Duke tried very hard to be comfortable with the silence. And when that didn't work, he tried to just let himself be uncomfortable, for her sake.

That worked a little better, but it still wasn't sustainable. He really hoped he relearned how not to be a babbling idiot sometime soon.

"I'm going to get you a brandy," he said. "And then I'm going to talk. Or maybe sing some more. And when you're ready, you can tell me what you dreamed about, or we can go back to bed and pretend it didn't happen, or do anything else you need. Alright?"