The Duke Didn't Want Love — He Wanted a Practical Wife. Then Her Carriage Arrived 40 Minutes Late
Chapter 19
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"I understand."He offered his open hand, palm upward, and waited. She took it. The touch was brief, permitted, and far more moving than a grand embrace would have been: Helena felt the warmth of his fingers and knew she was choosing not certainty, but a chance.Avery did not ask to kiss her: he had learned that wanting something very much did not make it his to take. When Helena returned to Marian, he remained on the terrace until the carriage moved away, carrying with it the possibility of a future he could no longer command.The following Monday, they began the necessary arrangements for a wedding that neither treated as inevitable.Reverend Peter Ashfield at Mossfield spoke with Avery about the parish requirements. The rector of St. Olave's confirmed that Marian's house lay within his parish and discussed Helena's residence there before the first proclamation. The banns would be published on three Sundays in both parishes: the 19th and 26th of October, and the 2nd of November. The ceremony, if they still wished it, would take place in Mossfield Church on the 10th of November.Helena remained at Marian's every night. Their days together were measured in visits, letters, and ordinary conversations—never in the pretense that an engagement had already made them husband and wife.One afternoon, they walked among the thinning orchard trees with Marian's companion at a proper distance. Another day, they drank tea while rain struck the windows and argued gently about whether Avery's handwriting was handsome or merely determined."It has governed an estate for years," he said in its defense."Then the estate has been remarkably patient with it.""You are merciless.""Only regarding the final letters of your sentences; they appear to surrender halfway through."He laughed. She listened to the sound, still astonished that she had once thought him incapable of it.The more serious test came over a room at Briarcombe. Avery proposed refurbishing a neglected guest chamber before the Christmas visits began. Helena asked why the stable roof, which leaked above valuable tack and feed, had not been placed first.His first response was curt: "I have already reviewed the household priorities."She went still. He saw it happen: the old instinct urged him to defend his decision, to make her understand that he knew his own house; then he remembered the room where she had asked why he had not believed her."I beg your pardon," he said. "I sounded as though I were closing the matter. Will you walk with me and show me what you mean?"They examined the stable roof from the yard, Mrs. Bell and a groom nearby. Helena pointed out the damp stores and the likely waste if another wet month passed; Avery explained the approaching visits and the need for one chamber to be habitable. They talked until a practical order emerged: make the stable secure first, then refurbish the guest room without unnecessary ornament.