“You’ve laughed at worse.”
“I know that too.”
That unsettled her more than anger would have.
Vivian had always known how to manage his moods.
Irritation could be teased away.
Jealousy could be flattered.
Boredom could be entertained.
Even cruelty, when it appeared, could be met with cruelty of equal precision.
But Duke was not angry.
He looked tired in a way she had never seen before.
“Did she complain?” Vivian asked.
“No.”
“Did she make a scene?”
“No.”
“Then what exactly has happened?”
Duke thought of Claire at the breakfast table, her hands folded beneath linen, answering humiliation with stillness.
He remembered the way she had studied the portrait of his mother.
He remembered Mrs.
Hawthorne saying women who expected to belong somewhere did not ask permission to exist in it.
“She said almost nothing,” he replied.
Vivian blinked.
Then she laughed.
“That’s the crisis? Your bride is dull?”
Duke’s face hardened.
“Do not call her that.”
Vivian stopped laughing.
Now there was anger.
“Forgive me.
I forgot I was discussing Her Grace after twelve hours of marriage.”
“Vivian.”
“No.
You came here looking like an undertaker, so let us at least be honest.
You married a quiet little Virginia girl because her father’s land sits where you want to build.
You told me yourself that she was suitable precisely because she would not complicate things.”
Every word was true.
That was why he could not dismiss them.
Vivian stepped nearer.
“You wanted obedience at home and freedom everywhere else.
I didn’t invent that arrangement, Sebastian.
You did.”
He looked at her for a long moment.
“Yes.”
The answer stole some of her momentum.
“Yes,” he repeated.
“I did.”
Vivian searched his face.
“So what are you doing here?”
“Ending it.”
The room became utterly still.
Vivian’s lips parted, but no sound came.
Duke continued before she could transform shock into laughter.
“There will be no more visits.
No more private dinners.
No more notes sent to Alden House.
My solicitor will settle any outstanding expenses that are properly mine, but this relationship is finished.”
Vivian stared at him.
