Page 15 of The Duchess' Ultimatum
“I…” He gave his head a shake. “It is hardly your concern.”
“I take that as a yes.” She folded her arms. “Meaning that the situation has not changed, even if the cause is a little odd. All that is to say that you need help and I am here to give it. To help you organize your party, is my meaning.”
Dorian balked under the force of his wife’s determination.She really has changed…“You are not… I do not need… why are you here? Really?” He fixed her in a glare of his own, needing to take control of this situation before it spiraled completely beyond his grasp. “Even had I sent the letter, I can’t imagine you would ever want to help me.”
She scoffed. “It is not you I am trying to help.”
“What does that mean?”
Penelope exhaled and forced herself to calm down. Arms still folded, she fidgeted slightly, her confidence wavering. “The truth is, when I received your invitation, I thought that I might… I realized that where you needed my help, that perhaps there was something you could help me with. A quid pro quo.”
“Meaning?”
“Three years ago, when you left me as you did, I was happy – not at first, but I came to realize that you did me a favor. I was being truthful when I said I was not upset with you, and that has not changed. However, these last few months, I have also realized that I am missing something, something that only you, my husband, can provide.”
Dorian leaned back, feeling that knot in his stomach tighten. “Which is?”
“I want to have a child,” she said, followed by an awkward grimace. “If I help you with this, in return, I would like you to do your duty as a husband and give me a family.”
Dorian stared stupidly. Blankly. His mouth fell open. His eyes turned wide. Penelope kept her eyebrow raised, no sense at all that she was joking or trying to trick him or… or… he did not know! Of all the reasons for his wife returning, this was perhaps the last thing he could have ever expected.
Perhaps my sister was right, and this party is the worst of ideas. Somehow, I get the sense that this will be a point proven a dozen times over… I really should have listened to her when I had the chance.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Well?” Penelope asked. Her husband was staring at her in a state of stunned silence that continued to stretch without any sense it would end. “What do you think? Say something.”
“I…” Dorian gave his head a shake. “I don’t know what to… you are being serious?”
“I am.”
“No.” Another shake of the head. “You… you can’t be. This is a joke. Surely, this is…” His brow furrowed as he looked at her, eyes narrowed together in search of the truth to her words. “Tell me the real reason. Enough games.”
“I am not playing games,” Penelope assured him. “I want a child, and you are the only person in this world able to give me one. Now, do we have a deal or don’t we?”
The duke looked at her with the same sense of bewilderment he had worn since she first asked the question. And then, likely because his body was flooded with nervous energy, he stepped around her and started across the foyer.
“Where are you going!” she cried after him.
“I don’t know!” he reached the front door but did not throw it open. Rather, he turned around, his frown deepening, and he started in the other direction. “This doesn’t make any sense. Where did this come from?”
“From where I am standing, it makes perfect sense.”
“From where I am standing you look to have lost your mind!”
“Why?” Penelope had no choice but to hurry across the foyer and step in front of him, forcing the duke to heal. “Why is it so strange? Why is it such an odd thing that I want a child?”
“Because… because…” He looked about them as if for an answer. “Our marriage… it is not exactly conducive for raising children.”
She laughed. “Is that your concern? Iama duchess; I can afford nannies and governesses and the rest. I do not expect you to help me raise the child.” She scoffed. “Obviously not. But you left me alone,husband, for three whole years. My father is dead. My sisters have families of their own. My friends are marrying – I have nothing to live for, nobody in my life save the staff. If I want a child, I feel that you owe me that much.”
What a sad truth that was to admit.A sad truth, but a truth nonetheless.
Penelope had been doing much thinking these past few months, brought about when she had started to feel what amounted to an emptiness inside of her. Oh sure, the first few years of her married life were fun enough, and she was resigned to the life she’d been given. But it grew old quickly.
She was not such a fool to think that she would find happiness in this marriage. Dammit, she did not want such a thing. But with her father’s gnawing absence, the emptiness in her grew steadily. Perhaps she could fill it with a child of her own.
Someone to care for. Someone to love and look after. Areasonfor living that only a child could give her. And when the duke sent her that letter—or she’dthoughthe sent the letter—the realization struck her like a bolt of lightning.
