Ice Cold Duke (Frigid Dukes #2)

Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

“ S o, this is where you live now,” Georgina said, looking around the sitting room, her eyes wide. “And where you grew up.” She glanced at Henry, who was sitting opposite Emery and Georgina on the sofa, setting out the pieces to the board game that Emery had picked out for them to play that afternoon, as a sort of going-away party for Henry, who would be leaving for London in two days’ time.

“Yes, this is where I grew up,” Henry said, glancing up to smile at Georgina. “It’s not as big and intimidating as it seems.”

“Really?” Georgina didn’t look convinced. “It’s a castle! Not just a manor house, but a castle.”

Henry laughed. “Yes, I suppose it is. But growing up with a brother and three sisters, it was always so loud, messy with children's toys, and full of laughter and games that it never really felt much like a castle. It was quite cozy, actually. I’ve been to castles since--especially during my tour-that felt drafty and old. But ours never felt that way.”

“It will feel more that way once all your sisters have left to be married,” Emery said gloomily, looking over to where the three girls sat in the corner, talking and laughing with one another. They had said they’d like to join in the boardgame, but Emery was glad to have a private moment with her best friends beforehand.

“I’m sure by then that you will have children of your own,” Henry said, smiling kindly at her. She stared back at him in surprise, and he flushed and looked down, as if realizing just how uncomfortable a subject this was for him to bring up to her. “That is… if you and Lucien decide… you’d be a great mother!”

Emery looked sideways and met Georgina’s eyes, which were wide. This is very awkward, she seemed to be saying, and Emery had to agree, but for more reasons than Georgina and Henry realized.

“Mmm,” she said, a noncommittal noise if there ever was one, while Henry returned to setting up the board for their game. Georgina made some stab at conversation with Henry, to change the subject, and Emery let her mind wander to her husband.

She had not told anyone, of course, what the Duke had said to her about not wanting to have children or live together properly as man and wife. Nor had she mentioned her rather confrontational remarks that she would refuse him anyway.

It was not a subject that a lady could bring up with her friends--even a lady as untraditional as Emery. Anyway, even if she could have spoken to Georgina about it, Emery wouldn’t have known what to say.

So far, she had been trying not to think about it and distract herself with planning out her sisters-in-law’s futures. Whenever she let her mind linger too long on the state of her marriage, she felt as if she were being slowly buried under a large blanket of snow. It was not a good feeling.

However, her feelings toward her husband were not as negative as they had been when she’d first arrived in the house. They had now been living together for almost three weeks--although the first week he’d been in Cornwall--and she had been surprised by him on more than one occasion.

His generousness with Henry, for instance, had been a pleasant surprise. She had expected the Duke to hold a grudge and blame him for what had happened. And while he’d held him responsible, he hadn’t doubled down and become hostile. Instead, he’d encouraged them all not to linger on whose fault it was and instead to work together to protect their family.

That was impressive , she thought to herself. It showed a real magnanimous spirit and loyalty to his family.

Henry, too, had impressed her. His idea to help save the family’s reputation was to head to London a week before the rest of them and begin to spread the rumors that the Duke and Emery had fallen in love and were willing to dutifully sacrifice their happiness for the sake of their family.

“I’ll have a few drinks at White’s and then tell a few carefully-selected gentlemen--ones I know who like to gossip--that I should be considered a hero for graciously stepping aside and letting my brother marry my bride,” he’d said to her and the Duke that morning in the dining room.

“A hero?” her husband had said, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t you think that’s overdoing it?”

“Well, I have to look as if I’m overcompensating at least a little bit for being snubbed,” Henry had said with a shrug. “Otherwise, people will wonder why I’m not acting as if my pride wasn’t hurt.”

“Just make sure it sounds convincing,” the Duke had relented.

“And you really think it will help?” Emery had asked anxiously.

Henry had nodded. “I do. Everyone will be so excited by a love story that has a whiff--but just a whiff--of scandal that they will be excited to see you, and by extension Leah. They will invite you to all the events, and Leah won’t get shut out of Society because people assume she has an immoral or improper family.”

She’d nodded at that, then glanced at the Duke. He had an arrested look on his face, as if it were just dawning on him that his family might in fact be immoral and improper. Glancing at him, she’d had to hide a smile.

And truthfully, it seemed like a good plan to Emery. She just hoped that she had absorbed enough of the Duke’s etiquette lessons in order to pass herself off as someone he might actually fall in love with. It was a little humiliating, she thought, to be considered so uncouth in her current state that there was no possible way the Duke could ever love her. But if it was going to help Leah find a match, then she wasn’t going to complain. Especially because the whole debacle was partially her fault.

“Alright, everything’s set up,” Henry announced. “We’re all ready to play.”

“Girls!” Emery called to her sisters-in-law. “We’re ready!”

The girls joined them on the couch, and everyone was laughing and talking over each other as they reached for their pieces and asked for clarification on the rules. It was a loud, bantering, cozy atmosphere, and Emery felt almost happy as she looked around her.

This is my family. And I do love them. Now, if only I loved--

There was a knock on the already-open door, and all of them looked up to see the Duke standing in the doorway, watching them all with a strange look on his face.

“What’s going on in here?” he asked, and next to her, Emery felt Leah, Celeste, and Eve stiffen.

“We’re just playing a game,” Leah said after a moment, clutching at her piece so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. “Is that allowed? We didn’t mean to break any rules, and we can be quieter if you prefer.”

The Duke frowned at his sister. “Why wouldn’t that be allowed?” he asked, shaking his head. “No… I’m not here to put an end to anything… I just wondered… I heard voices and laughter and wondered what you all had gotten up to.”

No one said anything for a moment. All three sisters and Henry seemed to be in shock that the Duke hadn’t come down to lecture them or tell them to stop playing frivolous games. They all looked wary and were watching him as if waiting for him to explode, but Emery suddenly recognized the look in the Duke’s eyes: it was longing.

He wants to be part of the game! The thought was so astonishing that her mouth fell open. It would never have occurred to her to invite the Duke. She would not have guessed that he wanted to be part of the game. And it seemed as if no one else had guessed it, either.

The Duke cleared his throat. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then seemed to think better of it, because he closed it again. His cheeks burning red, he said, “Well, I'll let you get back--”

“Would you like to join us?” Emery asked, smiling tentatively at him. The Duke froze.

“Well…” he looked very uncertain, his eyes roaming over everyone present. “I suppose it would be an amusing way to spend the afternoon. But only if there is a spot available. I shouldn’t like to intrude or take a place from anyone else.”

“We have plenty of room,” Emery said at once, scooting over on the sofa to make room for him between her and Leah. “Please, join us.”

“Yes,” Celeste said suddenly, giving her brother a small smile. “Please do.”

“Come on, then,” Henry said, gesturing at him. “Let’s get started!”

The Duke joined them on the couch, sitting stiffly between Emery and Leah. As Henry began to explain the rules and strategies of the game, the Duke said nothing. He seemed content merely to be there and soak in the atmosphere, rather than to participate.

“Do you understand everything?” Henry asked his brother as they began to play, and the Duke nodded.

“Do you really?” Emery whispered, leaning close to him, and he gave her a small smile.

“Do you doubt that I’m a fast learner?”

“I doubt you’ve ever played a game before!”

His smile widened and he turned back to the game. “Very good move,” he said to Georgina, who had just played, and then he winked at Emery.

See? I understood the rules, this wink seemed to say, and she found it hard not to laugh.

Slowly, as they finished the first round and went into the second, Emery could feel her husband loosening up beside her. He sat less stiffly, and even relaxed his shoulders a bit and smiled while the rest of them howled with laughter after Henry made a valiant attempt to win the second round and lost spectacularly.

He’s not used to playing games like this. And she wondered suddenly what it must have been like for him, the eldest with irresponsible, absent parents, always having to take care of his big family and set the rules, instead of getting to take part in the games. He must have always had to be the bad guy. I can imagine that must have been very lonely.

“For someone who doesn’t play a lot of games, you certainly are doing well,” she said to him after a while, speaking lowly so as not to disturb everyone else, who were chattering loudly amongst themselves.

The Duke glanced at her, his eyes round with surprise to hear her speaking to him.

“I don’t know if I’m doing well,” he said doubtfully, looking down at the pieces in front of him. “Am I?”

“You are,” she said, smiling slightly. “Celeste is in the lead, and then Henry, but then you’re third.”

“Incredible that Henry is in second place after he lost so badly in the last round,” the Duke said, shaking his head. “But then, he has always had good luck with this kind of thing.”

“Games?” she asked curiously, and he shrugged.

“Just everything,” he said. “Life has always come easily to him. He gets along with others well, always knows the right thing to say, rides and fences spectacularly without ever practicing. He’s just one of those men blessed with endless talents.”

“Hmm.” Emery had never thought about it this way. Yes, Henry did have a natural ease in most situations, but she had always found him a little lazy and a little arrogant--not terrible qualities, of course, but not ones that would have made her fall in love with him, like everyone might have wished she had. “Well, I think it’s okay to not be naturally talented at everything,” she said. “It’s more important to me to work hard at the things you care deeply about. Like for you, that would be taking care of your family.”

He blinked in surprise. “I’m surprised to hear you say that. Most of the time you seem to think me overprotective.”

“You are,” she said, and to her shock, he actually laughed. This was the first time she had ever heard him laugh--really laugh, not just icily sneer at her--and it made her heart constrict in her chest.

She’d never seen this side of him before, that was soft and vulnerable, eager to be included in the group, and she liked it much more than his ice-cold, impenetrable persona.

“But I can see also that your overprotectiveness comes from a good place,” she said after a moment. “There are worse things, really, than looking out for one’s family. I wish… Sometimes I wish I’d had someone to watch out for me in mine.”

“What do you mean?” the Duke asked, frowning. “Were the Earl and Countess not attentive parents?”

“They were too attentive,” she said with a snort. “Overprotective as well. But I don’t think it came from a place of love. I think they just wanted to spend the least amount of time and money bothering with me, so they just kept me cooped up in the house, unable to do anything. They said it was for my own good, but I don’t think it was. Regardless…” She shrugged. “I could have used an older brother to protect me from that.”

The smile he gave her then was surprisingly soft and kind. “Thank you,” he murmured, and his green eyes blazed for a moment. “That is very kind of you to say.”

Her throat suddenly felt very dry and tight, and she had to clear it several times. Nodding, she turned away, unable to look up into his eyes a moment longer. She returned her focus to the game, and was surprised, and a little gratified, when the Duke went on to win the round, as if he had been encouraged by her support.

And when he turned to her and winked, she felt like he had won it for her.