Chapter 25
Lewis had been a married man for scarcely two weeks, and if he had learned anything about his new bride, it was that she was unpredictable.
It was with no small amount of trepidation that he dared take her to Lord and Lady Hampton’s garden party.
It was their first outing after their marriage, and Bridget was certain to draw attention.
Still, Lewis respected Lord Hampton, which whom he had a long business relationship, and he knew the man would, at least, be discreet if Bridget exhibited any unreasonable behavior.
Nevertheless, attention might embolden her to try another one of her schemes, and Lewis was not certain that he wished to contend with that.
As loath as he was to admit it, Bridget’s plots were beginning to vex him more than he wanted to admit.
He had resolved not to break before she did, but that was proving more difficult than anticipated.
His eyes drifted to Bridget, her delicate hand resting on the crook of his arm, as they entered the gardens.
She was a vision in pink silk, her beautiful curves all lovingly shaped by her gown.
As if sensing that his eyes lingered on her, Bridget’s eyes snapped to his face. “What are you thinking?”
He was thinking that he would enjoy taking her into the gardens and tearing her gown from her slender body. He could spend all afternoon worshipping her beneath the sunlight and open, blue sky.
“I am thinking that this party will be dull,” he said.
Lewis would not give Bridget the satisfaction of knowing that he was as affected by her as she was him.
A wrought iron gate, draped with purple wisteria, led into the gardens.
Vast swaths of green swept before them. Long grasses and delicate flowers swept over the path.
To their right, there was a garden of blooming roses; to their left, was the hedge garden.
Further along the path, white pavilions were pitched and cut sharply into the surface of the blue, cloudless sky.
Lords and ladies milled about, but aside from their initial greeting by Lord and Lady Hampton, Lewis saw no one that he recognized.
It seemed as though many of the ton recognized him, though.
Or perhaps merely his wife. A cluster of young ladies whispered together, scarcely a few feet away from them.
“I am not surprised that you would find this occasion dull,” Bridget said, seemingly oblivious to the attention they were receiving.
“Have I given you any particular impression that I loathe garden parties?”
“Not specifically, but you do not seem to like parties much at all,” she said.
Lewis said nothing but led her down the right path, towards the rose gardens. “I suppose that is true.”
“Why?”
“I am not especially fond of occasions where my every move is watched,” he said.
“Ah, yes. I had nearly forgotten about your hypocritical devotion to following societal rules,” Bridget said.
He cast her a sly look, wondering if there was some deeper meaning behind her words. Was she going to use this occasion as another opportunity to embarrass him?
“Somehow, I suspect you did not forget at all. You are not nearly as…” He trailed off, trying to find a kind way of expressing what he meant.
“As what?”
“As child-like as you pretend,” he said. “Sometimes, I feel as though you act more na?ve than you truly are.”
Bridget cast him an odd look, as if she was uncertain what to make of his words. “And why would I do that?”
“Because you want to vex me,” he said. “That much is obvious. But perhaps there is more to it. You are…cunning. Deceitful.”
Bridget laughed. “You make me sound dreadful.”
“Your behavior is improper.”
He could not honestly say that she was dreadful when her defiance set his blood ablaze.
“You believe that everything I do is improper,” she said.
He glanced at her. At the moment, Bridget looked very elegant with her hand placed at the crook of his arm.
Thus far, she had not embarrassed him, and Bridget had ample opportunity to do so, given all the couples they had passed when they entered the gardens.
Was this another game, an attempt to make him lower his defenses?
Or had the woman finally conceded defeat?
“Not everything,” Lewis said.
Regardless of what her motivations might be, Bridget was behaving herself, and he did not want her to believe that he was perpetually displeased. What incentive would she have to be a proper duchess if she truly thought that nothing would please him? Why, none at all, and he did not desire that.
“Oh?” Bridget asked. “What aspects of my character do you like? I shall vanquish them at once.”
She tensed suddenly, her fingers tightening just a little on his arm. Lewis glanced ahead and saw Lady Susan and a few other ladies coming toward them.
His pulse quickened. “Do not let her irk you,” Lewis murmured.
Bridget’s smile appeared almost genuine. “Of course not, my dear husband.”
He straightened his spine, dreading the confrontation, but he supposed this was a good opportunity to determine if Bridget’s pleasant behavior would last.
Lady Susan and her companions halted a few feet away. “Your Grace,” Lady Susan simpered, offering a curtsey.
Lewis bowed. “Ladies.”
“I heard of your nuptials,” Lady Susan said. “I suppose that congratulations are in order.”
The ladies behind her murmured in agreement.
“It is a smart match,” Lewis said.
Bridget said nothing, but her thumb rubbed patterns on his arm. When he glanced at her, Lewis found that her smile had not wavered. If anything, her expression had softened and become more convincing. Had Bridget not been a lady, she might have made a splendid actress.
“And you are enjoying marital bliss?” Lady Susan asked.
“Very much so,” Bridget cut in. “We are quite happily wed, which I suppose I must thank you for, Lady Susan.”
Lady Susan’s eyes narrowed, a flicker of anger in them. “Oh?”
This was the moment for Bridget to say something cutting, but she only sighed softly. “Yes. If you had not sent me into the lake—by accident, of course—I would have never married His Grace. What a happy twist of fate.”
An accident? Lewis smiled wryly at how Bridget warped the narrative of what had occurred by the lakeside. There were no accusations or insults, only a gentle acknowledgment of what had transpired between the two ladies.
“Shall we continue our turn?” Lewis asked.
“Indeed,” Bridget said.
So they did, bidding Lady Susan and the other ladies farewell.
“You are learning,” Lewis said, once they were out of earshot. “I am pleased to see your progress.”
“That was not progress,” Bridget said. “You said it yourself. I have always been cunning. I had to be. If I was not, my siblings would have buried me with all their attention.”
Lewis raised an eyebrow. “I thought you loved your siblings. They certainly seem fond of you.”
He thought of Elias’s protective, indulgent nature and of the worried looks the eldest Leedway sister had sent Bridget during his visits.
“I do love them,” Bridget said, sounding startled. “Why would you assume otherwise?”
“You just spoke of being buried by them.”
Bridget glanced at him, her eyes wide and guileless. “Have you never been loved so much that you felt suffocated?”
Ice crept over him, and Lewis found himself lost for words.
His first, instinctive answer was that he had never felt that.
Then, he thought of his grandmother. At times, he did feel a little buried by her.
She expected him to remain unchanging forever and to bend himself around her desires and expectations.
“Maybe,” he said, choosing his words with care. “Does it feel like you…you love someone, but at the same time, you are distressed just a little?”
“Something like that,” Bridget said. “My brother and sisters mean well. They always have, but at the same time, I want to be my own person.”
“You do not want your life to be dictated by another person, even if that person might seek only to control you out of love.”
“Yes. Precisely.”
Lewis’s face warmed with a strange pleasure at hearing the raw, straightforward confession from his young wife. It was followed, at once, by a revelation which should not have been one at all. He was doing the precise thing to Bridget that he himself disliked.
“Families can be difficult,” Bridget said.
“They can be.” Lewis paused, his thoughts still adrift and a little lost in what he had just come to realize about Bridget and himself.
“I think that it must be quite lovely to have a large family like yours, though. Even though your siblings may frustrate you, you must feel so very loved. It is nice to have people who care about you and your well-being.”
“I suppose you do not have that,” she said, furrowing her brow. “You have only one relative.”
The words were a little lacking in tact, but he heard the good intentions behind them. Bridget was sympathetic, and he did not quite know what to do with this soft, thoughtful wife who behaved as if he was not entirely her enemy.
“I have enough,” Lewis said carefully.
He did not wish to lie, but that also did not mean he wanted to tell Bridget everything.
Besides, she would think worse of him if he did.
No matter how he told her, Lewis could not possibly soften the truth of sometimes, my grandmother tires me, and I wish I did not have to care for her.
The thoughts sounded wretched and selfish.
What manner of man did not wish to care for his own relatives, much less his sole surviving relative?
“I am glad.” Bridget sounded as though she was being careful, too.
It was if they were both standing too near to the edge of a cliff, and one wrong step would send them plummeting.
“But I imagine there were times when you must have wanted more,” Bridget continued. “It must have been a very lonely childhood for you.”
“Not really,” he said. “It became more difficult once I reached manhood, truthfully. That was when I realized what I was missing.”
Bridget nodded, her eyes soft. “I am sorry, nonetheless.”
Lewis shrugged. “I have managed well enough. I do have friends—acquaintances. That is much the same as a family.”
Bridget wrinkled her nose, and he sensed that she disagreed. Strangely, she chose not to argue about the matter. Perhaps she realized that it was a lost cause.
Or maybe she was thinking that she had no friends. Until the scandals, Bridget had been a sparkling gem among the ton. She was blessed with beauty and a wealthy, entitled family. And after…
Lewis’s chest tightened in something like sympathy for the young woman’s lost potential.
He had dismissed her for so long as a fickle, immature young lady, but he realized suddenly that it must have been quite distressing to have her entire life, everything that she had been promised since girlhood, turned into such a mess.
“What about your grandmother?” Bridget asked. “I have heard that you are unkind to her.”
Sometimes, he was.
“You are being especially brazen today,” Lewis said dryly.
“Brazen,” she echoed. “I prefer to think that I am being thoughtful. I know so little about you, but I want to know more.”
He furrowed his brow. She seemed so sincere.
Was this another scheme or hers, or did she truly wish to know more about him?
A small, sentimental part of Lewis wanted it to be the latter.
For entirely advantageous reasons, of course.
A wife who was well-acquainted with him would be beneficial.
As the Duchess of Wheelton, Bridget would be expected to know some things about him, after all.
It would be terribly awkward if they were to pretend to be a proper husband and wife if she knew nothing about him.
“My grandmother is ill,” he said. “She has been this way for her entire life, but her condition has worsened over the years. She finds it difficult to make connections with people.”
Bridget’s face softened. “It sounds dreadful.”
“To us, yes.” He paused, considering his grandmother for a long moment. “I am uncertain that being alone vexes her as much as it might another person. She feels safest in a predictable environment, and people are nothing if not unpredictable.”
“You would know,” Bridget said, smiling slyly.
He did not know if Bridget’s comment was in reference to his character or her own, but Lewis supposed her assessment was correct regardless. “Yes,” Lewis said. “I suppose I do know.”