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"I can’tit’s the last tiht

She didn’t knohat to say She couldn’t fight for hiht convince hiainst his He had to either see it himself, or--or marry Lisette That was all there was to it

He turned around "I’ve never felt this way about another woman But I don’t have the freedom to choose whom I wish"

"I understand," she said "I have--" She stopped

"You’ve heard this before," he said, his voice flat "There’s no will constraining me, Eleanor But I honestly think that Lisette is unique in her attitude toward the children’s illegitimacy She doesn’t even see it as a problem She can teach theirls, and they adore her I can’t--"

He turned away again

There was a long h the balcony door and slashed across his broad shoulders She didn’t let herself feel…anything

Finally he said, "I can’t choose whooes And I must lie in it" He turned back to her

"I understand," she said, quite peaceably After all, as he said, she’d been through this exact scene before She had a precedent; she understood the undertow of anguish that would follow, the sense of regret and loss, the bewilder someone more than he loved her

The next ti to be different

But it was different She knew that There wouldn’t be any next tiht, too

If she couldn’t have the complicated duke in front of her, she didn’t want to love anyone He was still staring at the eht of his and lean powerful rear, the way his shoulders flared, the exact color of his hair--

And that hen the door burst open

Chapter Twenty-eight

It happened so fast that afterward Leopold was never quite able to describe it One ure out why his heart felt as if it were splitting in two, and the next ed, out-of-control Duke of Astley as screa--about the fact that he had dishonored Eleanor

Which he had

No one could argue otherwise, given the fact that he was stark naked in her bedchamber He pulled on his breeches, but could think of only one thing to say "Do you want everyone in this house to know?" His voice cut across Astley’s hysteria like a knife

The ive ht as a lunatic’s "Immediately"

"You must be out of your mind," Leopold said, unwisely "You don’t believe in duels"

Astley went for his throat, forcing Leopold to throw him across the room, which was ridiculous and made him feel even more foolish

"I knohy you want to keep quiet!" Astley hissed, lurching back on his feet "I will marry Eleanor no matter whether you’ve debauched her or not She is not in control of her own impulses She needs a man, and I left her This is all my fault"

"I will not"So Gideon, if you wish to saveso loudly"

Astley stared at her "Of course you’re iven you, Eleanor"