Page 20 of Two Blessings For His Duchess
“She is not a business deal you can simply conclude and file away, old friend,” Thaddeus said gently. “She is your wife now. You need to handle her with care, don’t you think?”
Nathaniel shut his eyes and sighed. He would never admit it aloud to Thaddeus, but the truth was, he had been thinking about her all night. Their argument was the most heated he had ever had in his life. No one... not even the most seasoned politicians in Whitehall, held that much fire in their eyes when they spoke to him. Yet Euphemia had stood her ground, matching his commands with a fierce, untamed fire that had thoroughly unsettled him.
If he were being completely honest with himself, he and Euphemia did not have a single thing in common. They came from different worlds, possessed different expectations, and had been forced together by a cruel stroke of luck. Yet, there was one undeniable trait they shared.
An unyielding stubbornness.
Against his own better judgment, he found himself deeply impressed by her boldness. He respected strength, and Euphemia had refused to break.
Perhaps Thaddeus possessed a valid point. Perhaps he had delivered his terms too cruelly, with too sharp an edge. But his intention had never been to make her feel insulted or small.
In his mind, his logic had been entirely flawless. He was merely protecting his children. For ten years, he had shielded his daughters from the vultures of thetonafter their mother died, and the cold realities of the world. He did not want their carefully managed routine disrupted, nor did he want a stranger making them uncomfortable in their own home.
In a strange way, he hadn’t wanted Euphemia to be uncomfortable either. He had assumed that lifting the burden of motherhood from her shoulders would be a relief. To prevent any friction, any awkwardness, any pain, he reasoned that they should simply stay away from each other.
“Fine,” Nathaniel sighed, turning back to his friend. “I will not deny that I understand your perspective, Thaddeus. But you know as well as I do that I am entirely unaccustomed to offering apologies, let alone handling... things with care. You know firsthand the immense trouble I have faced trying to raise my daughters for that very reason.”
“That is because you try to manage children the same way you manage a fleet of merchant vessels, Nathaniel,” Thaddeus said gently.
“It is the only way I know how to function,” Nathaniel replied.
Thaddeus watched the shifting shadows across his friend’s face. “Nathaniel, your past does not have to dictate your present. Euphemia is not your late wife. You do not even know who she is yet. Why must you immediately assume that this union will be the exact same cold, dry arrangement?”
Nathaniel let out a heavy, weary sigh again. “Because it is far too risky to do otherwise. I have absolutely no desire to form a friendship or any sort of cordiality with her. It is safer if nothing happens between us.”
Thaddeus tilted his head, a look of amusement and intense curiosity breaking through his features. He looked at Nathaniel in a funny way, narrowing his eyes. “What on earth do you mean by nothing happens?”
“It does not matter,” Nathaniel muttered. “I simply refuse to risk it.”
Thaddeus remained silent for a long moment, letting the ticking of the grandfather clock fill the space between them. A slow, knowing smile began to curve the corners of his mouth. “You find her attractive, do you not?”
Nathaniel stiffened. He was a man who prided himself on his absolute honor. He did not like to lie, and he thoroughly despised pretense.
The truth was, Thaddeus was entirely correct about that too. Nathaniel found her deeply, terribly attractive.
His mind flashed back to that fateful morning, when he had opened his bedchamber door and found her sleeping soundly in his bed. He could admit one truth. He hadn’t woken her immediately. It had taken him at least five minutes — though he hadn’t been counting the agonizing seconds — just to find hisvoice. He had simply stood at the edge of the mattress, utterly transfixed, staring down at her.
Having been awake all night managing a crisis with Theodore, he had genuinely believed he was hallucinating from exhaustion. He thought he was seeing an angel. She had looked breathtakingly beautiful, her soft, golden blonde hair spilled across his pillows like silk, her bright blue eyes hidden beneath long, pale lashes, and her flawless, porcelain skin practically glowing in the early morning light.
She had looked so fragile, so serene, that it had felt like a crime to disturb her. Of course, the moment she had opened those blue eyes, the illusion of a serene angel had vanished instantly, replaced by a fierce, sharp-tongued woman who countered his every word.
But the memory of her beauty remained, burned into his mind.
“Yes,” Nathaniel admitted aloud. “She is a beautiful woman, Thaddeus. I am a man, not a statue. But that changes absolutely nothing. She is trouble, and she can be infuriating. My life is precisely as I wish it to be. I have vital business empire goals to achieve, estate matters to oversee, and a family name to protect. I do not desire drama. I like my days clean, orderly, and entirely predictable. Nothing, not even the fact that I find her attractive, will sway me from that path.”
Thaddeus chuckled, leaning forward to tease him. “Oh, come now, Nathaniel! If you find the lady so thoroughly enchanting,why on earth not pursue something more? A beautiful Duchess in your bed is hardly a hardship?—”
Nathaniel didn’t even grant him the courtesy of a response. He rolled his eyes, turning sharply on his heel. “I am leaving.”
Thaddeus simply watched him go, chuckling.
Nathaniel strode out of the study, leaving Thaddeus behind as he mounted his horse and began the long, quiet ride back to Greymoor.
When he dismounted in the courtyard, he strode into the grand hall, pulling off his riding gloves. The butler stepped forward immediately to take his hat and cloak.
“Has the Duchess completed her tour with Mrs. Gable?” Nathaniel asked.
“Yes, Your Grace,” the butler replied smoothly, bowing his head. “Her Grace concluded the tour some time ago. At present, she is in the eastern conservatory. She is currently with Lady Cordelia.”
