Page 24 of A Duchess for the Mysterious Duke
“Perhaps I was not clear.”
“We happened upon one another accidentally,” Emmanuel said, his head bowed by way of apology. “We merely exchanged greetings. She was just about to fetch you to introduce us.”
Phillip scoffed, his distrust of his uncle evident in his hard stance and his chilling glare. He had felt guilty about speaking to Marina so harshly before and was looking for her to offer her a better explanation. But seeing his uncle in his house closed his heart—the risk that Marina would discover his secret was simply too great for his comfort. It was imperative that he keepwhatever warmth was growing within him under control lest they both suffer for his weakness. “What of you? What reason could you have to visit here without so much as providing a calling card? Have you forgotten all courtesy and propriety?”
Emmanuel’s handsome, weathered face scowled—a mirror of his nephew as if past and future versions of the same man had come face to face.
“And what of your own memory? Now that you are a married and titled man, will you forget your family? I am the man who ensured that you had a good education and the same one who went and fetched you when my brother left this world so that you might inherit what is rightfully yours. What have I done that you treat me so woefully, Phillip? Tell me, and I will correct it.”
“You speak as though I have cast you out and abandoned you for dead,” Phillip grunted, his voice tired and dejected. “I request you respect that my wife and I would like to be alone for a while. When we are ready to receive visitors, you will receive the first letter. For now, leave us.”
Lord Glastonbury’s eyebrows sprung up in his surprise. He nodded his head slowly then turned to leave. Before he did, he left Phillip with one last thought to chew on.
“Take care that you do not arouse the suspicions of the ton by hiding your young wife away in this vast and lonely manor while you yourself are seldom at home. Even a gentleman will befriend the husband of a woman he covets, so he may call upon her when the man of the house is away.”
Phillip’s rage came to a boil, but he allowed it to simmer as his uncle left his home. He then summoned his steward and commanded him to turn unexpected visitors away at the door unless it was Marina’s family. After, he went out to the garden to find her. He needed to know whether his uncle was honest with him about their conversation.
CHAPTER 18
Marina sat in her garden. Her emerald green eyes were glassy and unfocused despite her vibrant surroundings. That this should occur just as she was made to doubt that she and Phillip were growing closer in their friendship to one another did not escape her. It was as if some unseen force were sending her a collection of warnings about her marriage though it was irritating that they had not come sooner. After all, the two of them were already married.
Her mind raced, attempting to pull meaning from Emmanuel Hayward’s every look and word. He had come to speak with her—that much was clear. But what of? What was he about to tell her when Phillip came barging in? She had never subscribed to the idea that mysterious men were also enticing, and she recalled warning her sister to stay away from the very man she was now wed to. That morning, Marina had woken thinking that she had been wrong about Phillip entirely. Now, it was not yet time for lunch, and she found herself thinking again that she must have been right in the first place—once a rake, always a rake.
That had to be it, wasn’t it? Emmanuel Hayward was known to brag about his nephew’s ridiculous affairs as though they were grand adventures. He had never struck her, by reputation or observation, as a man who was inclined to be dishonest.
Had he come to reveal his nephew’s secrets to her? There was nothing to do about it but to pay closer attention to her husband’s comings and goings—his habits, his language, the timing and manner of his switches from hot to cold and back again.
“Marina.”
Marina turned and saw Phillip standing behind her, a hat clutched between his hands. She had not noticed before in her haste to leave, but he had dressed to go out although he had not notified her of his plans before. She felt her heart cry out as if it had been struck, and she instinctively lifted her hand to her chest as though she could shield herself from further damage that way.
“Your Grace,” she answered in a near-whisper, turning her head away from his gaze. They still had yet to discuss their earlier interaction, and Marina was not yet willing to do so, afraid that she might become too open with him in her wounded state.
“It does occur to me that I do not necessarily know how your household was managed, so I will say this to you and my expectation is that it will not happen again once I have. It is unseemly for a woman to so much as greet another man in her home while her husband is not in attendance. Especially whenthat man has not been formally introduced to you.” His tone shocked Marina. She had expected to be admonished, but the frigid distance carried his words to her in a uniform, tactless manner. He continued, “As you do not seem familiar with this custom, I have asked that the staff to let no one in unless their visit was scheduled and approved by me in advance.”
Marina’s head shot up, her expression one of disgust. “And are you to paddle me as well when I have not finished my lessons to your liking?”
Phillip’s cheeks grew pink with anger, and his eyes furrowed. “What manner of insolence?—”
“If I am to be regarded as a child, then will you cater to me as if I am one as well? Shall I have you cut my meat when I dine? Perhaps I should move my things into the nursery so that you might keep a closer eye on me when I sleep.” Her eyes were aflame with rage—Phillip knew that he was seething, but he was unwilling to back down. After all, he was doing this for her sake, too—to protect them and their marriage.
“Should you continue to act like a girl half your age, then I shall,” he remarked flatly. “When you asked that I make myself more present, I did not think you also believed that you could act without your station. You are my wife, Marina. You are not my mother. I will no longer be so lenient with you—your behavior lately is inclined to cause me embarrassment.”
Marina laughed—a shrill, bitter sound. “You? Embarrassed?” She rose from her seat and closed the gap between them, lookingup to meet his unwavering gaze. “I know of men like you, Duke Hayward. You believe that your title and fortune mean that you are beyond reproach by society, but what could you know of it? You have spent the last ten years entertaining your every imprudent whim nowhere near the good people you now hope to win over, yet you stand here now and chastisemefor poor behavior!”
“I have had enough of this, Duchess Hayward. It was my swift action that saved you from spending your youth wiping drool from an old man’s chin. I have given you full control over the house, a generous allowance, and everything you have asked for, have I not?”
“Is our relationship purely transactional then, Phillip? If that is the case, then allow me to ask one last favor of you—do return to spending all of your time locked in your study. Next time I impede upon the rules you have set but not communicated, merely send Mathilde to tell me. I do not wish to look upon your face again.”
A silence fell upon them, and Phillip felt regret for his words immediately. He knew that he would have to mend this broken fence which he had destroyed out of his own anger, but he had another matter to attend to before then. There was no time to apologize now, nor did he think that it would get him very far.
“Very well. I will take my meals in my study. Should you need anything, ask the steward.”
CHAPTER 19
The Duke and Duchess did not happen upon each other again for several days. As promised, Phillip stopped dining with her altogether. Marina proved that she was more knowledgeable of his schedule than he once thought, taking precious care to avoid him at all costs by rearranging her own around his—she spent more and more time out with Olivia or Kathrin whenever they were available. He had even waited, one night, for her to wander out of her rooms late at night, but it seemed that she had even foregone that peculiar habit.
And for a while, Marina was sure that she could go on living with tossing and turning through her restless nights. After what Phillip had said to her in the garden that day, she was more than happy never to see him again. His secrets be damned—her marriage could not be ruined if it simply ceased to exist in all manner but legal.
