Page 161 of Stolen By the Heartless Duke

“I think...” she whispered, “...I’ll retire for the evening.”

He finally looked back at her. “Very well.”

Jane forced a small smile. “Good night, Hector.”

“Good night, Jane.”

She left the drawing room without looking back. As she climbed the staircase, her heart felt unexpectedly heavy. She had thought marriage would make it easier for them to speak about anything.

Instead, she had discovered that even now there were places inside Hector that remained locked. And for the first time since their wedding, she wondered whether she would ever find the key.

For the better part of a week, Jane scarcely saw her husband. Not because they quarreled.

If Jane broke her fast early, Hector had already left for parliament. If she lingered in the library during the afternoon, a servant would quietly mention that His Grace had gone riding.

By evening, he was often buried in his study with correspondence spread across his desk, and when he finally retired, she was already asleep, or at least pretending to be.

The distance was invisible to everyone else. To Jane, it was impossible to ignore. She missed him.

Not simply his presence, but the easy conversations they had begun to share, the stolen smiles across a room, and the quiet comfort of existing beside one another without speaking.

It felt lonely.

By the sixth day, she found herself accepting Lavinia’s invitation for tea with far more enthusiasm than she ordinarily might have.

Lavinia greeted her with an embrace before either of them had properly entered the drawing room.

“You look miserable.”

Jane managed a weak smile. “I was hoping I concealed it better.”

“You’ve never concealed anything from me.”

The familiar room, scented with fresh roses and bergamot tea, felt wonderfully unchanged. Jane settled onto the sofa while Lavinia poured tea with practiced ease.

“So,” Lavinia said, handing her a cup. “Tell me everything.”

Jane stared into the swirling amber liquid. “I think I’ve made a dreadful mistake.”

Lavinia’s eyebrows shot upward. “You married the duke. That was hardly a mistake.”

“No.” Jane sighed. “Not marrying him.”

“Then what?”

She hesitated. “We spoke about children.”

Understanding dawned immediately across Lavinia’s face. “Oh.”

“It wasn’t even an argument.”

“No?”

Jane shook her head. “I merely asked whether he wanted them.”

“And?”

“He said he’d never thought about it. That Evan had always been his whole world.”