“I’m so—”

“No, you have already said you are sorry. I didn’t come here for sympathy. I wanted a marriage that was different from my parents’, one that was based on love instead of silently hurting one another.” Everton stopped. Having someone to talk to and scattering seeds of ill repute on his family were two different things. His parents had rarely spoken to each other, and when they did, it was only to arrange their social lives. One summer, he had caught his mother screaming out of an open window. They weren’t loud screams; she wasn’t hoping for someone to hear her. She had stumbled away from the window in guilt when she saw him walk into her little sitting room.

“I was scaring away some ravens in the tree,” she had told him. He had nodded as if her explanation had made sense, but they both knew there were no ravens. Nothing outside their country estate was making her scream. It was the silence inside the walls that haunted her.

He vowed then that his wife would never have cause to send muffled screams outside of windows. His marriage would be based on love and respect. It wouldn’t be broken like his parents’ marriage had been.

Little had he known at the time, his would be even worse.

Everton blinked slowly, as if simply closing his eyes could wash away the images of both his and his parents’ marriages. That he came from a long line of unhappy people was a lot he had learned to deal with. It was a line that would end with him. His eyes refocused on the duchess. Did she know how fortunate she had been to have had love in her home, even if there was emptiness now that the duke was gone? At least it had been filled at one point.

“I came in hopes that you would have some suggestions for me.”

“About what?”

“You were right; I’m not sleeping well. I haven’t slept well for years. For a while, I tried spirits, but it wasn’t worth the blasted headache, and I began to feel like I wasn’t living. Not really. My scandals with women help.”

“Your scandals with women help you sleep?” Her Grace sat back in her chair and put her hand to the back of her neck, just as he had seen her son do moments ago. They seemed so different, but in little ways, he could see the resemblance.

“When they end, they do.”

She nodded as if that made at least a little bit of sense to her. But it wasn’t enough for him anymore. A successful scandal was a lot of work to go through for one night’s sleep.

“Lord Bryant, I’m afraid as much as I would like to help you, I have no answers. Like I said, sleep is something I am still working on. Patience can’t come home to sleep by me every night.”

Everton gripped the edge of his seat with his hands. He hadn’t known exactly what he was hoping to get out of this conversation, but it didn’t seem as though he would get it.