My Disfigured Duke Husband Helps Me Plot My Revenge
Chapter 205: Not Feeling Studious

Chapter 205: Not Feeling Studious

The day was as slow as Leonor wanted it to be.

Beth was there to take care of her when she was out of her bath, but she requested to wear a more casual dress and no corset. It was nearly when she would eat lunch but she wasn’t hungry and moving at a snail’s pace.

Her hair was loose around her shoulders and she wore a light blue dress with a square neckline. The sleeves were paned at the shoulders, giving them a slight puff and unique detail despite the overall plainness of the dress. The material was expensive, and the embroidery was detailed. It was suitable enough for a duchess but still more casual than anything she had worn that entire winterization trip.

As she walked down the long hallways of the expansive estate, she wore a relaxed smile. She was content with seeing nobody until she passed a maid and asked where his grace had wound up that late morning.

"He’s in the library, your grace," the maid explained. "Continue past the entry hall and it will be at the very end. Would you like me to take you there?"

Leonor shook her head.

"That will be unnecessary," she said. "Thank you for telling me."

Again, she went on her way, gazing out the windows she passed and admiring the artwork. It was a sunny day but she knew if she stepped foot outside, the weather would be biting cold.

Just as the maid promised her, the library was on the far end of the estate and it took her an entire ten minutes to meander her way there.

She opened the door which was closed tightly shut to preserve the warmth in the room.

Upon stepping foot inside, she was blown away by the seeming expansiveness of it, but she couldn’t tell if it was large or that splitting it into a sitting area on one level and the bookshelves on another made it seem even larger than it was.

She summarized quickly, she preferred the library they had in Piedmont anyway. It had more books in it, after all.

Since Desmond wasn’t in the sitting area, he was likely browsing the shelves and she decided to do the same. Perhaps something mindless and soft would help her keep her thoughts away from the guilt of what she had done the night before.

To the romance section she went, hoping to find something geared towards teenagers so she wouldn’t have to be exposed to any more adult topics for the time being. Even though she was in her twenties and still a woman, she found it easy to get unsettled. She thought she might be that way until she gave herself to her husband fully.

She stopped the thought immediately so her face wouldn’t get hot and so Desmond wouldn’t find her when she was thinking about something impure.

When she found a section that pleased her tastes, her fingers went along a few of the spines as she read titles. Surprisingly, there were a few in the ancient language, but she hadn’t explored it since she was very young and was sure she wouldn’t remember a word of it if she weren’t reciting scripture at church.

She sighed lightly.

Church.

She hadn’t attended church since marrying Desmond. Overall, she noticed that people in Montclair seemed to be far less interested in church than those in Burien. It likely had to do with their direct leadership.

Her father was forceful and insistent with his opinion about God and scripture while Desmond was more relaxed and wanted people to do what made them happy.

Being exposed to the church her entire life, she felt guilty at times that she didn’t attend regularly anymore. She was unsure of if it was a genuine feeling or a learned response from growing up religious. She still prayed often but that was the extent of it.

"What is making you sigh?" Desmond asked, cruelly sneaking up on her and placing a hand over hers as it browsed the shelf. He wanted to see what she was interested in reading that day.

Abruptly she turned around only to find her husband practically breathing down her neck. To face him, their chests were nearly pressed against each other.

From the moment Leonor entered the library, Desmond watched her walk in and walk up the stairs.

He appreciated her dress lacking a corset and revealing her naturally beautiful body. Her waist was the right size and her chest was finally free. He begged his eye not to linger, or he would be in the same state he went to bed and woke up all over again.

Never would he ever admit that he was in the library doing the same as her; reading boring books about the history of Oues was helping him forget about the previous night. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t punish Leonor for having the seed planted in her head about pushing forward their physical relationship.

If he was faced with someone else’s infidelity and given advice, he would overthink it as well.

With his wife so close to him and looking up at him with a disarmed expression, he couldn’t keep himself from giving her a feather-light kiss. They were hidden amongst the bookshelves and no one else was there. That was all, he decided. He didn’t need to get carried away.

"You look beautiful," he whispered to her, it being easily heard in the silence of the library. "What are you reading today?"

She pretended he didn’t affect her despite her hand clinging to his shirt and not letting go as she turned towards the shelf again.

"Something lighthearted, hopefully," she said. "What about you? Have you seen any further signs of the marquess and marchioness?"

"History," he admitted, not elaborating. "I haven’t seen either one of them. I imagine they planned to be as relaxed as we are right now."

"Then it really will feel like winter," she said with a smile. "At least for a short time. I’m happy the next place is only a day trip away."

When Leonor found a book, the couple went to a couch further from the fire so they wouldn’t be too hot but towards a window so they would be able to see the beautiful sunshine they were having.

A few Chapters in, Leonor felt a foot settle next to hers, and she shyly glanced at Desmond, who was smiling slightly despite his eye on the pages of his book.

She responded by leaning a bit closer on the loveseat they sat upon and she laced her fingers with his as if it would be enough to pacify him for the time being. He was unbelievably distracting. The fluffy romance she was reading wasn’t taking her mind away from the very real desire she experienced for the man at her side.

Desmond pulled Leonor a bit closer by her hand until she was leaning into his side.

She gazed at him with her cheek pressed against his shoulder.

"Are you getting a lot of reading done?" she asked quietly.

"Am I distracting you too much?" he responded cheekily.

"Yes, you are," Leonor admitted. "I can’t think of anything else when the man I love pesters me so much."

He wanted to defend himself but Leonor was too fast for him.

The book she read was small, and she held it up as if she was going to show it to Desmond, but instead, she leaned further into him and captured his lips, using the book as a shield from the entrance of the library even though the book was small and the door was shut.

The book fell from Leonor’s hands when Desmond pulled his wife onto his lap, with her shoes falling off as she outstretched her legs to his left on the couch. Their kissing became more heated.

Until a maid knocked on the library door and quickly walked in without waiting for a response.