Page 30 of A Bride for the Sinful Duke

“It is ironic that you should bring that up, considering that you and my father connived to steal the little bit of peace that I had,” Juliet snapped.

She didn’t wish to argue, but Hector had a way of confusing her immensely. While he tried to insist that their marriage be free of issues, he had completely ignored what had transpired between them in the garden.

“What is this talk about stolen peace? From what I have read and been told, your life in the nunnery was horrible. I saved you,” Hector scoffed, his expression incredulous.

“I do not remember asking for a savior. Did I?”

Hector reached for the napkin and dabbed at his mouth. “If this is what I get at my dining table, then I had better stay away in the future.”

“Like you have since I was forced to be here,” Juliet scoffed. “That would have saved us both from having to deal with all of the issues you so vehemently dislike.” Disgusted, Juliet pushed back her seat to leave.

Hector growled, “Do not dare leave this table.”

Juliet paused mid-air, her ire and defiance increasing by the second. She searched in her mind for a single reason why she should stay as he’d commanded but found none. Hector’s cold stare held hers.

“Watch me,” she spat and pushed away her chair.

Hector grabbed her hand, his expression so dark that Juliet believed she had pushed him too far.

“Let me go,” she said in a shaky voice. “Hector?”

“You should never leave your husband at the dining table,” he muttered. “I apologize for pulling you. Did I hurt you?”

“I was left at the table to dine alone,” Juliet huffed as she folded her arms across her chest, “but I didn’t pull down the roof in anger. You are behaving like a petulant child because your wife, who you do not care about, wished to excuse herself from the table.”

Juliet’s rant had knocked the air from her lungs and left her breathless. She angrily reached for the cup of water, drank its contents in one long gulp, and dropped the cup onto the table with a loud thud.

Hector was silent for an exceptionally long time, but his gaze never left Juliet. When he eventually spoke, his voice was tinged with softness. “You are nothing like the wife I had expected.”

“I clearly recall that you were keenly aware of who I was when you met with my father and made arrangements for our marriage.”

He shook his head as the corners of his lips curled upwards. ‘Still, not the woman I’d bargained for.”

For some reason, his amusement lightened her mood.

Juliet took a deep breath and tried to unwind her tense body. “Why do you persist in telling me that? I am sure you knew the challenges you were up against when you picked me as your bride.”

“I expected a woman raised in the nunnery to be…obedient, demure.”

“And innocent, I suppose,” Juliet scoffed. He stared at her blankly, and she realized that he was serious. “In that case, you possessed a misconceived notion of who I was, and now, you see who I truly am. I will not be silenced and play the fool when my life is suddenly turned upside down. I am not that sort of woman.”

Hector’s gaze slid over her. “No, that you are not.” He pushed back from the table. “Nonetheless, you shouldn’t be toying with me.”

“Giving a grown woman such a stern command is akin to asking for the opposite, Your Grace,” Juliet retorted, also rising from her chair.

Hector’s expression softened, and for an instant, Juliet thought he intended to reach out to her, but as he stood up, his quiet, stubborn demeanor reappeared. “We’ll see,” he said quietly.

Juliet nodded as her cloudburst of anger dissipated, and their stormy exchange concluded.

As they left the table, Hector surprised her and offered her his arm. She accepted it and felt a strange sense of familiarity altogether different from their intimate moment in the gardens. This time, although she sensed some distance, they walked amicably to the drawing room where a fire crackled warmly in the hearth.

“This looks different,” Hector commented, noticing slight changes. The plush white settee that was positioned against the wall had been moved to the center of the room. A small table and two welcoming chairs were positioned across from it.

“Yes, I asked Mrs. Harris to rearrange the room in a more fitting manner, so we could meet with guests, friends and other visitors,” Juliet explained.

“I suppose you are now intent on changing the entire look of my home,” he sighed. Hector led them to the settee and helped her to settle into it. “We cannot yet entertain guests other than close friends. You already met most of my friends at the wedding. Only my good friend, Jonathan Whitlock, have you yet to meet.”

“The Duke of Silverbrook is your friend?” asked Juliet in surprise.

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