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She didn’t want the night to end, really.

Your own adventures await.

She stepped back, looking up at him. With the way he looked at her, and how his hands lowered slowly, she wondered if perhaps one already had tonight.

Her eyes dropped to his mouth, and she thought of her dream of a kiss.

Her heart fluttered, her breath catching, and the candlelight turned the dark tones in Dorian’s hair shimmering.

Finally, Eloise let herself do what she had ached to do earlier. She cupped his jaw, feeling the soft beard beneath.

Heavens, it felt so good to touch him. To feel him. Her striking, thoughtful, honorable husband.

How she yearned for a kiss from him…

For a moment, she thought he was going to lean into her touch, but he only nodded once before stepping back.

“Rest, Duchess,” he told her softly. “It’s been a long day.”

And not even the disappointment of him leaving her room could diminish Eloise’s happiness. She spun around her room, giggling quietly to herself, as she blew out the candles and placed her new compass with her other gifts.

Chapter Fifteen

The invitation in Dorian’s hand burned through his gloves, or so it felt that way.

It read to the Duke and Duchess of Oldcliff, to attend Almack’s in London. It had arrived only several days after Eloise’s birthday, and he had prepared for them to depart for London as soon as they could. They had arrived late last night under the cover of darkness and had pulled up to his townhouse undetected.

Tonight, though, there was no denying it: they were making their first public appearance.

Part of him wanted to see Eloise come alive at another celebration and have a chance to dance with her again, but another part wanted to quell the rumors written in that scandal sheet. Thankfully, nothing else had been written about them, but Dorian knew people would still be whispering.

A soft clearing of a throat came from the top of the staircase of Oldcliff House.

Dorian went to slip the invitation into his internal tailcoat pocket as he looked up. His hand hovered midair before he could even get a corner in.

His composure cracked as he beheld Eloise, his duchess, a woman who glimmered beautifully beneath the staircase’s lights. Her gloved hand rested on the banister, and he followed the length of her arm, up to the gentle sleeves that hugged the sides of her shoulders.

Eloise’s brown hair was curled and styled up, the honeyed strands in it burning prettily. Her lips were pursed in question as she gazed back at him. The color of her gown was a deep emerald, the bodice hugging every curve. He tried not to notice that they were the same curves that had been accentuated by the wedding gown he’d gifted her, chosen especially for her type of figure.

The cravat Dorian wore tonight, decorating his dark suit, matched the color of her gown excellently, and he was too busy being stunned over his wife’s beauty that he didn’t notice the smirk rising to her face.

He hadn’t noticed her descending the staircase, too entranced by the woman with whom he had claimed he wouldn’t have a romantic marriage.

“I do believe it is customary for a man to greet a lady at the base of the stairs rather than keep her waiting,” Eloise teased, and Dorian snapped into motion. He walked the last few strides to meet her right as she stepped onto the main foyer floor.

“Do you… have a shawl?” he asked, because he did not know what else to say, not when she looked like this, not when his control was a fraying thing, and had been since the day he’d met her.

“A shawl?” Eloise blinked. “Oh. Yes.”

She cocked her head as if to wonder why he’d changed the subject of her teasing.

Emily, Eloise’s lady’s maid who had accompanied her to London, hurried to drape the shawl around Eloise’s shoulders before stepping back.

Finally, Dorian took her hand, and led her out of the front door, still not knowing what to say.

“Eloise,” Dorian said, pulling her close as they entered Almack’s. They had arrived late enough that the entrance hall was emptier than usual.

He could already hear the music from the dance hall beyond the double doors ahead, but he had his wife’s attention now, and he knew he could not let her enter without saying something.