The door closed softly behind him, and James walked down the corridor with his heart pounding and his discipline shaken, knowing with absolute certainty that he had already crossed a line he had sworn never to approach.
CHAPTER 15
Eleanor arrived at breakfast late.
Not by accident.
She lingered in her room longer than necessary, smoothing her gown twice, braiding her hair more carefully than she had in days, and staring at her own reflection as though the glass might tell her whether she had changed overnight.
She had.
She felt it in the strange awareness of her own body, in the faint, restless warmth beneath her skin, in the way memory clung to her thoughts like perfume that would not quite fade.
By the time she entered the dining room, James was already seated.
He had not waited for her.
That, in itself, stung more than it should have.
He sat with his coat perfectly arranged, his posture precise, his attention on the paper in his hand as though the world was exactly as it had always been. He did not look up when she entered.
Eleanor paused.
Then she crossed the room and took her seat across from him.
“Husband,” she said softly.
James glanced up. “Wife.”
No hesitation. No awkwardness. No sign at all that he had stood in her room the night before, his hands warm on her skin, his voice low in her ear.
As though nothing had happened.
As though it had only happened to her.
Eleanor lowered her gaze to her plate, her appetite gone. She took a sip of tea that tasted of nothing and forced herself to breathe steadily.
They ate in silence.
The clink of cutlery against porcelain sounded far too loud in the stillness. Eleanor’s eyes prickled, and she blinked hard, determined not to let moisture gather where it did not belong.
James folded his paper, set it aside, and finally spoke.
“The land agent from Ashbourne Hall is expected this morning,” he said. “I will be occupied with him for most of the day.”
Eleanor nodded, her throat tight.
“We will also begin preparations for our departure to the country seat,” he added, voice even. “The weather is favorable, and the roads are passable.”
Her gaze lifted at that. “We are leaving now?”
“Yes.”
Eleanor hesitated. “But the Season has only just begun.”
He did not look at her as he replied. “We are already wed. We are not required to attend the Season. We have no reason to stay.”
He is not telling me something.
