Chapter 6 #2
“Yes,” Nathaniel admitted aloud. “She is a beautiful woman, Thaddeus. I am a man, not a statue. But that changes absolutely nothing. She is trouble, and she can be infuriating. My life is precisely as I wish it to be. I have vital business empire goals to achieve, estate matters to oversee, and a family name to protect. I do not desire drama. I like my days clean, orderly, and entirely predictable. Nothing, not even the fact that I find her attractive, will sway me from that path.”
Thaddeus chuckled, leaning forward to tease him. “Oh, come now, Nathaniel! If you find the lady so thoroughly enchanting, why on earth not pursue something more? A beautiful Duchess in your bed is hardly a hardship—”
Nathaniel didn’t even grant him the courtesy of a response. He rolled his eyes, turning sharply on his heel. “I am leaving.”
Thaddeus simply watched him go, chuckling.
Nathaniel strode out of the study, leaving Thaddeus behind as he mounted his horse and began the long, quiet ride back to Greymoor.
When he dismounted in the courtyard, he strode into the grand hall, pulling off his riding gloves. The butler stepped forward immediately to take his hat and cloak.
“Has the Duchess completed her tour with Mrs. Gable?” Nathaniel asked.
“Yes, Your Grace,” the butler replied smoothly, bowing his head. “Her Grace concluded the tour some time ago. At present, she is in the eastern conservatory. She is currently with Lady Cordelia.”
Nathaniel froze, his hand tightening around his riding gloves until the leather groaned. “She is with Cordelia?”
“Yes, Your Grace. They are—”
But Nathaniel didn’t stay to hear the rest. A hot, sudden surge of fury rushed through his veins.
She had disobeyed him. He had laid out the terms of their existence with absolute clarity less than twenty-four hours ago, and she had already crossed the line.
If there was one thing Nathaniel hated above all else, it was disobedience.
It disrupted order, it challenged his authority, and it proved every single one of his worst instincts about her correct.
As he stormed down the long corridors toward the eastern wing, his mind raced.
This was precisely why a union between them was an impossibility.
She was the absolute antithesis of everything he required in his life.
She was dramatic, she was impulsive, she was entirely disobedient, and she possessed a fierce, exasperating habit of talking back whenever he issued a command.
She simply did too many things without a single thought for consequence.
He was a man who was usually right about most things, and his decree to keep her separated from his family had been for everyone’s protection.
He threw open the doors to the conservatory. At the sight of him, the laughter on Cordelia’s face vanished, and she scrambled off the bench, Barnaby instantly whining too. Euphemia stood up slowly, her chin lifting as she met his furious gaze.
“Cordelia, go to your room immediately,” Nathaniel commanded. “Gable, take her.”
The young girl didn’t dare hesitate. She gathered her skirts, called for the dog, and scurried out of the glass room without a word, following Mrs. Gable.
Nathaniel turned his hard, emerald eyes onto Euphemia. “Follow me to my study. Now.”
Euphemia didn’t move an inch. She stood her ground among the orange trees, her blue eyes narrowing. “Why must we go to your study? Why can we not simply speak here?”
Nathaniel paused. He slowly pivoted back to face her, his chest rising and falling with suppressed anger. He took a step toward her. “Are you deliberately trying to upset me, Euphemia? Is that what this is? A game to see how quickly you can defy my orders?”
“I am not trying to be disobedient, nor am I playing games,” she shot back. “But I cannot act like a fool, Your Grace. I cannot avoid your daughters. We live under the exact same roof.”
Nathaniel’s hands clenched into fists behind his back.
He was so close to raising his voice, a rare and deeply unsettling occurrence for him, but he forced his voice into a strained hiss.
“It is a remarkably simple ask. Your wing is entirely separate from theirs. Why is it so impossible for you to just stay away from them? Explain it to me.”
A profound look of disappointment settled over Euphemia’s features.
The fire in her eyes suddenly flickered, replaced by a deep, weary frustration.
She let out a long, ragged sigh, staring past him into space for several agonizing seconds as if searching for something that simply wasn’t there.
When she finally looked back at him, the anger was gone.
“I think we should get an annulment, Your Grace,” she said softly.
Nathaniel felt as though the breath had been completely knocked from his lungs. He took a literal step back, his stunned expression breaking. “An annulment?”
“Yes,” Euphemia replied, her voice trembling slightly as the panic began to visibly settle into her posture.
“I think it is best if we get an annulment. I cannot possibly live like this. When I agreed to this arrangement, I honestly thought it would be easy. I thought I could just blend into your household, do my part as a duchess, and move forward with my life. But I cannot do this. It is too much.”
She shook her head, her hands fluttering anxiously against her gown.
“I refuse to walk on eggshells in a place that is supposed to be my home. And furthermore, I have absolutely no desire to ruin your life, or my family’s name further.
It is entirely clear to me that you are deeply annoyed by the fact that you had to marry me at all.
Perhaps it is best if I simply leave, so that I do not ruin your existence any more than I already have. ”
Turning away from him, she gathered her skirts, her movements frantic as she attempted to march past him toward the exit.
“Wait,” he muttered.