Page 67 of Two Blessings For His Duchess
“You are not that far into the arrangement,” Leonora joined in, stepping closer. “It has only been a matter of months. If it is already causing you this much misery, we can simply go back home together.”
Seraphina squeezed her fingers reassuringly. “Lady Byron finally writes letters to us, and she spends half of them asking after your well-being because she suspects how difficult this society can be. She would never hold this choice against you. You do not have to sacrifice your youth and your spirit to this. You could come back to the life that we knew, where you are loved, and where you are certain of the ground beneath your feet.”
Euphemia looked past her sisters, her gaze drifting back to the edge of the pond where Cordelia and Georgianna were now laughing, their voices carrying across the water. The offer of escape was a beautiful, tempting thing, a return to a life where she was safe and understood. Yet, as she looked at the children, she could not decide.
“I promise I shall think about it,” Euphemia said softly, offering Seraphina and Leonora a grateful, fleeting smile as she gently withdrew her hands. “But I am not sure that I want an annulment.”
Leonora frowned, looking as though she wanted to argue. “Effie, you cannot mean to stay in a house of ice.”
“I do,” Euphemia replied, her voice growing firmer as she turned back to the path, forcing them to resume their slow walk. “I think I want to stay. Even if Nathaniel and I are never to be a true family, even if he remains entirely distant from me until the end of our days, I cannot leave the twins. They have lost one mother, and I will not allow them to feel abandoned by another.”
“What of your own life, Effie?” Leonora burst out, stepping in front of her to halt their progress once more, her brow furrowed in deep frustration. “Are you truly prepared to sentence yourself to a perpetual winter for the sake of martyrdom? Now, I have come to adore the twins, but you speak of them as though you are their only hope, but you cannot pour from an empty cup.”
“It is not martyrdom, Leo, it is a duty I gladly accept,” Euphemia countered, her jaw setting into a stubborn line. “I have grown to love them. They are innocent in all of this.”
“We are not questioning your love for the children,” Seraphina chimed in, her tone gentler but no less urgent as she walked closely at Euphemia’s side. “We are questioning your sudden disregard for yourself. You know that we did not necessarily grow up with love. We did not grow up with affection or the kind of warmth we eventually managed to build in our home, so we know exactly how it feels to not even know how to love. It was an entirely foreign language to us for so long, Effie, which is why we firmly believe that if someone has worked as hard as you have to find it for yourself, you deeply deserve to have it reciprocated.”
Leonora nodded fiercely in agreement. “Exactly! It is not your burden to spend the next forty years teaching a grown man how to be human. If he is terrified of developing the smallest of feelings for his own wife, so much so that he freezes out the entire household just to keep you at bay, then he does not deserve the pieces of your heart you are so willingly throwing at his feet.”
“I am not throwing my heart at him,” Euphemia muttered, looking away as a telltale flush crept up her neck.
“Oh, please,” Leonora scoffed, throwing her hands up slightly. “Do you take us for fools? We can see it written plainly across your face, Effie. You have developed deep feelings for His Grace. That is precisely why this situation is torturing you so. If you did not care, you would be perfectly content spending his money, ignoring his existence, and living as a grand Duchess in your own wing of the estate.”
Euphemia swallowed hard, the accusation hitting too close to the absolute truth.
“You deserve some form of reciprocation,” Seraphina pressed softly, reaching out to touch her sister’s arm. “You have worked so hard your entire life to find happiness, to carve out a place for yourself. You deserve a gentleman who will look at you and not be afraid of what he feels. Someone who will welcome your affection, not treat it like a threat to his precious peace. You must truly consider the annulment, Effie. You can find your life again. The world did not end when you got married.”
“I have already found a life here,” Euphemia insisted, as she looked back toward the pond, where the twins’ laughter echoed like a painful reminder of what she would be giving up. “A life that matters. If I leave, I abandon them to the same coldness you are warning me against. We’re happy. I am happy with them. That can be enough.”
Seraphina sighed. “Euphemia –”
“I’ll think about it,” she said, cutting her off. “I already said I’ll think about it. We should join the girls now.”
Leonora opened her mouth to protest further, but Seraphina placed a restraining hand on her arm. They had pushed as far as they could for one afternoon.
Euphemia did not wait for them to agree. She smoothed the front of her skirts, took a deep breath to lock her emotions away, and forced a seamless smile onto her face. Turning away from her sisters, she stepped off the path and onto the grass, walking toward the pond where the twins were still eagerly waving at her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Ihad told the Marquess that we would attend weeks ago, and had entirely forgotten about it before the physical invitation arrived,” Nathaniel said. “I did not think it would be ideal to refuse now.”
Euphemia did not look at him, her gaze fixed securely on the swirling couples on the dance floor as she adjusted the lace at her cuff. “I understand. You do not need to explain it to me, Your Grace. Let us just get it over with.”
Standing together near the edge of the gala was an exercise in pure endurance. For weeks, the space between them had been icy, but being forced to stand side-by-side amidst the heat and music of London society made the distance feel loud. They remained frozen in place, staring straight ahead at the surrounding opulence, neither of them offering a caring word to the other. It was a miserable silence, but Euphemia kept her chin high, wrapping her dignity around her like a shield.
“We are going to be surrounded by the entiretontonight,” he said sharply, breaking the silence with a tight growl. “We should at least be cordial to one another, Euphemia.”
Euphemia finally turned her head, her expression entirely cool. “No. I see no need for it. We can easily stay away from each other all night, greeting different guests and remaining on opposite sides of the ballroom. It will not be difficult.”
Nathaniel turned to her. “Do not be ridiculous. It is completely illogical. If we spend the entire evening pointedly avoiding one another, the gossips will have a field day. We must present a unified front so rumors do not start.”
“If we smile enough at the people we are speaking to, no one will notice a thing,” she countered smoothly, her voice completely devoid of the warmth she used to offer him so freely.
“They will notice,” Nathaniel insisted, leaning forward slightly. “For one, you are not even looking at me. That alone is enough for the rumors to start.”
A spark of the old anger flared beneath Euphemia’s ribs. She turned fully toward him, her chin tilting upward. “Whose fault is that, Your Grace? You started it. You are the one who demanded a seat of distance between us.”
With those words, she finally looked him directly in the eye.
