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Eleanor smiled and left the duke’s side, skipping over to her brother and wrapping her arms around him. It had only been a few weeks, but it felt like far longer. Still, he held her in the same familiar way, and he smelled exactly as she remembered.

“It’s so good to have you back, Nate,” Eleanor sighed.

After everything she had been through during the last twenty-four hours, it felt welcome to have the familiarity of her brother’s arms.

“It’s good to be back,” Nathaniel admitted. “I feel as if I have been away forever.”

“How did you do over there?” Eleanor asked. She came away from her brother, so they stood facing each other. She knew him well, and now that they were conversing freely, she couldn’t imagine how he could ever be upset with her or Gabriel.

“There is so much to tell you that we must sit down for supper some time, and I will discuss it with you, Ellie. You have such a good head on your shoulders that I might ask for your advice for when I am next over three.”

“You will return to France?” she asked. “When?”

“I am not sure. It seems that they like me and how I helped over there. We’re on the brink of war, but we’ve always been on the brink of war, and—now is not the time. We’ll have time to discuss all of that another day. For now, I wish to know how I can leave for a few weeks, not much more than two months, and return to my sister, wed to the man who was supposed to be overseeing her Season?”

“Nathaniel, I…” Eleanor started.

She felt a pull from behind her, an invisible connection to Gabriel that drew her back toward him and his side, a place where she hoped that he might better be able to explain the situation.

They couldn’t tell him exactly what happened, could they?

“Nobody thought to inform me that my best friend and my sister were to be married? I would have returned home for that,” Nathaniel said.

“I tried to get in contact with you, but there was no time,” Gabriel said calmly.

“No time?” Nathaniel asked. The corners of his mouth twitched. “I don’t understand the rush. I couldn’t get a message back quickly enough that I was returning, but I didn’t think I needed to. Then, I returned as quickly as possible to find that you got married only the day before. I’m sure there is a very good reason for the haste, and I would like an explanation for that, Your Grace.”

Eleanor quickly took Gabriel’s hand. “Please, Nate, don’t be mad at him, at us. Everything is fine.”

“Then there shall be no problem, then,” Nathaniel followed up. “I am well within my rights to receive an explanation for the rashness, don’t you think?”

“Of course,” Eleanor agreed. “We’re not trying to hide anything from you, Nate. I’ll admit that everything was rushed, but that wasn’t because we wanted to hide anything, and I had no idea when you would return. We haven’t heard a word from you in some time, and I will admit that I was worried for you.”

Nathaniel nodded slowly. “That is something we can talk about when we have the time, but that is not the topic of conversation at the moment. I know when you don’t want to talk about something, Ellie. The more you speak like this, the more I will believe you are hiding something.”

Eleanor gripped the duke’s hand tighter and looked toward him.

“If there is any fault in the matter, it is entirely mine, Nathaniel,” Gabriel stated. “I⁠—”

“No, it is ours,” Eleanor cut in.

“I will explain,” Gabriel told her firmly.

“Well, you certainly bicker like a married couple, and what has it been?” Nathaniel feigned taking a pocket watch out and looking at it. “A little under a day you have been wed?”

“Your sister is a fine woman, but a hard one to have a conversation with without it turning into an argument,” Gabriel said.

Eleanor was about to respond to that, but her brother beat her to it.

“Don’t I know that?” Nathaniel agreed.

“Are we discussing our marriage or my character?” Eleanor asked.

“Nothing improper was ever intended,” Gabriel stated, taking back control of the situation. “I take full responsibility for how Eleanor’s Season ended, but I put the blame firmly in your court, Nathaniel.”

“Oh?” Nathaniel raised an eyebrow.

“It was that darned list of yours.” Gabriel produced a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. “Lemon cakes, climbing trees, fun, arguing, and all of that. I have the darned list burned into my memory now.”