Too Bruised to Stand, She Collapsed at the Ballroom—Until a Duke’s Gentle Hands Changed Her Fate
Chapter 4
The following morning, Eleanor discovered that Lord Reginald had already demanded her return.
She refused.
That small act required more courage than anyone in the house understood.
Her uncle arrived before noon.
“You will come home.”
“No.”
He stared at her.
“You seem to have forgotten your position.”
“No,” Eleanor said quietly. “I have remembered it.”
His hand struck the table.
“You ungrateful girl.”
The duke appeared in the doorway.
Reginald stopped.
Julian had changed into a dark riding coat.
He looked as though he had been standing there for some time.
“How long have you been listening?” Reginald asked.
“Long enough.”
“This does not concern you.”
“It concerns me now.”
Reginald stepped closer.
“My niece belongs under my guardianship.”
Julian’s eyes became cold.
“Then I suggest you explain why she fears returning to your house.”
Reginald’s face tightened.
“You are making a dangerous mistake.”
“No.”
Julian glanced toward Eleanor.
“I believe I am preventing one.”
Reginald left.
Eleanor exhaled.
“I am sorry.”
“For what?”
“For bringing trouble to your house.”
Julian gave a faint smile.
“Lady Vale, I have been a duke since I was twenty-four. Trouble has been bringing itself to my house for years.”
She laughed.
It was the first genuine laugh he had heard from her.
The sound surprised both of them.
Later that afternoon, Julian took Eleanor’s father’s papers from the estate solicitor.
He discovered something troubling.
The inheritance was not nearly as simple as Reginald had claimed.
Eleanor’s father had established a legal trust.
The principal estate could not be sold without Eleanor’s consent.
Nor could her uncle compel her marriage.
But someone had altered a page in the copy held at the Vale estate.
A clause had been added.
Julian held the document beneath the candlelight.
“The ink is different.”
The solicitor nodded.
“I thought so.”
Eleanor stared.
“Then my uncle lied.”
“Yes.”
“And if we find the original?”
“Your uncle loses control of the estate.”
Julian folded the paper.
“Then we shall find it.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“Why?”
He met her eyes.
“Because no woman should be beaten until she signs away her own inheritance.”
She looked down.
Her voice was barely audible.
“You are very kind.”
Julian shook his head.
“No.”
He paused.
“I am merely unwilling to pretend cruelty is respectable because it wears a good coat.”
