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“You don’t want what?” he pressed gently.
Eleanor bit her lip and looked down at the floor. “I don’t want people to think my father did this to me. His...his reputation is already low due to his…”
Her shoulders trembled. Nathan glanced over at Parsons.
“Is there somewhere that I can take Lady Eleanor to calm down?”
“The drawing room, Sir.” Parsons beckoned him to follow. “I’ll make sure you’re not disturbed.”
“Thank you.”
Nathan threw propriety out of the window for a few moments and wrapped an arm around Eleanor’s shoulders. Eleanor didn’t stiffen or pull away as he expected. Instead, she leaned into him, resting her head against his shoulder. The immediate trust she put in him had Nathan’s anger dissipating a little. It felt good. It may not have been proper, but that moment of comfort Eleanor was taking made him feel useful.
He just hoped that he could let her go when he should.
Parsons opened a door off the foyer and Nathan led Eleanor into the room. He barely took stock of his surroundings as he urged Eleanor to sit on a couch by the empty fireplace. Eleanor leaned over and buried her face into her hands, rocking slowly as she took deep breaths. Nathan felt helpless watching her. If only he could do something more, but he couldn’t. Swallowing, he nodded at Parsons.
“Thank you, Parsons. I’ll look after her.”
“Very good, Captain.”
Parsons simply bowed and left the room, closing the door behind him. God only knew what he was thinking right now. Nathan pushed that aside and knelt in front of Eleanor.
“Eleanor? Eleanor, look at me.”
Eleanor stopped rocking, but she didn’t lower her hands. Nathan reached up and took her hands, gently bringing them down. Even then, Eleanor wouldn’t look at him, fixing her gaze on the buttons of his shirt. Nathan rubbed his thumbs across her knuckles.
“Look at me, Eleanor. Talk to me. I’m not going to judge you. I’m sure you know that.”
“You’ve judged me about my decisions before,” Eleanor said bitterly.
Nathan winced. “We’re not here to discuss that. For now, just talk to me. I want to think it will help.”
Eleanor bit her lip. Nathan felt the urge to kiss her.You didn’t come here for that. Focus on Eleanor, not on her mouth.Nathan shook himself.
“Eleanor?”
“Forgive me.” Eleanor took a deep breath and sat back, her hands still in his. “I don’t normally lose my composure like this. But...I felt like I could with you. Does that sound silly?”
“It’s not silly at all.” Nathan smiled. “I’m flattered that you find me worthy enough to be yourself.”
“And I shouldn’t be talking about my father like I did. He’s a good man, truly. It’s just…” Eleanor winced. “He has a couple of vices.”
“Like what?”
“Gambling. And drinking. Once he’s got both in his grasp, he takes it to excess. It’s how you and I ended up engaged.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Now Nathan was confused. He moved to sit beside her, taking care not to sit too close. But he didn’t let go of her hand, either.
“I don’t follow.”
“Someone at one of these gambling dens said he could wipe out his debts - and there are a lot of them - on the condition that Father agrees to marry me to an acquaintance.”
“So, we were both set up?”
It hadn’t been his mother’s plan after all? Now that made a little more sense. But she was involved in this somehow. Did she know how this match had started?
