Page 40 of The Duke and His Cinderella
Shehad struck the balance. She had treated him with both kindness and candor, the way a friend ought to do.
He knew then and there that he would stop at nothing to find her again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
By the time Eleanor made it out into the garden, most of the people who had been socializing here had gone inside—to bed, she supposed. It was getting late, and if her parents discovered her, they would tell her to get to bed as well. She didn’t want to. The evening was too fresh and exciting. She had enjoyed the way the duke had stood up for his own opinions to her father. So few people stood up to Eleanor’s father.
Of course, he was a duke. That was surely what gave him the confidence to stand by the things he believed in. And yet, there was something more to the moment. The duke wasn’t so bound to the rules of courtesy that he was afraid to be forthright. When was the last time Eleanor had encountered something likethat? She couldn’t even remember clearly.
But she had also greatly respected the things he’d said. He had seemed clear on one thing—that he found it important to listen to everyone in his life and to respect all opinions. The duke didn’t seem like someone who would write off what he was told just because it had come from a servant, or a commoner…or alady. If Eleanor had given him her opinion about something, was it possible he would have actually listened to her?
It was obvious that her father had found that concept laughable, but that was no surprise to Eleanor. Her father was unlikely to ever listen to anybody, least of all the ladies in his life. It was the reason her mother was so conniving, in Eleanor’s opinion—she had to be that way if she was going to be heard at all. It was the reason Marina was so accommodating. Marina had learned over the years that that was what was expected of her.
She glanced over her shoulder, back into the sitting room. The duke had rejoined the card table, but the game had not resumed. With Phineas absent, they didn’t have enough people to play properly. For a wild moment, Eleanor thought of going inside, taking the empty chair, and asking to be dealt into the game. Her father would be appalled, but she thought it possible that the duke might go along with such a request, especially knowing now what she did after having met with him outside. He was a good hearted gentleman, and now she knew that he was willing to defy other gentlemen in the service of what he believed was right. He would stand up for her, even if her father did make it difficult for him to do that.
In the end, though, she decided not to go inside. She needed to choose her battles carefully in the time leading up to Marina’s wedding. She didn’t want to create a scene.
And she had also been warned away from the duke by the dowager duchess. Eleanor didn’t see that lady in the sitting room at the moment, but it was foolish to suppose that she wouldn’tfind out if Eleanor joined her son’s card game. It was apparent that she was threatened by Eleanor’s proximity to the duke, that she believed it possible for Eleanor to ruin the duke’s marriage to Lady Hannah.
And Eleanor had to be honest with herself. She did have the beginnings of feelings for the duke, and those feelings had only been strengthened by what she had seen tonight. It would be far better for both of them if she were to stay away.
“What are you looking at?”
She whirled around. Phineas was standing behind her in the garden, a pained look on his face.
“You startled me,” she gasped. “I thought you had gone to bed, Phineas!”
“I said so because I didn’t wish to spend any more time at the card game,” he explained. “But I’m not tired. I came out here hoping for some time to myself.”
“I’m very sorry if I disturbed you,” she said.
“No, you didn’t,” he told her. “If I hadn’t wished to speak to you, I could have turned and walked away.”
“I suppose that’s true,” she agreed.
“You and I haven’t gotten to spend as much time together as I would have liked since the start of this party,” he told her. “Sometimes I feel as if you’re my truest friend, Eleanor. I have other companions, of course, but you and I do seem to understand one another in ways nobody else can. Wouldn’t you say that’s true?”
“I would agree,” she said. “I’ve often felt that way with you, Phineas. But you seem troubled. Is there something you want to talk to me about?”
He sighed. “I haven’t told anyone this. Well, hardly anyone.”
“You can tell me,” she assured him. “You can trust me.” It felt good to be distracted from her own cares, even though she didn’t like the fact that her friend was suffering.
He nodded, walked over, and sat down on a bench. Eleanor followed and sat down beside him.
“You know Lady Hannah,” he began.
“I do. She’s engaged to be married to the duke.”
“It’s actually quite a bit more complicated than that,” Phineas said with a sigh.
“What do you mean?”
“Their engagement isn’t what she and her family hoped it would be. I don’t know what will happen. Nicholas claims he’s determined not to marry her.”
“Not marry her? But I thought it was bound to happen. I thought their engagement was set. That’s what I’ve been told—and the dowager duchess certainly acts as if it’s set to happen.”
“The dowager duchess wishes it for her son, but Nicholas recognizes that he is the duke now and that the choice is his alone. This arrangement is one that their fathers made while Nicholas’ father was still alive, but now that Nicholas is the duke, he is intent on choosing his own future.”
