For a moment, Dorian remained silent. Then, unexpectedly, he let out a soft laugh.
Anne frowned slightly. “What is amusing about that?”
“It was a laugh of disbelief. Anne, nothing about this is what you think it is.”
“Then explain it properly.”
Dorian’s smile faded, replaced by something steadier. “Lady Vivian cornered me that night,” he began. “She told me that there was a matter regarding a stallion for sale that I might like to hear about, so I followed her out to discuss the matter. I tend not to conduct business in company.”
Anne frowned slightly. “So you left with her.”
“I followed her, yes,” he corrected. “Because I have known her for years. She comes from a family that breeds horses, so I thought it might be helpful to have her as a friend. Of course, she then admitted that there was no stallion and that she wished to inform me that I had changed. I agreed, and I said that it was for the better, which surely you can agree with?”
A brief pause followed.
“You have, yes.”
Dorian’s voice stayed level as he continued. “There was nothing else to it. If there was, I would never have kept it from you. I might not be the ideal husband, but I am an honest man.”
Anne looked at him, searching for any sign that he was lying to her, even if it was for her own benefit, but she found nothing.
“Lady Vivian told me enough to believe otherwise,” she mumbled. “She said that she was special to you.”
“Lady Vivian tells people whatever she thinks will make her appear interesting,” he said. “That does not make it true.”
Anne did not reply immediately. She did not know what to say, for she was not of the belief that she owed an apology for how she was feeling. But all the same, she knew that she was wrong.
“Whatever I did before this marriage,” Dorian continued, “whatever you think my life was like before you came here, it is not something I am interested in returning to.”
Anne’s gaze lifted to him. He held it.
“And what you think is between Lady Vivian and me is certainly not something I would begin with her,” he added. “Or anyone else, for that matter. Perhaps it is dishonest, given that I said this was to be a cordial arrangement, but I am a man of my word. I made a vow, and I am going to keep it.”
Silence followed.
Anne did not know what to say. It was what she had wanted to hear him say, but now that he had said it, she did not know what to do with it.
She softened slightly, though she did not look away.
“I did not think it would matter,” she said quietly. “Not to you, at least.”
“It does.”
She said nothing afterward, though the tension in her shoulders eased in a way she did not fully manage to hide. The relief came first, and only after it settled did she become aware of how close they had grown. She had not planned it, but she could not honestly say that she disliked it either.
Dorian watched her for several moments without speaking, his attention fixed on her as though he had all the time in the world. Then, slowly, a faint smile formed as he stepped a little closer, just enough that the space between them narrowed without fully closing.
“My word,” he said with a grin. “Was my Duchess jealous?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly to be convincing, and she knew it at once.
Of course, she had been jealous. Dorian was her husband, and there was something about Lady Vivian that she did not like or trust. But she did not want him to know that, not when he seemed so amused by it.
Dorian’s smile widened slightly as he tilted his head. “That sounded most certain.”
“It is certain,” she replied, a fraction too firmly. “I was not jealous. I simply dislike being made a fool of by other people’s gossip.”
