they entered the townhouse, or made their way upstairs.

Until his wife reached the door of her bedchamber.

“I have a terrible headache,” she whispered, her eyes huge shadowed pools. “I think perhaps a tray—”

“Eat where…you wish, Lilian. Sleep where you wish. It matters not…to me,” he said coldly.

Lilian closed her eyes briefly, then sank into a deep curtsy. “Your Grace.”

She didn’t slam her door, yet it still sounded like a crack of thunder in the stillness of the candlelit hallway.

Leaning heavily on his cane, Gabriel continued on to his own bedchamber, the space vast and quiet and bleak.

Alone again.

CHAPTER 19

N ever had she felt at such a loss.

Rubbing her temples in an attempt to quell the headache threatening to unleash, Lilian gazed around the main townhouse parlor. It gleamed like a new penny—not a speck of dust could be seen, the floor had been thoroughly swept and mopped, the windows scrubbed, the furniture polished, and fireplaces cleaned out.

And yet that achievement didn’t matter, not when her month-long marriage was failing right before her eyes.

She’d lain awake all night alone in her bed, unable to get warm. The sense of isolation had been unbearable, and her mind had wanted to torment her repeatedly with memories of the wretched musicale, and the tense, awful aftermath in the carriage when Gabriel had quite rightly taken her to task for it.

Everything he said had been true, and her excuses so flimsy. Instead of taking a stand as Lili Exton, of making it clear that as a married woman her first loyalty was to her husband and she would not permit a word of slander about his army service, or receive anyone who spoke such slander, she had reverted to being little Lilian Nash.

Grandmother only had the clout that others gave her. And if a duchess, a blasted duchess continued to behave as an inferior, nothing would ever change and the wedge that had been driven between her and her husband would only grow wider and deeper.

“You look like a woman in desperate need of some fresh air.”

Startled, Lilian’s head jerked to the doorway to see an entirely unexpected visitor: the plump and pretty Emily Castlereagh. Someone who actually knew how to be a loyal and devoted wife.

“My lady! I…er…”

“Do forgive the intrusion. Norris did instruct me to wait while he located you, but because I am shockingly inquisitive, I decided to poke my nose in for a peek at the furnishings. And here you are. That will teach me. Robert will roll his eyes and say ‘I told you so’ when I share the story later.”

“Can I assist you with something?” said Lilian, both confused and bemused at having such an illustrious guest arrive unannounced, and be so warm and friendly after the debacle in her home.

“Yes, you can. But it is surprisingly pleasant outside, and as I said, you look in need of fresh air. I recognize the expression, as I tend to look the same when I have been trapped inside a ship cabin or carriage for too long. I do so love to visit foreign places, but the act of travelling is rather tiresome. Shall we stroll?”

Soon the two ladies were crossing the paved footpath toward the large green expanse at the center of Grosvenor Square, and Lilian tilted her head back so the warm rays of the afternoon sun might reach under her bonnet. “You are quite right. I did need this.”

Lady Castlereagh hesitated. “Tell me to go to the devil if you wish, but…is all well between you and Exton? I know we are little more than acquaintances right now, but his late mother was such a dear friend of mine, and I feel a maternal fondness toward him, and by extension, you.”

Lilian sighed and clasped her hands together. “I take it you heard about the musicale.”

“Yes,” said the older woman bluntly. “Sir Roger is a walking, talking scandal sheet, and he considered the handshake a triumph for his opinion. Oh, my dear, I hope you won’t be offended, but what your grandmother did was wrong. Perhaps Lady Kingsford had good intentions, but no man should be cornered into making friends with his slanderer. Least of all a man who gave so much and suffered so terribly for his country.”

“I know. And…I-I don’t believe Grandmother had good intentions. I’m ashamed of myself for the part I played. Instead of halting the nonsense, I asked him to shake Sir Roger’s hand for me. And he did.”

Lady Castlereagh patted her arm as they paused near some emerald-green shrubbery. “Because he cares. And I suspect you care also. Very much.”

“I do,” she whispered achingly. “Gabriel…Exton, that is, is a husband I dared not hope for. He treats me as an equal. Is exceedingly generous. Patiently answers my questions, and, er, teaches me things I did not know before. Very nice things.”

The viscountess burst out laughing, making the short curls around her face bounce. “I am delighted and relieved to hear it. Harmony in the marital chamber is the cornerstone of a strong union, in my humble opinion.”

“You and his lordship always seem so happy together. It is something to aspire to.”