Page 19 of My Dangerous Duke

“Yes,” Xander barked, formulating a plan. “What is my schedule like for the next week or so?”

“Not so bad, Your Grace,” Jared replied, looking through the duke’s diary. “Just two meetings today in town and another on Thursday in Surrey.”

“Find something for me to do,” Xander demanded as the carriage began to roll. “I want my schedule full from morning to night with meetings at least a day away.”

Jared gave him a puzzling look.

“But Your Grace, you only just got married…”

“Just do it,” Xander growled, turning to the window.

Chapter 10

Over A Week Later

“Do you truly like it or are you just being nice?” Eleanor asked, looking at her friends dubiously.

“Eleanor, please,” Cordelia laughed as she waved her arm around the largest sitting room in the Hall. “Look at all of this! It is absolutely gorgeous!”

“You truly do have quite the talent for decorating,” Marina praised, delicately plucking a large, perfect, pink peony from the golden vase of many. “These flowers are absolutelyvivid.”

“Why don’t our flowers grow like this in London?” Penelope asked, playing the bright arrangement on their tea table.

“We are not that far from London. Mrs. Gaines says it is because of Larsen’s waters and their special properties. They make thembrighter than most. I thought bringing some inside could add a little light and warmth to the place.”

Though the flowers had indeed brought in just that, it was not the only change she had made in the whole week that her husband had been gone. In fact, she had made quite a few. She had had some curtains changed, some furniture moved, and had the more sinister-looking tapestries rehung in the Hall’s armory.

“Tell us, darling,” Cordelia said as the three of them joined Penelope back at the table. “Aside from these lovely new touches to your new home- how are you doing as a married woman?”

“Yes, dearest, how is married life treating you?” Penelope asked, her tone almost worried.

Her dear friend, the Duchess of Huxton, had only been married to the notorious ‘Cruel Duke’ for a year. Penelope had somehow found a way into his heart and now had the man wrapped around her pinky finger. Eleanor had had her doubts about the union at first, but now it was clear that they had found a true love match in one another.

She knew that Penelope wished that for her too, but with Xander’s constant absence, it was an impossible feat. Eleanor let out a dry laugh, feeling a sliver of hurt slide through her. No, her and Xander’s story would not turn out like Rhys and Penny’s.

“He truly is heartless, my husband,” she admitted, shaking her head and blinking her eyes rapidly. Around her, all of her friends gasped, and she felt all three of them put their hands over hers.

“Completely so?” Marina asked, her eyes full of sympathy as she looked at Eleanor.

“Could he not be persuaded or changed a bit?” Penelope gently offered. “You know, Rhysand–”

“Yes, completely, and no, he could not,” Eleanor replied, feeling both detached and obsessed at the same time. It was maddening. “This…farcemust come to an end. I am going to have this marriage annulled.”

Penelope, Marina, and Cordelia all looked at her as if she had gone mad. They all turned to one another, sharing a concerned glance, and then Marina reached for Eleanor’s hand.

“Darling,” she stated, her tone coddling, “You are aware that you cannot “just annul” the marriage, are you not? His Grace must be the one to petition for it and even then-”

“I am not a fool, Marina,” Eleanor shot back in exasperation, pulling her hand away. “I know what has to happen. And while I may not be the one to orchestrate it, I have a plan. Once he sees we are a poor match, he will want me as far from him as possible.”

“Eleanor, come now,” Penelope urged, “You must give the marriage more time! Rhys was distant at first, too, but now…”

“Xander is not Rhysand,” Eleanor stated emphatically, then sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. “You think I want todo this?” She asked, looking from friend to another. “You think I have not tried to find happiness with this arrangement? This is a failure on my part, too, and I feel it heavily every day. But it must end.”

“Does he hold no affection for you at all?” Cordelia asked, her delicate brow furrowed with sadness.

Eleanor felt tears threaten to prick at her eyes, but she pushed them down and steeled herself from the heartache and loneliness that she felt. She would not cry for this man. And she would not pity herself.

“We have had moments where I thought he could possibly feel something,” she replied matter-of-factly. “But I have only seen him once since our wedding night, and he left me to go on business.”

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