Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

T he Duke was unfathomable.

Marina was able to retain her composure just long enough to hurry out of the office and around the corner where she would not be seen. She pressed her hands to her cheeks and sucked in a deep breath, flustered by their proximity to one another, embarrassed by his reaction, and angry at having been thrown out so callously. More than how she felt towards him, Marina was upset with herself. She was a woman of two and twenty who should have known better.

After all, she had married perhaps London's most well-known rake. It panicked her to think of what other families of high esteem now thought of her—the poor duchess whose husband was no doubt going around town and entertaining other young ladies en masse. Who was she to think that she had somehow crept into his heart? They hardly knew one another, and now, she had gone and shown her weakness to him. Now he knew what she felt for him before she herself had been able to admit it.

The new duchess calmed herself then made her way downstairs to prepare for calling hours, her heart thudding painfully against her chest as if it would burst forth from her at any moment. She did not want to think her husband was capable of infidelity. More than that, Marina was certain that she had seen in Phillip's eyes a reflection of her own compassion toward him. He might not feel as she did, but he felt something, surely. Still, someone like that may be capable of growing affection, but Marina knew that she would do well to put all delusions of something more out of her mind.

As she made her way to the drawing room, Marina found herself face-to-face with Emmanuel Hayward. She remembered him from the ball at Glastonbury. Her first instinct was to turn around and fetch Phillip from his study to introduce them until she remembered what she'd overheard. He did not want her to meet his family, but this might be her only chance to find out more about her elusive husband. She choked down the lump in her throat that told her that this was too bold, and she kept walking forward. He saw her and spoke first.

"Ah, you must be the lady of the house," he chirped, smiling warmly. It struck Marina as odd that Lord Glastonbury did not look at all surprised to have caught her alone. There was something about the way he gazed at her that made her feel as though he, too, wished to defy Phillip though why she could not fathom.

"Yes. I am Marina Hayward." Her new full name felt foreign on her tongue, and Marina realized she had not yet said it aloud. She was the Duchess of Peterborough, Marina Hayward, and yet in her home, she was merely Marina, a name so fondly uttered by her husband in these last few days. She wondered, with a pang, if she would hear him speak to her that way again or if she had erred such that their friendship was beyond repair.

"Pleased to meet you, Marina. I did so hope that we might be formally introduced by my nephew however he has made it quite clear that you are inundated by your new work." Emmanuel's smile was friendly and teasing, but Marina felt as though he were being disingenuous. The saccharine tone of his voice seemed almost fabricated.

"My husband is a kind man to consider my adjustment in his planning," she breathed, glancing down for a moment before giving him a practiced smile. "I shall go and fetch him." The Duchess turned her back, but Lord Glastonbury's voice stopped her.

"Perhaps we should let him be." There was a tone of finality despite his neutral language, and Marina took a moment to compose her face before turning back to look at him. Her emerald eyes searched his, her expression neutral and controlled. Her curiosity was at war with her duty to her husband—she knew how he felt about this meeting though she did not know the reason, and she felt that she may somehow be betraying him in entertaining it. His uncle's behavior reinforced her suspicions. On the other hand, it was possible that she could learn something about the man who seemed to keep her at once in his pocket and at arms' length.

"I beg your pardon, My Lord?"

"It is just that my nephew is quite…busy these days." Lord Glastonbury drew closer to her, bending his head as if their proximity could ward off the presence of prying eyes. "Are you quite aware of his business outside the home? I know that some modern young women?—"

"Marina, there you are, I wanted to say that?—"

Lord Glastonbury snapped up and stepped back just as Marina whirled around to face Phillip. Husband and wife exchanged a glance— we'll speak later . There was a pause as all parties regained their footing from the mild shock, and when the Duke did not attempt to formally introduce his wife to his uncle, Marina took the hint and politely made her exit to the gardens. Her mind raced, struggling to understand what any of this meant. Phillip watched her go, and when at last he heard the door to the gardens swing shut, his gaze hardened, and he gave his uncle a cold, calculating look.

"Perhaps I was not clear."

"We happened upon one another accidentally," Emmanuel said, his head bowed by way of apology. "We merely exchanged greetings. She was just about to fetch you to introduce us."

Phillip scoffed, his distrust of his uncle evident in his hard stance and his chilling glare. He had felt guilty about speaking to Marina so harshly before and was looking for her to offer her a better explanation. But seeing his uncle in his house closed his heart—the risk that Marina would discover his secret was simply too great for his comfort. It was imperative that he keep whatever warmth was growing within him under control lest they both suffer for his weakness. "What of you? What reason could you have to visit here without so much as providing a calling card? Have you forgotten all courtesy and propriety?"

Emmanuel's handsome, weathered face scowled—a mirror of his nephew as if past and future versions of the same man had come face to face.

"And what of your own memory? Now that you are a married and titled man, will you forget your family? I am the man who ensured that you had a good education and the same one who went and fetched you when my brother left this world so that you might inherit what is rightfully yours. What have I done that you treat me so woefully, Phillip? Tell me, and I will correct it."

"You speak as though I have cast you out and abandoned you for dead," Phillip grunted, his voice tired and dejected. "I request you respect that my wife and I would like to be alone for a while. When we are ready to receive visitors, you will receive the first letter. For now, leave us."

Lord Glastonbury's eyebrows sprung up in his surprise. He nodded his head slowly then turned to leave. Before he did, he left Phillip with one last thought to chew on.

"Take care that you do not arouse the suspicions of the ton by hiding your young wife away in this vast and lonely manor while you yourself are seldom at home. Even a gentleman will befriend the husband of a woman he covets, so he may call upon her when the man of the house is away."

Phillip's rage came to a boil, but he allowed it to simmer as his uncle left his home. He then summoned his steward and commanded him to turn unexpected visitors away at the door unless it was Marina's family. After, he went out to the garden to find her. He needed to know whether his uncle was honest with him about their conversation.