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“Good.” The duke clapped his hands together and then kept them clasped. “Your visitors, or Lady Charlotte’s visitors, have arrived and are in the sun room.” He paused a moment. “Is there anything else you need from me?”

Eleanor stared into his eyes. Perhaps there were other things she wanted from him, but what could she really ask for? Still, something in the way he looked at her suggested he wanted more.

They hadn’t been left alone, but if they had, would Gabriel have had his way with her? They were to be married, and it was traditional to wait until the wedding night, but that had not stopped him before. The wedding was only two days away, but that felt like a long time to wait for more of what she had already tasted.

Eleanor held his gaze, hoping to challenge him into kissing her in front of everyone in the hall. It would be out of place, but also not unexpected. They were supposed to be in love, after all, or if not in love, have serious feelings for each other.

“I don’t know how we should act at the wedding,” Eleanor said. “We want everyone to believe that our relationship is real. What is it that you expect from me on the wedding day?”

“We don’t need to be anything else other than who we are, and if anyone has a problem with it, then that’s their problem. You’ll understand that better with time. I don’t care what people think, and I have enough respect that people don’t often talk about what they think of me. You will have that too, now. They might think things, but they won’t say them. You are to be the duchess, and that brings certain benefits.”

“I don’t really know how to act as a duchess,” Eleanor admitted. “It scares me a little to know that I will let you down.”

Gabriel smiled sweetly at her. He placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head a little, and Eleanor almost wept with how close she felt to him in that moment. She brought up her hand to lightly touch his and keep his touch on her.

His words caressed her just as tenderly.

“You won’t let me down, Eleanor. And you’re wrong about what it means to be a duchess. You must keep being who you are, and when people see that, they will know what it means to be a duchess. You’re not to conform to being a duchess; the title will conform to whoever you are, and I know you are a fine and fierce woman. I do not wish you to change.”

Eleanor felt her heart swell. “Thank you, Gabriel.”

He still had a finger under her chin, and he brought his thumb up to stroke her cheek. Eleanor almost turned her head and kissed his hand, but she refrained.

She still didn’t know his true feelings, but she knew something was there. Was that the basis for a loving marriage, or the basis for what she had supposed she wanted for so long?

Her heart ached for him to love her, for his lips to part and the words to come tumbling out.

The duke took his hand from her face, looked past her into the hall, and nodded at what he saw.

“The hall is looking resplendent. I can’t wait to see how it looks when you are both done.” Gabriel smiled. “Thank you for helping with the decorations, Lady Charlotte.”

“I am happy to be here, Your Grace,” Charlotte said. “The wedding will be wonderful.”

Gabriel nodded, then turned from Eleanor and walked out of the hall.

Eleanor watched him go.

“Your guests have arrived,” Eleanor told Charlotte, trying to keep the sadness from her voice.

“You sound nervous,” Charlotte said as she put down the tangle of ribbons.

“I am,” Eleanor confirmed. It was better for Lottie to think that.

“Our guests will soon cheer you up,” Charlotte gushed. “I can’t wait for you to meet them all. We will have tea and cakes, and when you have met them, I’m sure you will want to come to one of their meetings. I feel so free after attending them.”

“That sounds nice,” Eleanor admitted.

She and Charlotte left the hall and went to the sun room. She was to be married to Gabriel, but she had some freedom with that. When Charlotte had suggested they host the ladies at the duke’s residence so they didn’t have to leave and come back to decorate more, Eleanor had run it by Gabriel. He had agreed to it without questioning her.

That felt like freedom.

When they reached the sun room, the guests had been seated, and two maids were serving up tea and cakes.

Charlotte took some time to introduce everyone to Eleanor. She had met Augusta Whitlock at the breakfast, and they were reintroduced before Eleanor was introduced to Penny Beaumont, Harriet Vaughn, Sarah Sinclair, and Cordelia Finch, who spoke so quietly it was barely a whisper.

“Eleanor, thank you for hosting in your beautiful home,” Augusta said.

“It is not my home,” Eleanor admitted.