Page 80 of Debating with the Duke (Second Sons of London 2)

Adalyn’s throat tightened. “When we realized others were present, Ev was a gentleman. He told them he was kissing me because he had gotten carried away by my acceptance of his proposal. You see, he never intended to wed me, Tessa. He only did what he did to keep me from being ruined. And now he is stuck with a woman who is nothing like the duchess he wished for. I fit very little of what was on his list.”

Tessa snorted. “First, let me say that Everett didn’t seem to be forced into anything, Adalyn. I clearly recall him saying you were right in front of him and he finally realized you were the one for him.”

“That is because he is so honorable,” she said, sniffling.

“You didn’t let me finish,” Tessa admonished. “Second—and most important—Everett didn’t need a list. I see how he looks at you, Adalyn. He loves you.”

She shook her head. “No, he doesn’t. He has never said those words to me. And he called me Adalyn when he sent me back to London. He never calls me that.”

A wave of fresh tears came and she wiped them away angrily.

“It is all the worse because I do love him. Desperately. And I feel terrible that he only wed me to save my reputation from being forever tarnished. I let things go in that moment but I planned to insist upon a long engagement. That way, I could have ended it once the Season wrapped up. By then, I was hoping Louisa would be betrothed and she could wed before the scandal of my broken engagement became public knowledge.”

Tessa shook her head sadly. “If you had ended your engagement, you know how Polite Society would have viewed you.”

Adalyn nodded. “I know. But it would have kept Ev from being tied to a woman who was never fit to be a duchess.”

“Why would you say that? You have good breeding, beauty, intelligence. Everything a duchess usually embodies.”

“But I am not the calm, reserved, solemn woman Ev wants,” she explained. “And now he has sent me away, only a week into our marriage. Because I couldn’t behave like a duchess with him. Especially when we were alone.”

“What do you mean?” Tessa asked sharply.

Her face flamed. “You know. When we were . . . together.”

“In the bedroom?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“You are saying you did not behave as a proper duchess in the bedroom,” Tessa said. “And might I ask how a duchess should respond to her husband?”

“Mama said I should lie there and let my husband do what he knew how to do.”

Tessa burst out laughing. “And that is what has you so upset?” She took Adalyn’s hands in hers. “Did you merely lie still?

“No. Quite the opposite, which I am sure appalled him. I was quite unladylike.”

Tessa squeezed Adalyn’s hands. “No, no, no. Your mother is all wrong. Especially because I know in my heart that Everett loves you. If you responded to his kiss—his touch—then that is perfectly normal. Very fewtonmarriages are ones where a couple likes each other, much less loves one another. Spencer and I are fortunate to have that kind of marriage. Let me tell you, my sweet friend, that my husband may be a lion in our bedchamber—but I am a tigress.”

She felt her face flush. “What?”

“I am just as active in lovemaking as Spencer is. Sometimes, even more so. Spencer has taught me that whatever we do in our marriage bed is perfectly fine, as long as it pleases the two of us. He encourages me to do anything but lie there. If you have been a true partner to Everett in your bed, that is what he wants. Not some staid, unfeeling woman who refuses to participate in the act of love.”

Adalyn thought back on the times Ev and she had coupled. How he had encouraged her to participate as much as he had. How his body responded to what she did. The noises he made. The pleasure they shared.

“Then . . . if Ev didn’t mind me acting so unduchesslike in our bed, then why did he send me away?”

Tessa’s brow creased. “I am not certain, Adalyn. I will have to think upon that. In the meantime, you cannot stay locked away here forever. It will do you good to get out tonight. There is a ball at Lord and Lady Martindale’s. Spencer and I will call for you in our carriage. I won’t take no for an answer.”

Though she couldn’t imagine being out in public and dancing with other men besides Ev, Adalyn agreed to go.

And hoped she wouldn’t regret her choice.

*

Adalyn dismissed Bridget,who had been very quiet as she helped her mistress dress for tonight’s ball. Adalyn would never share her marital woes with a servant but she knew the maid had picked up on her unhappiness ever since they had left for London.

She glanced into the mirror, seeing the sad face reflected, and determined not to let her emotions show once she left this room. When asked about Ev this evening, she would smile brilliantly and say he was attending to business but would return to the social whirl soon—and then quickly change the topic.

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