He suppressed an outraged roar with difficulty and threw open the door himself. Halston stood on the other side.
“What?” Taviston said rudely.
“Your Grace, I think you should follow me. There is something you need to see.”
Halston’s quiet, firm tone had Taviston putting aside his argument. Besides, if he went, he would actually escape his study, which was a step in the right direction.
“Lead on, Halston.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Goose-flesh dotted his skin as Halston led him to the door of his wife’s bedchamber. What was this all about? Taviston ignored the question as he realized he was now exactly where he wished to be—if his wife was inside the room.
Halston rapped solidly on the door and then drifted backwards down the hall, a surprisingly glum expression on his face. Victoria’s soft voice bade him to enter. A foolish grin spread his lips wide and in that instant, he decided to share his newly discovered knowledge with his wife, consequences be damned. With any luck she would then willingly allow him to show her just how much he loved her.
He threw open the door and strode confidently into the room but pulled up short at the tableau before him.
A maid stood beside the bed busily folding dresses and gowns with precision. As she finished one, his wife would gently lay it inside a trunk resting on the floor. While Victoria waited for the girl to fold another garment, she gathered up toiletries and personal items and stowed them in a leather portmanteau sitting on the festive emerald bedclothes.
Taviston’s fists curled into balls. “What the devil is going on here?”
He knew what he saw but couldn’t believe it.
Victoria had glanced at him when he had entered the room, but then steadfastly ignored him. Standing beside the bed now, wearing a cheerful yellow gown, she straightened her spine and directed a steady gaze his way.
“I am leaving for Taviston Hall.” She blinked twice and then reached for a folded dress, once again disregarding him.
The definitive words painfully compressed his chest. Thoughts tumbled through his head like leaves in the wind but the only word he could spit out was a strangled “Why?”
Victoria’s shoulders rose and fell with a deep sigh. She asked the maid to excuse them.
Victoria then rushed around the room, collecting items to pack in her bag and straightening items she obviously didn’t wish to take. Arms crossed over his chest, Taviston stood his ground in the center of the room, waiting with mounting impatience.
Without even looking his way she said, “If you will recall, this is a marriage of convenience. Or should I say, a marriage forced into existence by rash behavior on both our parts. Either way, it is more convenient for me to be at Taviston Hall. I’m sure I’ll be more comfortable there, in the country. I like the country.”
She now attempted, without nearly as much proficiency as the maid, to fold the gown lying on the bed.
Taviston clamped his lips shut before unexamined words could escape. It seemed best to contemplate carefully anything he wished to say. Had this been her plan all along, to run away?
He said, with a deadly calm he did not feel, “I thought you had had enough of the country.”
She gave up trying to fold the gown and crossed over to a chair near the window. Hefting a sleeping Arthur into her arms, she took the cat’s place, settled him on her lap, and stroked his gray fur.
Her gaze wandered to the window and fixed on some distant sight. “I think I shall do fine at Taviston Hall. You may continue your life here in London, unimpeded by me.”
She hesitated so long Taviston thought she had nothing else to say. He didn’t, however, trust himself to speak.
Finally, she added, “I know my duty as your duchess. If the events of last night do not bear fruit, I will return in a few weeks’ time and you may try again.”
Intense scrutiny revealed pink stains on her cheeks. She could not be serious. If she had only been doing her “duty” last night, then a burst of true passion from her would surely kill a man. No, not any man, me. From now until forever.
Valiantly he tried to stem the swell of emotion running rampant through him. He felt sick to his stomach at the thought of her leaving. This was not the Victoria he knew.
With an impatient gesture that told him she was tired of waiting for him to find his tongue, she spoke again. “I don’t believe we have anything more to discuss. I will leave you to your life here and you may forget about me for the time being. Many married couples lead separate lives and I see no reason why we shouldn’t as well.”
Many couples did, but not in his family. Ironically, that was exactly the kind of marriage he had wanted. Before. Before she crawled into his heart and took up residence. Now, there was no way on this earth he was going to live apart from her.
Still as a statue, he issued an undoubtedly unwise command. “I forbid you to leave.”