Eleanor did not pull away.
When he drew back, her eyes locked on his, wide and bright with something that made his breath catch. There was a fire behind his gaze now, unmistakable and barely restrained, as though something in him had shifted from control to vigilance.
She whispered, “May a duchess do as she pleases?”
His jaw tightened faintly. “Within reason.”
The answer was measured, careful, entirely James.
Eleanor’s gaze fell briefly, then lifted again. “I have not seen Arabella since the wedding, save for a moment at church.”
His expression flickered.
“I have not written,” she continued. “I have not called on anyone. I am… alone here, except for you. On our bridal tour.”
James exhaled slowly. “You are not alone.”
“I am,” she said gently. “You leave at night. You eat in your study. You have built this house around me like a corridor that does not quite connect.”
Impatience crept into his posture. “Then tell me what you want.”
She hesitated, surprised by the sharpness of his tone.
“I will grant nearly anything,” he added, tension edging his voice. “Just say it plainly.”
Eleanor searched his face, the set of his mouth, the restrained urgency in his eyes.
“I want you,” she said quietly, “to sit with me in the mornings.”
He blinked.
“Breakfast,” she clarified. “Every day. With me. Not in your study. Not in your chambers. With me.”
James stared at her as if he had expected a far more dangerous request.
“That is all,” she added.
The silence that followed was heavy, but not unkind.
He nodded once. “Very well.”
Relief loosened something in her chest that she had not realized had been clenched.
“Every morning,” he said.
Eleanor’s lips curved faintly. “Thank you.”
James stepped back, his hands dropping to his sides, his composure sliding back into place like armor. But his gaze lingered on her for a long moment longer than necessary.
“You will meet with Mrs. Hargreaves,” he said, regaining his formal cadence. “And the steward.”
“I will,” Eleanor replied.
“And you will not clean my study again.”
Her mouth twitched. “I will not.”
He inclined his head slightly. “Good, and Eleanor?”
