Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
T he carriage halted and the carriage door swung open. Charles bounded from the cab without looking back to help his wife out. Sarah stood crouched in the doorway, holding her skirts, and watched her husband disappear into an inn.
A footman appeared and helped her down. She nodded her thanks.
“Why have we stopped here?”
“We have another half day travel to reach the country estate.” The footman gestured to the inn behind him. “His Grace stays here at the Greyside Inn when he travels back from London.”
“Ah.” Sarah looked up at the exterior of the inn that looked more like an elongated house than an inn. Not that she had much experience with staying at inns, she never had the need. However, from the stories she read they always seemed more elegant and decadent than the modest building in front of her.
She entered through a creaky wooden door and saw her husband exchanging a coin purse with a man. Sarah tucked her head and walked further into the galley. She joined Charles just as he turned towards her.
“Are we staying the night?” Her voice was cautious as she took in her surroundings. People were milling around, some laughing, some sat in solitude, all were looking at her.
“We are.” Charles said, still refusing to meet her eyes.
Sarah nodded. The realization of having her wedding night in an an inn began to weigh heavily on her. She was nervous about the endeavor so as it was. To experience it in an unfamiliar home was one thing, but at least she knew the bed would be comfortable and it would be an environment she would become accustomed to. But, here, in a common inn? It did not lend itself to the ambiance of romance one would be hoping for on a wedding night.
She watched as her husband directed a footman up the stairs with a piece of her luggage. Sarah gathered her skirts and followed. The steps groaned beneath her feet and she had the fleeting thought her foot would crash through the next step.
Charles abruptly stopped in front of her, causing her to crash into his back.
“This is my room. Yours is across the hall.”
She looked between the doors. “Are we not sha-”
Charles’s door shut with a thud with Charles on the other side of it.
Sarah was left alone in the hallway, staring at the closed door.
The footman opened her door and placed her bag just inside the door. “Your room is ready for you, Your Grace.”
Sarah broke her stare and turned towards the footman, plastering on her best smile. “Thank you.” She breezed past him and into her room and closed the door behind her.
She leaned against the door and took her first cleansing breath of the day. Her eyes fluttered shut and a small smile broke free.
No, it was not the wedding she always imagined. There were no flowers, no big gathering. Heavens, she didn’t even know her husband and she wasn’t particularly fond of what she did know of him. But she was finally married. It was done.
She wasn’t looking forward to having a wedding a night with a man she barely knew, so she was relieved when she learned they’d be spending the night in separate rooms.
Sarah opened her bag to make sure she had the appropriate things for the night ahead. Her thoughts drifted to the man across the hall. She couldn’t help but question if the Duke ordered separate rooms on purpose.
Perhaps he was being a gentlemen and planned on wooing her, easing her into their marriage? Maybe all the romance books she read didn’t saddle her with high expectations of what love was after all.
There are many different ways to love. Perhaps the Duke had the chance to revisit how he treated her and found it callous, as it was, and is offering her some time to come around to this new arrangement?
She sighed as she sat on the bed. “Maybe he is a gentleman after all.”
There was a knock on the door.
Sarah opened and found a young girl on the other side.
“His Grace wanted me to remind you that dinner will be served soon. Would you like me to bring it up to you, or will you take it downstairs?”
Sarah peered over the girl and looked down at the galley below. Men were huddled over tables drinking and carrying on with each other. It did not seem like a suitable place for a woman to be.
“Will His Grace be joining me?”
The girl quirked her eyebrow. “His Grace always eats in his room. He’s already been served.”
Sarah’s heart sank.
“Oh. For some reason I thought…” Sarah shook her head and waved her hand. “It doesn’t matter what I thought. Thank you for you letting me know. If you could, could you please bring the meal to me.”
The little girl dipped her head. “It will be my pleasure, Your Grace.” Sarah watched as the little girl skipped down the steps and disappeared behind swinging doors.
Her eyes landed on the door across from hers.
Sarah shut the door. Her mind kept replaying the day in her mind to try to understand her new husband.
He watched her like a hawk coming down the aisle, but then he kissed her to save her from her nervous rant when custom didn’t require him to. He didn’t speak on the way to the inn, but he seemed just as uneasy with their pairing as she did.
Were the separate rooms for her, or him? Would he come to her? Or was he giving her space?
Would he expect to consummate, regardless of them having separate rooms? At first she thought he was being chivalrous, but now she didn’t know what to think. After a few hours of waiting, her nerves were wearing thin.
With every squeak of the hallway, every phantom voice that drifted in from below, she expected it to be her husband on his way to knock on her door.
She crossed the room and sat at the small vanity that was set up for her and rubbed her temples.
Sitting in the chair she began to unpin her hair. Her hair was not as elaborate as her first wedding, but it did take quite a few pins to keep her hair in place.
There was a slight knock on her door.
“Come in.”
She continued taking out her hair. “If you could, just put it on the table next to the door. Thank you so-” Her words died on her tongue as she turned towards the door.
Standing in the doorway was not the young girl with her food, but her husband.
He stood, backlit from the lights in the hallway. His shadow cast forward in front of him, creeping towards her. Her heart rose into her throat.
By God, he was formidable.
“May I come in?”
Sarah managed to only dip her head, but it was enough for him. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
Sarah’s heart raced. Did he come to consummate? Her eyes flickered around the room. Will this be how I lose my virginity? In some small room in a dusty inn?
Her eyes widened as he moved towards her bed and sat down.
He tilted his head towards her. “Are you all right, Sarah?”
“Yes.” The word came out just above a whisper.
A smile spread across his face before a low rumble of a chuckle rolled out of him.
His laughter only made her more nervous. She tightened the hold on her chair, her knuckles going white from the pressure.
“Christ, woman, you look as if you’ve seen a ghost. I’m not going to force myself on you if that’s what you’re worried about.”
A rush of air escaped Sarah’s lips and her shoulders dropped from relief. She hadn’t realized how tense she was until she heard his confession.
“You wouldn’t?”
His chuckle turned into a roaring laughter. “Good Lord, no. What do you take me for?”
Sarah sat staring at the oddity in front of her. Truth was, she didn’t know how to answer that. She’s only had a handful of encounters with her now husband and each one did not do his personality any favors.
Instead of pushing that narrative she settled on lifting a slender shoulder in a shrug.
“Well, I can’t have you thinking that.” Charles said while shaking his head.
She gestured towards the bed. “Then why are you sitting on my bed?”
Charles looked down at the bed then back up to her. “Because there was no where else to sit, but I see now where you may have gotten your original idea.”
Charles stood and held his hands out. “Better?”
Standing at his full height, Sarah took in his larger than life frame. She actually wished he would sit back down but he walked over to the fireplace and leaned against the small mantle.
“I wanted to talk with you and set some things straight in regards to our marriage.”
Sarah cocked her head, but before she could question him, he held up a finger.
“One, you will mind your business when it comes to my family. I will not entertain any discussion about them so don’t try to start one.”
Sarah snapped her mouth shut. If there was anything that got her blood boiling it was being told not to do something. Once again she opened her mouth to question but he took a step towards her while putting up another finger.
“Two, you will not disturb me unless there is true emergency. I’m a busy man with a lot of responsibilities and I can’t be bothered to oversee and handle every little nuisance that comes your way. Which brings me to number three.”
He was moving closer to her with every rule, slowly stalking towards her like a lion hunting its prey. Sarah’s heart rate jumped. With every step he took she instinctively leaned away, causing her back to push against the vanity.
“You will fulfill all your duties as Duchess. I’m not partial to lavish balls and dinner parties, as it is essential as our role in the peerage to hold such events. I expect you to do the necessary planning to handle such tasks.”
Sarah swallowed. So far what he was asking her wasn’t unheard of. Other than his first rule, which she made a mental note to find a way around, he wasn’t asking anything she wasn’t expecting. She tried to get her body to relax, but he kept moving forward and his gaze felt as if it was penetrating her soul.
She licked her dry lips. “Is that all?”
Charles moved his head ever so slowly from side to side. “There is one more thing you will do for me.”
His voice was soft and low and slid over her skin like fine silk. He came to a stop in front of her, forcing her to crane her neck to look up at him.
“You will give me an heir.”
It felt as if all the air was sucked out of the room. Sarah’s eyes widened and her heart stopped.
He slowly lowered himself into a crouch in front of her. He pulled at her chair so she was sitting, facing him. She felt trapped. Her mind was screaming at her to move. He was too close, he was too much, this was all too much for her sensibilities.
Charles raised a hand and in direct contradiction to the hardness of his veneer, he softly touched her cheek as he brushed a curl from her face, tucking it behind her ear.
In this close proximity, his green eyes commanded her body and she felt herself leaning into his gesture while she held his sight.
“In order to do that, we will need to consummate the marriage.”
Sarah nodded slowly, her body willing her mind to catch up to what he was saying. His voice had activated something deep within her and her body began to hum. But her mind was still processing what he was telling her.
Her heart jumped when she realized he was leaning in as well. This was it. They would consummate the marriage tonight. She was so enraptured by his presence she no longer cared it wasn’t in the confines of his country estate.
She could do this. She would do this. Confidence and curiosity swirled in her veins.
Her breath caught in her throat as he closed the distance between them. Her eyes fluttered shut, waiting for the touch of his lips to hers.
A touch that never came.
Instead, she felt his lips graze the shell of her ear.
“You have ten days to prepare yourself.”
Sarah’s eyes flew open in time to see him stand and walk to the door.
“I told you before, I don’t forcefully take anything or anyone, without warning. And when I do take someone, I’m not gentle. You’ve been warned, Sarah. I suggest you take heed and prepare accordingly.”
Sarah stared at the closed door. Her breath was coming out in short bursts.
What have I gotten myself into?