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“I’m curious as to the books they will be reading at the book club you will be joining.”

“Does that matter?” Eleanor asked, looking up at him curiously, and stirring her tea over and over absentmindedly with one hand. “You said I could attend. Are you telling me now that I can’t?”

“I’m only curious as to the books you will be reading.” Gabriel picked up his own cup and took a sip. “I’m making conversation.”

“Yet you sound as if you are interrogating me,” Eleanor shot back.

For a moment, a spark of defiance flickered in her tone. It triggered something in Gabriel. When they had argued, there had at least been passion. Was that better than to have complete agreement and submission?

“Then you are reading me wrong,” Gabriel told her calmly. “We are married, and I don’t wish to be one of those husbands who takes no interest in their wife’s affairs. I would like to know what you are doing so I can know you better. I don’t wish to interrogate you or anything else.”

“I don’t know what we will be reading at the group,” Eleanor stated.

“Then why didn’t you simply say that?” Gabriel pushed. He knew he was becoming petulant, but he had seen a flash of the woman he’d initially been drawn to.

“I don’t understand what you mean.” Eleanor continued to stir her tea.

“I asked what you would be reading, and you became defensive. You could have told me that you didn’t know, but you questioned my motives. Now, I am becoming more and more intrigued.”

“There is nothing to be intrigued about,” Eleanor stated, dropping her spoon into her cup with a tinkle. “Why would I need to say anything when there is nothing to say?”

“Why not say that?” Gabriel pushed.

“Why not say what?” Eleanor asked.

Gabriel was becoming riled, and he enjoyed it. He wanted to argue to make it feel like it had been between them previously.

“Why not say that in the first place, that you didn’t know what books they would be reading?”

Eleanor threw her arms up in the air. “We’re going around in circles now. I don’t know what they will be reading. Probably romance books or something like that. I can ask for a full list of books if you want to vet them before I open any.”

Gabriel placed his hands on the table and stood up. “Please listen to the words I’m saying, Eleanor! I don’t care what books you read and what activities you do. I don’t care when you purposely hide information from me that could lead to more scandal.”

Eleanor shot up to her feet. “So that is what this is about? You think that I’m going to do something scandalous? You blame me for everything, don’t you?”

“It took both of us to create the scandal,” Gabriel reminded her. “I am as much to blame as you are. More so. I instigated everything. If anyone should be annoyed, it should be you at me.”

“That’s so noble of you.” Eleanor shook her head. “You can take the blame if you wish, but I wanted it as much as you did. And society will blame me anyway, while you will come out of this looking good.”

“I don’t care about looking a certain way,” Gabriel said. “The scandal will never become public knowledge, and even if it did, I would shoulder the blame.”

“Oh, how noble again,” Eleanor snapped. “And when you shoulder the blame, there will be far fewer repercussions than if I were shouldering the blame, so it doesn’t really mean much, does it?”

“I’m getting sick of this,” Gabriel fumed. “I’ve tried to do right by you, and yet it means nothing to you, does it?”

“What?” Eleanor gasped. “You really think that all of this means nothing to me?”

“That’s how you’re acting,” Gabriel pointed out. “I didn’t have to do what I did, and I didn’t have to give you the wedding you deserved, and I don’t have to go out of my way to make your life pleasant, but I am trying, and you show me no respect or gratitude.”

“I…” Eleanor bit her bottom lip. She sighed. “That’s only because I am a fool.”

“You are no fool,” Gabriel told her. He moved from between the chair and the table to his wife. He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. He wanted to do more than that to comfort her, but was unsure what she wanted, both in that moment and in life. “You have a strength that many lack. You could not have gotten through this without that.”

“I just…” Eleanor began. Her voice broke as she spoke, and she swallowed. She struggled to look at Gabriel, but it was different this time.

“What is it?” Gabriel asked. “You can talk to me.”

“I’m struggling with…”