Read Online The Unclaimed Duchess by Jenna Petersen - Free Book Online Page B

and for his sisters, when and if this thing came out into the open, they would all be punished for her shocking lack of control.
    â€œWhat about your father?” Anne asked, coming closer to his thoughts than she likely knew.
    â€œMy father…” He hesitated. “The Duke of Waverly didn’t accompany us.”
    â€œNever?” she asked with surprise in her tone.
    Rhys shook his head. “He disapproved of the ‘savage’ surroundings and said that this little place was beneath us, but my mother insisted. He allowed it for a time, but when I was thirteen it ended abruptly.”
    He remembered the day his mother had told him he could no longer go to this place. She had been crying,he thought. And after that, she laughed even less, but he had never put much thought into her happiness or lack thereof. Now he wondered about it, about her, even as he burned in anger and betrayal toward her.
    â€œWhy did it end?” Anne asked, turning toward him with empathy in her eyes. Not pity, for he hated that, but something else.
    â€œWe came home that year and I was talking foolishness about making friends with some of the village children, perhaps even inviting them to one of our estates some year.” Rhys shrugged. “The duke had never supported the idea of me coming here. He didn’t like it that I consorted with children who had no rank and believed that my wild behavior was below my station.”
    Anne’s brow wrinkled. “Didn’t it matter to him that you had a little happiness here?”
    Rhys’s shoulders stiffened. He had confessed that fact to only one person. It seemed Simon had felt compelled to share it with Anne. The idea that she had such a glimpse into the weaknesses he had been taught to hide was troubling.
    â€œHappiness is irrelevant. The duke was correct. At thirteen, I wasn’t a boy anymore. It was high time to forget such foolish notions and begin to truly prepare myself for the future my father saw for me.”
    Anne’s gaze dropped and she slowly turned to lookat the ocean again. “How sad your father thought joy was a foolish notion. And sadder still that he convinced you his opinion was gospel.”
    Rhys didn’t respond, but instead stepped a fraction closer and looked out with her over the water. The afternoon was waning now, beginning to cast a faintly orange glow over the waves in the distance. They were quiet for a long moment, but unlike when she first came to the water’s edge, there was nothing uncomfortable about it.
    When some time had passed, Rhys looked down at her. “I’m not trying to hurt you. It was never my intention.”
    She didn’t look at him. In fact, she hardly reacted to his statement at all, just continued to look out to sea. Finally she nodded.
    â€œI know that. In fact, it’s obvious from simply looking at you that you are the one who is hurt. Deeply enough that you would run away not just from me but from everything important in your life. And it says something that when you ran, you came to a place where you were happy almost twenty years ago. Where you weren’t stifled by the ideals of rank and propriety that were so important to your father that he would crush any other instinct you might have once had.”
    Rhys frowned. That was actually a remarkablygood assessment of what was happening here, especially coming from a woman who wasn’t fully aware of the entire situation. Was he so easy to read?
    Slowly she turned toward him and lifted her face to his. Her hand fluttered at her side, almost like she wanted to touch him, but held back. He found himself wishing she would cup his cheek or take his hand, but then he pushed those desires away. This was what heightened and unchecked emotion did, it made one imprudent.
    â€œRhys,” she said quietly. “No matter what you feel about it now, I’m still your wife. Clearly something has happened that has driven you