His eyes roamed her features before he spoke.
“My reason for returning to Stratton is twofold, Duchess.” She looked up at him, silently waiting for him to continue. “Firstly, I wish you to return to London with me.”
“But I had thought my life would be here.”
Daniel saw that the idea of going to London did not sit well with her. In fact, it terrified her.
“You are my duchess and under my protection and it is time for you to take your rightful place in society.”
“But I was not born into society, your Grace, and have no idea how to behave amongst them.”
Her words were calm, yet her eyes told another story. The deep blue depths were anxious.
“My grandmother told me you were tutored in what was required, Duchess, and I shall be with you to help ease your path.”
“Wh-what was the second reason?”
Daniel decided to leave the subject for now, there would be plenty of time to discuss it further over the coming days.
“I want us to have a child.”
He knew it was what she wanted and knew it had been wrong of him to deny her simply because he wanted to thwart both his father and hers by not having an heir.
“You want to have a child?
Daniel saw the flare of hope that accompanied her words.
“Do you wish to have a child?” he countered.
She bit into the soft flesh of her lower lip and he had the urge to lean forward and kiss her. “I do wish it, your Grace, with all my heart.” It was a solemn vow. “And are you no longer angry, your Grace?”
Daniel briefly closed his eyes at her question, remembering how she had begged him not to take her in anger. “I have promised to never touch you in anger, Duchess.”
For some reason, the intensity in her eyes made Daniel hold his breath. He released it when she nodded.
“Will you want to…I mean will you come to my room tonight?”
He wanted to, Lord how he wanted to, yet Daniel knew she needed time to grow comfortable around him.
“Not tonight, Duchess, go to your bed and I shall see you in the morning.”
He watched her go, following the sway of her hips and then she was gone. Shaking his head, Daniel poured himself another drink and went to stare into the fire. He thought to find his timid, dowdy duchess threatened and scared by Huxley, yet he had found a woman whose beauty rivaled many, a woman who still feared yet had grown strong enough to face those fears. A woman he now wanted.
CHAPTER FIVE
Eva usually woke early and this morning was no different. After a night spent tossing and turning over her husband’s unexpected return and his reasons why, she was eager to leave her bed.
Pulling on a pair of Reggie’s breeches, she then stomped her feet into boots. Eva only wore the breeches in the morning when she was sure no one would see her. Riding astride was wonderful, yet she was not foolish enough to do so at any other time of day. Buttoning up the jacket from her riding habit, she quickly plaited her hair and tied a ribbon around the ends. She didn’t think her husband or Lord Kelkirk would rise until late morning, so there would be plenty of time to change before she saw them again.
She tiptoed down the stairs, walked to the front door and picked up the small basket sitting beside it, then opened and closed it softly behind her. The sun was beginning to rise and the ground smelt fresh and crisp as Eva made her way to the stables. She had tried to persuade Holby that she was more than capable of saddling Posy and that he could stay in bed but he would not hear of it. Therefore it was a blurry-eyed boy that greeted her as she walked into the stables.
“Good morning, Holby.”
He mumbled something which Eva knew from experience was his greeting. She did not engage him in further conversation, but once he had finished tightening Posy’s girth, she handed him the piece of jam and bread she had Mrs. Stimpel place beside the front door every morning.
“Thank you, Holby. Now go back to bed.” Eva gave the boy’s arm a gentle pat as she nudged him toward the loft he had crawled out off. Minutes later, she was leaving the stables.
Little puffs of white formed in the air as Posy snorted her pleasure at the exercise she knew she was about to have. Eva had ridden many of the vast acres that made up Stratton and she never tired of her morning rides. Sometimes she rode up hills, other times she followed the stream. There were tracks she galloped down, too, and this morning, she chose one of those. Gathering the reins, she gave the mare a gentle nudge with her heels and she sprang forward. Eva loved the freedom of galloping - the wind in her face, just her and Posy as they raced over the ground. She laughed as Posy stuck out her neck, eager to run and stretch her long legs.
