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“What?” Gabriel asked.

“There’s so much,” Eleanor admitted, her goggles turning into laughter. “Did you try to start an argument with me at breakfast this morning?”

Gabriel burst into a booming laugh, his stomach pressing into hers more. He nodded through the laughter.

“When you arrived in the breakfast room this morning looking meek and submissive, I wondered where the woman I had married had gone, and I tried to bring her back.”

Gabriel laughed again. “I know from some of our interactions in the past that we connect very well when we are arguing with each other. So, yes, I tried to start an argument with you.”

“Well, you weren’t very good at it,” Eleanor laughed.

“You weren’t very good at being goaded into an argument,” Gabriel said, laughing with her.

Eleanor leaned forward and kissed Gabriel again. They pressed their lips together, then pulled apart.

“I’m glad that’s not who you’ve become,” Gabriel admitted. “I couldn’t deal with a woman like that. I love how you challenge me. I want that in my life.”

“Well, don’t worry about that,” Eleanor told him.

Gabriel ran his thumb over her lips again. “You know, it might have been funny if not for the fact that it was incredibly frustrating. Looking back now, I can laugh about it, but that was the last thing I wanted to do this morning.”

“I don’t ever want to be like that,” Eleanor admitted.

“And you’ll never need to be,” the duke told her. “I mean it when I say you have freedom in this marriage. You will always be mine, but you will always be who you are, too. If I didn’t want to be with you, I wouldn’t. I do want to be with you, and that means being with the person you are. Why do you think I tried to goad you into an argument?”

Eleanor leaned in again and pressed her lips gently to her husband’s for a short kiss.

“You are the first man who makes me want to be myself,” Eleanor admitted. “Perhaps others have claimed it, but you have shown it. You want me to be exactly who I am, and you want to be with me when I am me. I know I am not the easiest to get along with at times, but⁠—”

“Isn’t that the truth?” Gabriel interrupted with a smirk.

Eleanor’s lips twisted into a smile, and she slapped the duke on the back.

“I mean, yes, it’s true,” Eleanor admitted, “but that doesn’t mean you need to say it.”

Gabriel’s head snapped back as he let out a chuckle.

“I’m not the easiest to get along with, except for when I am getting along with you,” Eleanor admitted. “I don’t know if that is a compliment or not.”

“It’s the truth, and any relationship worth its salt should be rooted in the truth,” Gabriel told her.

“Yes, it should,” Eleanor agreed.

They stared into each other’s eyes, taking a moment. A pure moment between them.

Eleanor had hoped for what the duke might feel toward her, and now she had confirmation of what she had always wanted. She stared deep into Gabriel’s deep blue eyes. They were like a calm sea after a storm. His pupils widened slightly. Small flecks of green shimmered within the blue. Eleanor could have stared into his eyes for a long time, finding small differences between them.

But as he stared back at her, looking deep into her soul, she knew they wouldn’t stay there much longer. She knew she was almost ready to be fully with Gabriel, no matter how much that scared her. The nervousness slowly turned into excitement. Gabriel hadn’t said it out loud, but Eleanor knew he would help guide her through everything in life.

“What if we have nothing to argue about now?” Eleanor asked.

Gabriel let out another laugh. “I’m sure we’ll find something to argue about. I have a hunch that we are going to have friction together, and that we’ll work it out together.”

“In my favor, of course,” Eleanor added.

“We’ll see about that,” Gabriel said.

“Oh, we will see about that,” Eleanor pushed. “I will⁠—”