Page 56 of The Duke's Spinster Bride
Frederick jerked in his seat, his voice cold. “No.”
His tone caught Andrea off guard. It set her teeth on edge, the harshness of it sounding too much like her father for comfort. She took a deep breath.He is not your father. He is Frederick.
“No? What do you mean no?” she tried to keep her voice neutral, but there was a distinct edge to her voice.
Frederick met her eyes, his tone only slightly softer. “You cannot ride out to see Cecily, not after a storm like this.”
Andrea glanced out of the window, rain was battering against it but it was hardly the worst storm she had seen. She swallowed as every hair on her body stood on end. “This is barely a storm. I see no reason why I should not ride out to see my friend.”
“If you get caught in the rain you will catch your death of cold.” There was a catch in Frederick’s voice as he gulped a large swallow of wine. “You have no idea what the weather will be like tomorrow, and if you ride out, you will be exposed.”
“Then I will just take the carriage instead. I will be protected from the elements.” She nodded to herself.
“No, you will not.” She thought she saw Frederick stiffen.
Andrea gritted her teeth, trying to understand what was going on. All she had wanted to do was to leave, and he was acting like she was running away.Perhaps that is what he fears.
“I am not going to run away –” Andrea began but the Duke let out a frustrated growl.
“- will you leave it alone!” Frederick glared at her. “I have already told you, no. That is final. You will not visit Cecily tomorrow. You will not ride out and you definitely will not take the carriage.”
“I am your wife, not your servant. You do not get to order me around, that was not our agreement.” She narrowed her eyes at him.I will not obey you.
Her father’s face filled her mind. That was what men were really like. They were all the same.Even the nice ones just want to control you.Her heart twisted itself into a tight knot.
“Congratulations, Andrea. You wanted to push me, to needle me, well here you go.” Frederick snapped, flinging his napkin on the table. “I hope you are happy.”
He stormed away from the table without another word, leaving Andrea gaping after him in stunned silence.He is trying to control me.
She replayed the conversation, the way he had stiffened almost as soon as she had mentioned leaving the estate. She remembered all the times her father had sneered at her plans, had kept her from doing the things she wanted. She’d had a bellyful of that sort of control.
“Never again.” She threw her own napkin on the table and stalked to her room.
She was going to see Cecily, and if the Duke did not like it, then that was his problem.
ChapterEighteen
“Utterly infuriating woman, would it kill her to just listen for once?” Frederick exclaimed for the thousandth time as he paced around his room.
He had spent most of the night pacing, eventually giving up on sleep after several hours of attempting it. All night, fury and fear had warred within him.
“I am just trying to keep her safe. But no, she is too stubborn to see that.” He let out a frustrated growl and aimed a kick at a sofa.
Pain throbbed in his foot as his toe collided with it. Cursing, he hopped, clutching it to him and scowling. Limping, he crossed to the window, leaning against the glass and frowning.
As the pain grew, his anger abated. The vice that had formed around his chest as soon as Andrea had suggested riding to Cecily’s eased. The sound of a man’s blood curdling scream filled his mind and he pushed it away.
“This is different.” Frederick murmured, his breath fogging up the glass. “She will not ride out. She will not take the carriage.”
The hurt and confusion on Andrea’s face played in his mind and guilt washed over him. “I should not have reacted the way I did. She was only asking to see Cecily.”
He thunked his head against the cool glass. “I should have explained it better. Should have told her that the carriage was not safe to use, it is in need of repairs and after a storm like last night it is unlikely to hold up on the roads.”
Yet in the moment, all he could hear was the sound of his father’s screaming. He had barely been able to string a coherent thought together in his panic, let alone anything else.
“I should apologise to her. Perhaps suggest that we ride out together.”
He was about to turn away and leave the room to go find Andrea, when he caught sight of movement on the driveway.
