Page 111 of Duke of Iron
“It’s not all right,” May managed. “I can’t do it. I can’t go back there.” She had only been at April’s home for a few hours, but she was feeling more lost than ever. She could not go back to Logan—not that it was an option—and she certainly did not want to go to the house he’d prepared for her.
“You won’t have to,” April said, “not until you want to. You may stay as long as you like. Months, if necessary. You know how Theo adores company, provided it does not eat into his personal time.”
May was fairly certain the Duke’s tolerance for company ended somewhere between “a single civilized tea” and “one entire Vestiere invasion,” but she did not press the issue. She wipedher nose, and the effort to keep her chin from wobbling almost toppled her off the settee.
April re-armed her with another handkerchief and brushed away wisps of hair from her face. “Tell me the worst of it, May. All the details. Even the embarrassing ones.”
“It’s not embarrassing,” May said, but then, on reflection, “No, it is. I left the baby alone in his cradle this morning. I simply… walked out. I didn’t even say goodbye.”
April’s brows creased. “You were upset. Rydal will not hold it against you.”
“I’m not upset. I’m destroyed.” May squeezed the handkerchief, twisting it into a sad, wrung shape. “At the park, I thought that I could go home with Rydal and find a husband in the study, a man who will always need me. But Logan only wished to send me away. He bought a house and is planning for me to live in it. He hates me.”
April hugged her fiercely. “He does not hate you. Anyone who has seen you together?—”
“Maybe in public,” May said. “But in private, there is no affection from him.” She pressed her fist to her mouth. “What if he comes here to force me to move to the new house?”
April’s expression darkened. “If he dares, I will have Theo throw him bodily into the street.”
At this, May almost smiled. “I should pay money to see that.”
“Not nearly as much as you should pay to see what June would do. She’s upstairs, you know, composing a letter of rebuke. She plans to have it delivered immediately to ensure it is both immediate and inconvenient.”
May gave a watery laugh. “We agreed from the start that this marriage was one of convenience. My foolish little heart fell in love.”
“Hearts are meant to fall in love, May,” April soothed.
May gave an emphatic shake of her head. “It does not matter, for I grew to expect more than he can give.” May knotted her hands in her lap. “I never thought I’d become the sort of woman who wishes for a grand romance. But I do, April. I want to be loved, and I think—I think he almost could, if he would let himself.”
April, whose own marriage had started as a contract and become something else entirely, only sighed. “Men are not clever, darling. They are not even moderately intelligent about their own feelings. They must be led, like horses, with oats and the occasional sharp stick.”
May could not stop the sigh that came with a shudder. April tilted her head and regarded her. “Do you want him back?”
“I want the version of him that smiled at the baby. I want the one who called me a hurricane and meant it as a compliment.”May’s voice quavered. “But I can’t go back and be nothing again. I won’t.”
“Then you shan’t,” said April. “You’ll stay here until he grovels. We will allow only the most extravagant apologies.”
“I don’t think he knows how to grovel,” May said.
There was a knock at the door, one so abrupt it made both sisters jump. A moment later, Theo stepped in, his face appearing as though it had been carved from stone.
“Irondale is here,” he announced, and May stiffened, then blinked in rapid succession as she tried to remember how to breathe.
“I—I beg your pardon?”
“Your husband wishes to see you,” he clarified.
April squeezed her hand. “I believe he’s come for you.”
May’s heart was beating so loudly she struggled to concentrate. Her fingers bunched in her skirts, and she closed her eyes, desperately wishing she could believe April.
But she had left Logan with neither an explanation nor a farewell, and he had probably come here to order her to move tothe house he had prepared for her—to ensure she truly fulfilled her end of their bargain.
Shaking her head, she said, “No, he is not here for me.” She looked up at Theo and added, “Please tell him I am not here. I have no wish to see him.”
April touched her shoulder. “May?—”
“Please, don’t.”
