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“Looks are not the whole story, Duchess. Just do as I ask, and stay away. You have a whole mansion to play with in regard to decorating and exploring, if you so wish.”

And despite her curiosity rising achingly, Eloise nodded. “Then, if I abide⁠—”

“Which you will⁠—”

Eloise ignored that. “Then I am to instigate a rule of my own. Do not keep me in the dark about anything. I wrote to you once for help because I know the sort of things you can find about a person. You knew plenty about Lord Sarling, so I only ask that if there is anything you know of people I care about, or even yourself, that I find out before anything terrible happens.”

“And what do you think could happen?” The duke looked almost amused.

“I do not know,” Eloise said, a little frustrated. “But I am tired of not knowing a person’s whole story. Or enough of a story to know what I am getting into.”

For a long moment, her husband was quiet.

Until he nodded, his hands at his sides, loose and unclenched. “All right. Fine.”

“I also would like free rein,” she added. “I do not wish to feel restricted here, so if there is any place other than the lighthouse⁠—”

“The mansion is yours to explore,” he promised. “Just do not bring unannounced visitors here, even Lady Nancy. In turn, I shall tell you when I have guests.”

“You have guests to invite?” She did not know why, but the notion surprised her.

The duke’s eyes narrowed. “I do, and I will, if I so wish.”

Eloise swallowed, nodding. “Then, what of my father and the business plan you offered?”

“He will wait.” The duke said that with so much certainty that Eloise believed it.

Again, she nodded, a little scared to ask her next question, but she forced herself to.

“You said we shall discuss the terms of our marriage,” she found the courage to say. “So what of heirs? That is my biggest concern.”

“Concern that you think I will force you, or that you want children but not with me? Or that you do, and think I will not? There are too many variables here, Duchess. Be clear.”

“Well, a married couple—and a duke and duchess, at that—are expected to produce an heir, and a spare. I…” Eloise felt her face screw up, uncomfortable with the concept of a spare, when that would be a life worth as much as an heir’s, as much as her own.

“You, what?”

“I would just like to know where I stand in regard to this.”

“I will not force you to do anything with me,” the duke stated firmly. “That is my only stance. Do not press it.”

“Then… at least let me explain,” she said, almost a plea. Her husband nodded, so she continued. “I originally wanted children. I have a lot of knowledge, a lot of love that I always imagined passing onto children of my own, but only if I had a love match.”

“A love match?” The duke’s brow raised as if such a thing was strange to him.

Eloise nodded, her eyes flicking to those models in the cabinet. Her heart fluttered, imagining herself perched on the railing of such a model, life-sized, on the waves of the sea, the boat skipping each current and riding as wildly as it could go.

“Yes, a love match,” she affirmed. “I would never want a child to be brought up in a…” She hesitated. “Well, you may have garnered my parents’ relationship. My father is focused entirely on his business, and my mother cares only for social status. I was distant from them as well, as much as they are from themselves, no matter how well they play at the perfect couple in public. I could not, I really could not, in good faith, bring a child into such an arrangement. With this—with us—being a convenient arrangement… a child deserves an affectionate, loving home, so without that, I will not bear a child.”

After a moment, the duke nodded. He held out a hand, and Eloise blinked for a moment before she realized she was supposed to shake it. She fought the urge to curtesy, as her mother had told her to do in the face of men. Instead, she held a steady hand to his, clasping his hand, and shook it.

“We have another agreement, then,” her husband confirmed.

As soon as her fingers met his, caught in the up-and-down motion of the shake, Eloise jolted. In tandem, the duke stilled. But his eyes had gone distant, and Eloise wasn’t certain she was any more present.

“And you?” she dared to whisper. “What of your thoughts on heirs?”

Bluntly, the Duke answered, “I always wished for my lineage to die with me. I do not wish for a love match, nor do I think myself capable. Convenience is fine, but I am also fine with the Oldcliff line dying with me, or being extended to some cousin or other.”