He had to try.
Because the alternative—letting Eleanor walk away, losing her forever—was suddenly, devastatingly unacceptable.
Chapter fifteen
Reconnaissance
Aubrey had less than two weeks to prove to Eleanor that he was capable of being the husband she deserved, to learn everything about the woman he had married.
Aubrey reached for the bell pull and rang it with decision.
A footman appeared within moments. "My lord?"
"Send for Mrs Williams. Immediately."
The housekeeper arrived with obvious apprehension, her hands clasped tightly at her waist. No doubt she had heard about Michael Midleton's visit and was bracing herself for whatever came next.
"Mrs Williams." Aubrey gestured to the chair beside his bed. "Please, sit. I need your help."
She sat gingerly, perched on the edge of the chair as though prepared to flee at any moment. "Of course, my lord."
"I need to know about my wife." The words felt strange in his mouth. "Everything. Her routines. Her preferences. What makes her happy. What she reads. What she eats. How she spends her days." He met thehousekeeper's eyes directly. "I realise this request must seem absurd, given that I should already know these things. But I do not. And I need to learn. Quickly."
"She likes music," Mrs Williams said softly. "Though we rarely hear her play anymore. In the first months after your marriage, she would play the pianoforte in the evenings. Beautifully. But eventually she stopped. Said there was no point in playing for an empty room."
No point in playing for an empty room. Aubrey swallowed the lump in his throat.
They talked for another half hour. Aubrey learned that Eleanor took her tea with honey, not sugar. That she had a small garden behind the house where she grew herbs for the stillroom. That in the first month after their wedding, she had set a place for him at dinner every night. Had dressed carefully. Had waited in the dining room, sometimes for hours, in case he might arrive.
And then, eventually, she had stopped.
By the time Mrs Williams left, Aubrey felt as though he had been flayed open.
He reached for paper and pen from his bedside table where Eleanor had thoughtfully provided writing materials along with the books and began composing a letter to his mother.
He sealed the letter and set it aside to be posted. Then he reached for another sheet of paper and wrote a far more difficult message.
Kedleston,
I realise this request will seem extraordinary given our... history. But I need to speak with you. About Eleanor. I need to understand who she is, what matters to her, what I should have knownall along.
I know you care for her. I know you have been her friend when I was not. I know you have every reason to refuse this request.
But if you can bring yourself to help me, to tell me about the woman I married, I would be grateful beyond measure.
I will be available at your convenience. I am, as you may have heard, temporarily unable to leave this bedroom.
Madeley
That letter he gave to a footman with instructions to deliver it immediately to the Kedleston estate.
Then Aubrey pulled the bell again.
Liz arrived with the wariness of a woman prepared to defend her sister. "Lord Madeley. My husband says you have been having revelations."
"I have. And I need your help."
She did not sit. "Why should I help you?"
