Marina nodded. “Naturally,” she said. Her mind was full of questions about his daughter and his previous marriage—he must have had one, unless this child was illegitimate. Did the ton not know about her? Bethany found great fun in recounting all of the gossip that circulated around the ton, but she had never mentioned anything about the Heartless Duke having a daughter!
Luckily, she managed to repress these questions. The last thing she wanted was to anger him by asking impertinent questions about what had to be a sensitive subject.
Evan did not seem to notice her inner turmoil at all. He continued speaking. “I need to make some things clear, Ms. Shirley. I am getting married for the sake of providing a stable environment for my daughter. To achieve that, I believe there should be nothing else between us. There will be no romance, no social duty to attend or host balls, and I will not be needing heirs any time soon. Our relationship will begin and end with sharing the responsibility in raising Lilly.”
His speech left a sour taste in her mouth, even as she could only stare at him with shock. No romance?I certainly did not want such a thing from him, of course. But…never?
She had never considered before that by marrying him, there would be no whispered flirtations, or stolen kisses, or even casual, affectionate touches like holding hands. All of the things that she and Amelia had giggled and blushed over when reading romance novels would be out of her grasp forever.
His brow furrowed. “Are you well? You look pale.”
“Quite well, Your Grace.” She managed to force out the clipped answer even though her mind swirled with thoughts.I never considered what I would be giving up by agreeing to this marriage.
“I wanted to make the conditions clear because I did not want any misunderstandings between us. I assumed this would be welcome news for you.” His voice was calm, but he could not quite hide the confusion on his face.
Marina cleared her throat. “Pardon?”
He took a step forward and spoke louder. “I wanted to make?—”
“No, I heard you,” she said quickly before he repeated himself. She crossed her arms in front of her as she forced herself to focus on the present again.
“You said ‘pardon’.”
“I meantelaborate.Why did you assume a loveless, unsentimental marriage would be welcome news for me?”
“Why wouldn’t it be? I’m clearly not your first choice for a husband. Marrying me is only slightly more tolerable than exile in America. A partnership without romance surely is preferable to faking affection.” He said it matter-of-factly, as if such a future did not bother him in the slightest.
She turned away from him. “You are…right. I appreciate your candor. I suppose I am still adjusting to my new future as your duchess. This happened quickly.”
“You could always try your chances in America if it’s love you’re after.” From anyone else, his words would have been mocking. But he said it as if he was just trying to give a helpful suggestion.
She thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. “Thank you, but I prefer to only make a fool out of myself on one continent instead of two.”
Perhaps I wanted love in a marriage, but the chances of that were quickly eliminated when I was exposed to a whole party’s worth of people. There’s no point pining after the impossible.
A dog’s bark broke her out of her thoughts. She looked to see Prince William barrel down the path. He stopped and jumped on Evan’s leg for a moment before going to sniff at Marina’s skirt. She smiled softly at the little pup.
Evan looked up at the sky. “It is starting to get cloudy, and it will be cold soon. We should go inside, or you will get sick.”
Why should he care if I get sick?Marina wanted to respond, but it felt like the words were stuck in her throat, and her feet felt frozen to the path. She was still thinking about what he said. Despite being married, they would have nothing between them except co-parenting a young girl. Not even social appearances together.
It felt so cold and lonely.I have spent my life trying to be invisible and quiet to escape my mother’s wrath. Now it appears my husband will also want me to be invisible to him unless it has to do with his daughter.
To her surprise, tears burned her eyes for a moment. She blinked them away, hoping he did not see them.
Evan’s brow furrowed in concern. “I do not want you to get sick,” he said. He unbuttoned his jacket and slid it off his shoulders. He held it out to her, but Marina did not move, so he put it around her shoulders.
Evan watched her for another moment before turning to go back to the manor.
Marina hugged the jacket around herself. She felt cold, but it had nothing to do with the weather. She caught a whiff of Evan’s clean scent, which still clung to the jacket. It was strangely comforting, but that only confused her more, because she doubted she would ever get this much care or affection from him again.
He probably just didn’t want his daughter’s future mother to begin her duties bedridden.
She groaned as she started to walk to the manor. Finishing school would have been less complicated than whatever she was feeling now.
As she approached the manor, she thought she saw movement from one of the third-floor windows. She glanced up just in time to see a small face disappearing behind a curtain. Lilly.
Chapter Eight
