Page 34 of To Steal a Duchess

“I am certain I can make my own decision about how I am addressed, husband,” Eloise pointed out delicately, folding her napkin over her lap.

“And I am certain that, as your husband, I can insist on you being greeted with respect,” he retorted stiffly.

“Oh, do stop fussing, Dorian. The duchess has made her own choice, and it is respect from you that you do not try to override her decision with your rigid sense of propriety.” Gideon shook his head in mock disappointment. “Now, listen to your lovely wife over there, and let us have some wine, yes?”

“Agreed,” Nancy said brightly.

“We have a very rich red wine I have been waiting to taste,” Eloise told them, and she noted Dorian’s brow lifting. “Yes?”

“You have been assessing my wines?” he asked.

“Well, when one is dining alone, one must entertain herself, and I have taken up looking at your selection of wines so I could decide what was to be my drink of choice while I stared at your empty chair.” She kept her voice light, but her eyes narrowed on him.

Gideon cleared his throat as Eloise called for Mr. Forster to arrange the wine. “I see there is discontentment at the table.”

“Nonsense,” Dorian said without missing a beat. “My wife does not understand I am often too busy to sit down for dinner with her in here. You know yourself, Gideon, that I often take my meals in my study.”

“Yes, and it is a terrible habit. You must separate work from leisure. Taking a break to eat is an act that must be savored, even by the most hardworking of men such as yourself, friend.”

Dorian cut a glare at his friend, but Gideon only grinned at him, as though he knew he was riling the duke up, and was happy about it.

“I am certain, though, that it is not unreasonable to ask my husband to dine with me at least once,” Eloise said.

Next to her, Nancy nodded, her eyes finding Gideon again, and Eloise’s curiosity only grew.

“We are dining now, are we not?” Dorian pointed out.

“You know what I mean,” Eloise sighed.

“We do not need to have such a discussion now.” He waved her off.

Around them, a footman filled their glasses with the fine red wine, and the scent hit Eloise with mouth-watering temptation.

When Nancy spoke up, although Eloise had been the one to instigate the discussion, she was glad her friend was changing the topic. “Your Grace, this wine is delicious.”

She set down her glass pointedly after tasting the wine.

Eloise took a sip herself, finding the heady flavor as delicious as Nancy had stated. She knew she had been waiting on this wine for a reason.

“You must tell me where you acquired it, so I may have my father import it too,” Nancy added.

Dorian’s head tilted to the side as he lazily swirled the wine in his glass. “It is a vintage Italian, dating back to…” He paused to think. “Seventeen-twenty-three. It was sent out on a merchant ship from Florence.”

“I sense there is a story there,” Eloise blurted out, eager to hear more about the Italian merchants.

Dorian tilted his head to the side as he looked at her. “Actually, there is one.”

“I would be ever so happy to hear it. As would our guests, I assume,” Eloise replied, glancing at Nancy, who nodded in confirmation.

“Oh, here you go,” Gideon muttered, but even Eloise was interested, and both she and Nancy leaned in to listen.

“All right, then.” Dorian paid the Marquess no mind. “The captain of that merchant ship was an illegal sea raider. He posed a very convincing character as, if I recall correctly, Captain Vallier, and only one person in his crew knew his true identity.

“He knew how much he would get for the endless crates of wine he was importing, but its destination was not the one on his so-called merchant contract. Of course, it was a farce. He had a buyer lined up, but Vallier was so tempted to try the wine that everybody had talked about in Florence, that he began going mad.

“Night after night, he would sit in the hold, looking at the crates. Driven by insanity and paranoia, over the course of the journey from Florence to Britain, one by one, that crew diminished by Vallier’s hand. He was so terrified of being found out. Soon, the only crewmate that remained was the one who knew his identity.

“But Vallier didn’t like that his crewmate began asking for half of the wine’s profits. The other man spoke of his loyalty to Vallier, claiming he could have revealed him as being a sea raider at any point, but he hadn’t. Seeing the pledge of loyalty as a threat, Vallier shot him, as he had done with the other crew members. However, the shot went wide, firing right through the floorboards of the hold. With a hole blown through the ship, they began taking on water, and began to sink.