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She burst into tears.

The marriage was one of the best she could have hoped for, but it was still not what she desired. She would live half a life from now on.

CHAPTER 28

Gabriel sat at the breakfast table with the newspaper. He was still adjusting. He had often pondered marriage and how he might find a woman to bear his children, but he never envisioned a scenario like the one he was now caught up in.

Nor had he ever envisioned a woman quite like Eleanor.

Gabriel looked up from his paper and saw her enter the breakfast room. She wore a loose-fitting cotton gown tied with a simple ribbon around her midriff.

“Good morning,” Gabriel greeted.

“Good morning,” Eleanor said softly.

“Did you sleep well?” Gabriel asked. “Please, come and sit.”

“Thank you, Gabriel,” Eleanor replied, sounding more formal than he had ever heard her. “I slept very well.”

Gabriel watched her as she sat. She didn’t look him in the eye as she spoke, and the redness in her eyes hinted that something was wrong. It didn’t look like she had been crying recently, only that she hadn’t slept very well.

“This is all very new to me also,” Gabriel admitted. “It will take some time to adjust to our new life, but we will adjust to it together.”

“It’s a lot to adapt to,” Eleanor admitted. She looked across the table, considering what to eat for breakfast. “I will do my duty to you and give you an heir.”

Gabriel waved his hand in the air. “There is no pressure, and we have a lot of time. Please, eat something.”

Eleanor was silent. She took a small slice of bread and spread butter on it, adding smoked fish and a slice of cheese to her plate. She still didn’t look at him.

“I don’t mean to dismiss you,” Gabriel said, realizing that he had waved away her talk of starting a family. “I only want you to be comfortable here, and I want you to know that I have no expectations of you. You are free to live your life as you please.”

I have taken your freedom from you, but I can still give you some happiness.

Gabriel bit his bottom lip. He had more he wanted to ask her, but it was their first morning together as a couple, and he didn’t want to get into a deep conversation before she was comfortable.

Her demeanor during the reception the previous day had concerned him. She claimed to be happy, but her body language, as he saw it, said differently—just as her body language at breakfast told him she wasn’t comfortable yet.

He watched her as she sat with a slightly hunched posture, as if she wanted to be as small as possible. She picked up her bread and took small bites from it. She was not the woman he had come to know, as if marriage had changed her already. Finally, she looked across the table at him and smiled weakly.

“Thank you, Your Grace,” Eleanor replied.

“Gabriel,” he urged. “Please call me Gabriel.”

“My apologies. I forgot,” Eleanor said pleasantly.

The pleasantness in her voice annoyed the duke most. He wanted the woman she had been; the feisty one who wasn’t afraid to speak her mind and challenge him. He didn’t want to be married to someone meek who would do as he asked because he was a duke. He didn’t want her to be submissive. She should be her own independent person.

I did not take her to my bedchamber last night. Is that the reason for this? Is she let down by not being pleasured?

Gabriel wanted to push and probe some more, but that was not the right course of action. Not yet. Perhaps she would feel more like herself after having some food.

“The butter was freshly churned this morning,” Gabriel told her.

“Then I know it will be delicious.” Eleanor took up her knife carefully and spread more butter on her bread. Again, she took a small bite, and then nodded. “It’s very nice.”

“Are you feeling well?” Gabriel asked.

“Of course…Gabriel.” Eleanor flashed another weak smile.