Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
“Oh, surely it was not that bad,” Albina dismissed.
“It was worse,” Florentia said. “My parents...” A shake of the head. “I have never been so embarrassed. Had His Grace insisted that my father strip off his clothes and cluck like a chicken, I dare say he would have done so without hesitation.”
Albina giggled. “Well, can you blame them? It is not every day that a duke asks to marry someone’s daughter. And so quickly! Honestly, Florentia, I thought you would have been more excited.”
“It is the quickness of it which worries me,” Florentia sighed. “His Grace and I hardly exchanged two words! He did not seem to care about me at all. It was as if he made up his mind on the matter before even seeing me.”
“Oh, I doubt that,” Albina said. “I prefer to think that he was considering courting you but then once he saw you, so taken was he by your beauty that he knew he could not waste any time. He knew from the minute he laid eyes upon you that he had to have you, and thus he made it so.” Her face took on a dreamy expression. “I think it’s rather romantic.”
“Romantic?” Florentia scoffed. “You were not there.”
“But I will be there at the wedding,” Albina insisted.
“And as His Grace is brother to Elias, you and I will see one another even more than we do already! Oh, think about it, Florentia...” Her eyed widened with excitement.
“I shall have a first-row seat to what I just know will be the second most wonderful and love-filled marriage in all of London.”
“The second?”
“Obviously mine and Elias’ss is the first,” she tittered. “Even I am not so confident in His Grace and you to take that title away from us.”
To that, Florentia offered her friend a dramatic rolling of the eyes. Why she had expected anything less from her best friend was beyond her, even if Albina knew that love was the last thing on Florentia’s mind.
It was the day after the duke had paid a visit to Florentia, meaning it was the day after she had officially become engaged.
Naturally, the first thing that she had done was to send a letter to Albina, demanding that her best friend come and visit her so that they could discuss and so that Florentia might get some answers.
One of Florentia’s favorite things to do in the whole world was to go riding.
Her parents owned a large stable, and five of the horses that it kept belonged to Florentia; each was favored for a different reason.
Today, with Albina visiting, and the desire to converse at the top of her list, Florentia had selected two well-bred mares to take for a casual trot across the paddocks which surrounded the estate.
That was where the two friends were now.
Riding side-by-side, ahead of the chaperone who was far enough back that he could not hear what was being said.
That he was here at all spoke largely to the sense of control that Florentia’s parents were instituting over her life, determined it seemed to make sure that nothing could possibly go wrong until she was wed.
The pace was steady. The field was flat. The sun shone brightly. And the wind was minimal, meaning they did not have to shout.
“I just wish that I knew more about him,” Florentia said despondently.
“I know that I am lucky that a duke of all people has agreed to marry me. And, even I am not so blind as to deny how attractive he is...” She felt her cheeks flush at the thought, deepening when she caught Albina grinning.
“But I do not care about any of that. If we are to spend the rest of our lives together, I wish to know who he is.”
“Which is why I am here,” Albina said. “Honestly, Florentia, I am trying not to find insult in your constant worry and dismissal of His Grace, but I am starting to feel that maybe I should.”
“Insult? Why would you be insulted?”
“Did you really think that I would suggest His Grace to you if I did not think him a worthy husband? I mean, what are you expecting? That I, your best friend, would saddle you with a monster?”
“I did not mean it like that...”
“Putting aside his good looks,” Albina continued. “What did you make of him? Truly? Say that you two simply met and that was all you did, what are your thoughts?”
Florentia considered the question. She and His Grace had not really had time to talk at all. And the few words exchanged, and those he shared with her parents, weren’t revealing in the least.
“He is not exactly a wordsmith,” she said, almost to herself as she puzzled through the previous day.
“And he is a little... detached? Is that the right word? Stern, perhaps? There was a darkness to him that I could not help but notice. Even a...” She felt her stomach fluttering.
“Even a power that seems to demand attention.”
“Yes, that sounds like His Grace,” Albina tittered.
“Is any of that good, though? I mean, what if we wed and he doesn’t say a single word to me? I do not even know if he likes me, Albina. It seemed to me that he was more interested in simply being married, rather than who he is married to.”
“Oh, that is just the duke.” Holding onto the reins with one hand, she waved Florentina down with the other.
“I admit, when I first met him, the man terrified me. He is not very social, nor does he try to be. And yes, he seems to realize the impression people have of him, and I get the distinct feeling that he enjoys it.”
“Wonderful.”
“But once you get to know him, you will see that this is all an act,” Albina continued.
“You should hear the way Elias speaks of him, too. He is kinder than he lets on. Even sweeter...” She winked and Florentia rolled her eyes.
“I have no doubt that once the two of you get you know each other, you will see a side of him that few are privy to.”
Florentia clicked her tongue. “There is another thing...”
“Oh?”
“I...” She hesitated, not certain if she should voice this to her friend.
Not because she did not trust her, but she worried she might mention it to her husband who would then tell the duke.
The last thing she wanted was the duke thinking that she was trying to manipulate him.
“You know my feelings regarding having children.”
“Obviously, I do.”
“Well...” She grimaced. “His Grace was very clear that until recently, he had no desire whatsoever to marry. He was rather emphatic on the point, stating that it was only now that the desire struck him—and nothing to do with loneliness or a desire to meet his life partner. Again, it is all business with him.”
“He is a businessman.”
“But does he want a family?” Florentia pressed.
“Does he care for such a thing? I cannot escape the fear that once we are wed, I will become little more than a prop to be brought out when needed and thought necessary. A trophy to show the ton that he is capable of marrying. I did not get the impression at all that he has even thought of children.”
“Oh...” Albina blinked.
“That is all you have to say? Oh?”
She chuckled and then shrugged. “I mean, you know what the most obvious thing to do is, do you not?”
“I clearly do not know!” Florentia snapped.
“Ask him. The two of you will marry, and there is nothing you can do to stop that. So, with that in mind, you wish to know where His Grace stands on the matter of children? Ask him yourself—or better than that, tell him how you feel.”
Florentia grimaced again. “I get the sense that the duke would not concern himself with my feelings. He seemed the type who makes up his own mind.”
“He is, isn’t he,” she tittered. “It is lucky then that you are the most stubborn person I know, and if anyone can convince him, I daresay it is you.”
“But is that—”
“No, no,” Albina cut over her. “Enough complaining for today. The sun is out. Our chaperone looks distracted...” She glanced over her shoulder, double checking that indeed he was, and then a wicked grin spread over her face. “Let us see if we can lose him?”
Florentia’s mind was still in a state of flux.
On the one hand, she wanted to believe the kind things that Albina said about her husband-to-be, for if they were even half true then maybe this marriage would not be such a bad thing at all?
Yet on the other hand, still she did not have an answer on her most pressing concern, and the idea of approaching the duke and asking him—telling him, more like—did not appeal to her one little bit.
But Albina was right. This marriage was going ahead, no matter what Florentia wanted. Thus, unable to do anything to stop it, the best she could do now was commit, manifest that it would be all she hoped and more and, most importantly, pray.
“Maybe...” Florentia sighed, feigning disinterest. “There is just one problem.”
“Which is?”
“How slow you are!” Florentia was sitting side-saddle, as was Albina. Even still, she kicked her heels into her mare and hung on, sending it galloping ahead before Albina had a chance to so much as blink.
“Hey!” her friend cried out, trying to catch her. “No fair! No fair!”
Florentia laughed herself hoarse as she heard Albina chase her, and more so when she saw the chaperone panic and then try and catch them both. What fun this was. She just hoped the same could be said of her marriage.