Eliza looked at him sadly. Nathaniel turned sharply away.
“I will not risk her future,” he said, already moving toward the door, “because you prefer hopeful interpretations.”
The door opened abruptly beneath his hand.
“Your marriage is safe,” he said without looking back. “Your future is secured. That was my responsibility.”
“And Margaret?”
Nathaniel paused for only a moment.
“She will never suffer for my mistakes.”
Then he left. The door shut behind him with more force than he intended. Nathaniel strode down the narrow hall toward the waiting carriage, anger still burning sharp in his chest.
Love, Eliza had said. He gripped his gloves tightly as the carriage door closed behind him.
Love had never been part of the arrangement, and he intended to keep it that way.
The ride back from the small house beyond London had done little to settle his temper. The carriage wheels had turned steadily through the fading afternoon, but his thoughts had remained sharp and restless.
By the time Ravensmere House appeared beyond the trees, dusk had begun to gather across the grounds. A footman opened the carriage door before he had fully descended.
“Your Grace.”
Nathaniel removed his gloves slowly.
“Is the Duchess within?”
The footman hesitated.
“Not at present, Your Grace.”
Nathaniel’s brow lowered slightly.
“Not at present?”
“Mrs. Hill may know where she is, Your Grace, but I do not.”
Nathaniel stepped into the entrance hall, the familiar quiet greeting him as it always did. Mrs. Hill appeared almost immediately, as though she had anticipated the question.
“You have returned, Your Grace.”
“Yes.” He handed her his gloves. “Where is my wife?”
Mrs. Hill accepted them without comment.
“Her Grace is near the stables.”
“Alone?”
“With a groom nearby,” she said calmly. “She expressed an interest in seeing the horses.”
That was unexpected.
“Thank you.”
He turned at once toward the rear entrance that led across the courtyard. The evening air greeted him as he stepped outside, cooler now that the sun had nearly disappeared. The stables stood beyond the gravel path, lanterns already lit along the wooden beams.
