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Eleanor swallowed before answering. “Yes.”

Gabriel took Eleanor by the shoulders. She looked up at him quickly, but didn’t try to shake off his grasp.

“We’ve been in a room together for only a few minutes, and we have found the time to argue at every chance. Can you imagine if we were wed to each other and had to spend even more time together?”

Gabriel meant the words to come off as lighthearted, but he could see from the way she looked up at him that she was considering the prospect. Her silence through all of this made him want to speak, but he didn’t have any words.

He moved even closer toward her, his body aching to taste the lips he had looked at earlier.

Eleanor froze. Did she want the same, or was she terrified of what he was about to do?

It would be so easy to press his lips to hers and devour her, but the maid! The maid would walk in at any moment. That was still not enough to stop him, and the soft, dewy look in her eyes was like a beacon, guiding him in.

Gabriel tightened his grip before pushing her back a step and away from him. He turned from her, composing himself before turning back to her, lest she think she had unearthed something in him.

“I shall have any invitations rerouted to my residence so I can check them before they go to you,” he said quickly. “I shall approve them and send them on. That is how things will be, and I don’t want to hear any more about it.”

“Y—yes, of course,” Eleanor said, shaken by what had almost happened. “We will have a chance to discuss this at a more convenient time.”

Anger flared up in Gabriel’s stomach at the weakness he had almost given in to. He had let the fire between them seep into his bones and push him into doing something he would surely have regretted.

No matter how good it might have been.

“You will do as I tell you, or else,” he told her. “That is how things will be, and we can get through the Season with no further argument. Is that clear?”

“Yes, of course,” Eleanor managed.

Did her eyes move to his lips this time? Gabriel didn’t stay to consider it. He flew from the room, almost bumping into the maid as she entered.

CHAPTER 4

“He is the most insufferable, stubborn, overbearing, and infuriating man I have ever met.” Eleanor placed a hand on her chest. “Not that I have met many men, but I know there cannot be any men as awful as he is. Obey! He wants me to obey him, and if I step out of line, then he will… He will surely do something that will make my life even worse than it already is. I scarcely know what to do.”

There was a brief silence when she was done.

Two other ladies sat at the table in the conservatory with her. Her mother had returned from a ladies’ luncheon, and she was still tipsy on champagne. Margaret stared at the window with a dreamy expression on her face. Eleanor could not be sure if she heard a word.

Lady Charlotte Pembroke listened with barely contained glee and growing amusement at everything Eleanor said. She leaned forward with her elbows on the table, her head resting on her hands, and her arm perilously close to the teacup set at the edge of the table.

“Still, a duke!” Charlotte gushed.

“Lottie,” Eleanor complained. “That is what I’m trying to tell you. My first London Season, and I am to be chaperoned by a duke with a reputation for being one of the most intimidating men in London. If you’d told me that, I would be very excited at the prospect indeed. I would think myself very lucky. However, you have not met him. I spoke to him for barely five minutes, and he made it quite clear that I was a burden to him, and that if I didn’t do as he said, then I… I still don’t know what he will do. However, he will do something, and it won’t be pleasant. He is intimidating, and it seems he has agreed with my brother that he will do his best to irritate and anger me.”

Eleanor looked the tiered cake platter up and down before grabbing a lemon tart. She brought it to her mouth but stopped, unsure whether she really needed another. She was only taking it to wash away the bad taste in her mouth. She thrust it back toward the platter before changing her mind once more and took a bite before placing the rest of it down on her plate.

“What did your brother have to say about it?” Charlotte asked. “He is a good friend of His Grace, is he not? I bet he sided with His Grace. I know what men are like when they are together. Thick as thieves, they are, and they band together even when they know they are in the wrong. Still, we know how much Nathaniel dotes on you. He would put you first over His Grace, wouldn’t he? He must have said something about the behavior.”

Eleanor ran her teeth over her bottom lip. She glanced over at the maid and gave a slight nod.

No one spoke as the maid came to the table with the teapot and refilled two cups. Margaret had not yet touched her tea, and continued to stare lazily at the open window.

Once the cups had been refilled and the maid had returned to her spot by the tea cart, Eleanor cleared her throat. She leaned in toward Charlotte and glanced at her mother, who looked off in a world of her own.

Charlotte stared back with wide, green eyes, hungry for more information on the duke.

“You can’t tell anyone else about this, or they may not let me attend any events this Season,” Eleanor said.

Charlotte leaned in closer, licking her lips and removing the powdered sugar that had rested there since she had eaten cinnamon-spiced fried bread.