Chapter 17

What is wrong with him?

After a restless night of very little sleep, Violet finally gave up and pushed herself in to a sitting position.

Never had she experienced such intense anger and frustration in her life. Never had a man annoyed her as much as this.

How could he do this to her?

How could he tease her and kiss her, then offer to marry her, only to then tell her that he would not touch her now? It did not make any sense at all.

It had to be another game of his.

A way to wind her up all the time.

Well, if William could play games, then so could she.

A determination surged through her. She was not going to follow his silly little rules. She was not going to listen to how he wanted to have his marriage.

She was also in this.

She wanted to have the marriage that she wanted as well.

And she wanted to see what the sizzling chemistry between them could become.

With a naughty smile playing on her lips, Violet silently made the resolute decision that she was going to push William to his very limit, just to prove to him that she was not going to be the quiet, subdued wife that he might have been expecting.

Not a chance.

"Ivy," she called out, trying to get her maid to work with her. "I need to get dressed. Will you help me pick out a nice gown for the day?"

Ivy looked a little sheepish as she entered the room. "Yes, you will need a nice dress for the day, because you have a lot of duties for the day."

Violet was shocked.

How was she supposed to play her side of the game if she had a lot to do? But Ivy was serious, she could see it in her eyes.

"Mrs. Gretner who is the house keeper here, would like to meet with you to talk about how to run the manor."

"Oh."

Violet"s heart sunk.

"I see. This is something I must do today?"

Ivy looked a little worried.

Mrs. Gretner must have put the fear of God in to her.

Ivy was not the sort of person who got scared easily.

"Yes, I think you are expected to do this right now. I do not think that Mrs. Gretner likes to wait."

Violet had been planning on wearing one of her finer gowns today, as her first day as a duchess with a mission, but now it did not seem worth the effort.

Instead, she would put on one of her day dresses to fulfil whatever it was she had to do for the day.

Since Violet had already experienced running Eagleton Manor, she did not think that this would be too challenging anyway.

Perhaps then she could continue her mission to make her new husband break all of his silly little rules.

This was a game that she was determined to win, at any cost…

Much to her own surprise, Violet liked the middle aged house keeper. She could understand why Ivy was a little fearful of the no nonsense Mrs. Gretner, but Violet responded well to her purposeful attitude.

"So, this is where all the washing is done," she snapped in a businesslike manner. "If you ever need to ask anything about the laundry, these are the ladies you will ask. Sarah and Gertrude."

There were a lot of names.

That was the one thing that Violet was going to find challenging.

She had not had a staff at Eagleton Manor for a long time, so had only really had to recall Ivy. But she was sure that she would get used to it. It was nice to have a lot of people working in the home, so she did not have to undertake the jobs herself.

This was the first time that Violet really started to feel like a duchess.

"I see." Violet smiled at Mrs. Gretner. "Well I do understand a lot about the cleaning since I worked hard at Eagleton Manor."

The woman stared at her like she was not quite sure what to believe.

A housekeeper like this probably did not expect a lady of her standing to be capable of making a bed and cleaning a dress, but that was simply something that she could prove to her over time.

"Come on, let me show you to the kitchen," Mrs. Gretner replied. "I am sure you will enjoy speaking with the cooks and the kitchen staff. Then you can ensure that you have your preferred meals cooked in the evening."

Excitement burst through Violet as she followed the housekeeper to see what was waiting for her. Everything might have happened very quickly when it came to her marriage to William, so it was only just catching up with her, but Violet was pleased with the way that things had turned out.

She was acutely aware that everything could be a whole lot worse.

If she had been forced to wed Mr. Cook, then who knew where her life would be?

She was certainly going to enjoy herself being the duchess of Hoskins Estate.

But what would make it even better would be finally succeeding in seducing her husband because his refusal was endlessly frustrating. Especially when he would not give her any reason for it.

Telling her that it was their agreement, or simply the way that things had to be was irritating and gave her nothing.

She did not feel like he was rejecting her.

She could see how badly he ached for her as well.

So why was he being so stubborn?

She could only conclude that it was to toy with her, and she did not want that anymore. She was not going to spend her whole marriage as a puppet on a string, allowing him to behave with her in any manner that he saw fit.

She deserved more than that.

So much more.

* * *

All day long, Violet had been looking forward to dinner time. They both might have been busy for the rest of the day, but it was the one time that she was sure to see him.

Married couples always ate together, as far as Violet was aware, no matter what else was going on in their lives.

That was the time when she was finally going to be able to put her plan into action. She remained resolute that this marriage was going to become something more to them both because it still seemed like such a waste of time to ignore the lust between them.

He was already sitting at the dining table.

William"s mind looked filled with information for the day. He was clearly very deep in thought about important things, but Violet was not going to allow that to stop her.

This was her time with him, and she intended to make the best of it.

"Good evening, Your Grace," she declared with a soft smile as she sat across from him. "I do hope you have had an interesting day."

He smiled at her, clearly a little confused by this greeting. But just because things had been a little frosty between them on their whirlwind of a wedding day, did not mean that it had to stay that way.

"Yes, Violet, it has been very interesting. And how about you? Are you becoming accustomed to your new home?"

Ah, so they were going to use first names only now.

She did not mind that. They were married after all.

"Hoskins Estate is quite beautiful, William. You must be very proud. Your family must have worked hard to have such a glorious place."

"Yes, that is right. They did. Which is why I also work hard, because even if my father is not here any longer, I wish to make him proud."

The food was served, and the conversation continued to flow in a similar manner. Violet did not mind that it was merely small talk, because it was allowing William to loosen up a little, to warm up to her.

He had even smiled a couple of times. Genuine smiles, not the smirks he let loose when he was the one in control, doing all the teasing.

Violet was the chess master now, and she could not wait until all the pieces fell in to place on the board and she got what she wanted… which was ultimately some control over her own life and destiny.

"Do you not think we should share an after-dinner drink?" Violet insisted before William could escape her. "Since this is my first full day at the home, I would like to be greeted properly."

There was a hint of suspicion in William"s eyes, but he eventually succumbed to proper manners and nodded. "That sounds wonderful."

This was exactly why Violet needed to be wed to a man who knew about manners in society. She never could have taught Charles to be this refined…

Not that she wanted to think about Charles and how he was going to react to the news when he returned from Italy. That was still Paul"s issue.

Violet had her own life to live, and she wanted to start living it…

William led her to the parlor and poured the drinks, acting very stoic around her, like he was completely in control of himself.

It was that control Violet wanted to tear to shreds.

"I do like the lighting in here," she practically purred as she walked around the room, lightly brushing her fingers over all the surfaces as she went. "And it is rather warm too. Do you like to keep the house this warm for a reason?"

With a twinkle in her eyes, Violet turned to face William as she seductively shrugged her shawl off her shoulders.

His eyes were drawn to her chest, which was exactly what she wanted.

"I have not noticed the temperature," he replied stiffly, before swigging his drink once more. "But I can keep it cooler, if you prefer."

"Oh no." Violet emboldened herself by sashaying her way over to him as if this was something she was used to. Like she seduced men every single day. "I like it when things are… hot."

But as she reached out to touch him, William shot backwards as if he had been shocked. His eyes widened and he seemed to see just where she was going with this.

Good.

The sooner he started to break the rules with her, the better as far as Violet was concerned.

"It is such a beautiful night," she continued, edging closer to him once more. "The perfect night to consummate our marriage and to break all your rules…"

The words fell apart on her lips as William grabbed her wrists to hold her in place. She was breathless, panting, staring at him with wide eyed need. Surely, he could not continue to ignore what she wanted now?

"Violet, I already told you this would not be happening. These rules are not here to break. I cannot understand why you are so insistent about breaking them. They are there to protect the both of us. I have explained this to you, and I thought you understood. I do not understand why we are here again. It is as if you cannot control yourself."

"What if I do not need to be protected?" she pouted. "I do not see why I cannot make a choice in the midst of all of this. It does not feel fair."

She felt patronized by William"s little laugh. "Oh, Violet, you are always so very sweet. But it has been a long day for me. I am exhausted, so I think it is best for me to go to bed."

Violet could not believe it.

She was in shock that he was doing this to her again.

His rules were ridiculous, and Violet just felt irritated by them. He knew that, so why did he keep throwing them in her face?

He really had left her, and by the look of it, he truly was going to his bed chambers. Again.

How dare he say that she was the one unable to control herself, when he was the one who had gotten her in this state in the first place. If he had never kissed her and toyed with her, then she never would have felt a thing. She would be content to live this comfortable, loveless marriage.

With an irritated huff, knowing that she had failed, at least for tonight, Violet also went to her bed chambers. Although she knew that she was far too frustrated to get any sleep.

She had allowed herself to succumb to the anticipation all day long, she had planned for a night of fun and pleasure with her husband.

Little did she know that he would reject her yet another time.

Whatever she did next was going to have to be astounding, to make sure William could not leave her like this once more. Violet was not sure how much more rejection she could handle before she finally drove herself insane.