The Duke's Secret Heir by Sarah Mallory

Author:Sarah Mallory
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-06-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Ellen sat before her looking glass, breathing deeply to let the anger seep away with every exhalation. She had a great deal of sympathy for her sister-in-law and was determined not to fall out with her. It was barely a year since Dorcas had lost not only her husband, but her position in society, although Ellen was not sure which of the two she had valued most. She thought of the rooms directly above her, the nursery. Mrs Greenwood had explained they had been fully refurbished by Dorcas when she had come to Rossenhall as a new bride. They included every convenience, every luxury, but had never been required, and Ellen suspected it was a severe trial for her sister-in-law to think of Jamie in the rooms she had hoped would be used by her own sons.

There was a knock at the door and the Duke walked in. Ellen said nothing, reminding herself that as her husband he had a perfect right to enter her bedchamber. Her heart gave a little skip as she studied him in the mirror and she thought how well he looked in the dark evening coat and white linen with the candlelight glinting on his fair hair. She recalled that he had looked just as handsome in the Oriental robes he had worn in the desert. But they had both been so much happier then.

‘Dorcas said you had gone to bed,’ he said. ‘Are you unwell?’

‘No, I am fatigued, nothing more.’

‘I have never before known you to be tired.’

She gave him a wry look in the mirror. ‘I have never before dined with the Dowager Duchess.’

She reached back to wrestle with the fastening of her diamond necklace.

‘Here, let me do that.’

Ellen froze, trying not to tremble as his fingers brushed the skin at the back of her neck. His hands stilled for a moment and she thought wildly and with aching regret that once he would have bent to kiss her neck. And he could do so now, if he so wished. If he was not regretting their marriage. If he loved her.

‘Where is your maid?’ he said, unclasping the necklace and handing it to her before stepping away. ‘She should be helping you.’

‘Matlock is in the nursery with Jamie. She will be here soon to help me into my nightgown.’

Her throat dried and she stared fixedly into the glass. It was impossible not to think that once such a comment would have made him grin and say that he would help her out of it again, but not now. Now he looked severe and stony-faced. He turned away and stood before the fireplace, idly playing with the ornaments on the mantelshelf.

‘I wanted to talk to you. About your fortune.’

‘I have no fortune. As Dorcas so kindly reminded me, everything I own is now yours.’

‘We must change that,’ he said. ‘We must draw up a proper settlement, make sure there is a widow’s jointure for you, should it be necessary. I shall write to the lawyers in the morning.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.