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"I was waiting for you." He kissed her shoulder before nudging her forward to continue undoing her stays. "I might have dozed off a bit, but I heard your entrance."
"Chessman said you were with Elaine in your study."
"She retired early." His tone was grave, and she almost asked him what the matter was but held back. Perhaps something had happened with his sister.
“I think we should have a ball before all of the guests leave, Darling,” he murmured, his breath warm against her skin, “to formally introduce you as the Duchess of Rowan.”
“That is a splendid idea even though I think we have had too many events,” Edwina agreed.
“This shall be the last one.” He turned her around to face him. “I want us to travel. I have a castle in Lincolnshire I want to show you. It is positively dark and medieval. It even has a moat. I call it Dewmire.”
Edwina grinned. “I so love castles, and that is an interesting name.”
“Excellent. We shall leave as soon as the last of the guests leave. I also wish for us to travel the Continent.”
“You sound as though you want to take me away from Hersings, Albert,” she half-jested. She would love to travel with him, but there was something in his eyes in that instant that worried her. He looked as though he was running from something.
“Would that be a bad thing?” He pushed her dress down her body, his amber eyes darkening with hunger. “Hersings is but one of the Rowan Estate’s properties. I want you to live in all of them before you decide where you want to stay.”
Days ago, she did not have a home. Now she had many to choose from. He was offering her everything she had ever wanted except one thing. His heart. “But I know that you adore Hersings.”
He tugged her close. “I adore this,” he murmured into her neck, his hand cupping one of her breasts.
“Just that?” she asked, her breath quickening, hoping to hear him say he adoredher.
“Everything,” he whispered. Edwina reached for his shirt then. She was not going to get the response she wanted, but she could get a different response from him. He adored her body, and she could find satisfaction in that. With his help, she divested him of his shirt, throwing it atop the satin pool of her gown on the floor.
"Do you admire what you see?" He quirked a teasing brow when she stared at his bare chest. She had never seen a more defined and well-sculpted person.
"Yes," she placed a kiss on his chest, “and it is all mine to have." Her hands moved to the fastening of his breeches.
"It is, Darling. I suppose you have my father to thank for it."
She paused, looking up. "I beg your pardon?"
"I was a rather chubby child," he began, “I was quite timid, too, but I loved food because it gave me comfort when my father took it away. He would often chastise me for my appetite. When he was in a good mood, he would say I ate like a pig."
A gasp escaped Edwina at this, but she allowed him to continue. She was glad he was sharing this with her, trusting her enough to allow her to see the cruelty he had suffered at his father’s hands. He rarely talked about his parents, and although she was curious, she had never asked him about them because she had felt his reluctance to speak came from pain.
"And if he was in a foul mood,” Albert continued, “he would tell me that I would eat myself to an early grave one day." She traced the contours of his muscles, resting her hands on his broad chest. "When I left for Eton and found some independence, I engaged in as much sporting as I could. It gave me strength. I shaped this body into what it is now not only because of my father’s harsh words, but because it made me strong. I discovered a love for sporting, too.”
“The perfect balance,” she said.
“Yes.” He caressed her cheek. "Does allowing my father’s insults to drive my actions make me weak, Edwina?" he asked, an anxious note in his voice. It was as though he desired her approval.
"Of course not,” she said emphatically. “It takes great courage to turn harsh criticism to one’s advantage, and you have done just that. I am proud of you for not allowing his words to keep you down." She took his face gently kissed his lips. "And I would—”
She kissed him again to distract him from the fact that she had not finished her sentence. She had almost said she that would have loved him no matter what he was like, strong or weak.
“I would not have cared either way. One's figure does not define them. I wish your father saw that,” she said after pulling away, wrapping her arms about his neck. “Prudence would tell me that I would not find a husband if I ate too much. She would make Danny tighten the laces of my stays.”
He smiled down at her. “Look at you now.”
“I am a Duchess.”
“I thought you did not want to be a Duchess.” He pinched her nose playfully.
“I did not, but now that I am,” she shrugged, “I must accept it.”
