Chapter 17 #2
“Our fathers were friends,” Arabella continued. “They had jokingly arranged the marriage since we were children.”
“It was something that was mentioned in passing by the Viscount,” Gerald added.
“I jokingly suggested we honor this agreement,” Arabella blatantly lied on this part.
“So, we went for a promenade,” Gerald said, glancing down at her with unmistakable mischief. “Though, if I recall correctly, it was not a particularly successful one.”
“Oh?” Arabella asked sweetly. “Was it not?”
“I distinctly remember being married off to an elderly lady.”
Arabella laughed.
“She was merely confused. She mistook you for her late husband.”
“And you so graciously confirmed that confusion.”
For a while, they stayed locked in a heated gaze, remembering that stage of the battle where she was trying her worst and he was taking it in stride.
“That is the most amazing story I have ever heard,” Vera interrupted the moment.
“Indeed,” Emrys agreed with his wife as always. “It shows that traditional ways are optimal. I do admire that both of you explored the option to honor your fathers’ wish.”
Gerald raised his eyebrow at Arabella, remembering exactly how compliant Arabella was in the beginning.
“And you ended up happy after all,” Vera added.
Arabella felt her smile freeze on her lips. But again, it was Gerald who spoke first.
“Yes, Lady Pembleton,” he said with a firm voice, and looked down at Arabella. “Quite happy.”
Arabella smiled and looked down. The amusing part of their little deception was over. What remained was the uncomfortable awareness of what they truly were to one another.
Thankfully, they were called to enter the hall because the play was starting, and she forgot herself in the music, though she could still feel him close to her in the private box that the Duke owned.
When the music was over, and the applause had died out, they had joined the current of people descending the gilded stairs. She wrapped her arm around Gerald’s, and he placed his palm on her. His other hand was placed on the small of her back, guiding her and making sure she was safe.
She looked up, and she could tell by the Duke’s face that his business endeavor was ending favorably.
It was something else to see him finally more relaxed and even content. Against all better judgment, Arabella found herself happy to see him be less rigid. It must have been exhausting.
“You must agree that it was poor taste of Lady Groveton to appear at the opera so soon after her husband’s death,” Emrys said.
“And in such an abominable gown,” Vera added with disdain.
Arabella nodded, eager to end the night and stop pretending that she liked the insufferable Lady Pembleton.
She was ready to relay that to the Duke when she realized that he was tense beside her.
He wasn’t looking at her or Emrys like he had been doing all night.
Instead, he was focusing on the man at the foot of the stairs by a big marble column.
Arabella followed his look, and she saw a man who had a striking resemblance to the Duke. The man had none of Gerald’s formidable build or the same air of power, but they were sharing the same shade of green. It was almost too particular to be a coincidence.
“You must excuse me for a moment,” Gerald said abruptly and left their company.
For the first time since they entered the carriage to go to the Pembletons, he abandoned her on her own. It was so sudden she felt the empty space beside her as if something was missing.
She followed him with her look, going down the stairs and standing in front of this man. Whoever he was, he was truly challenging his luck. The look he gave Gerald was deeply arrogant, a taunting tilt of his lips conveying that he was all but laughing in Gerald’s face.
“Isn’t that…?” Vera said, as she was examining the very same thing that had caught Arabella’s attention.
“Well, it must be,” Emrys replied.
Arabella sensed that the worst course of action was to ask the Pembletons, even if she was burning with curiosity.
She could sense that this man was clearly affecting Gerald.
It was in the way that his shoulders squared and his hand curled into a fist. If she didn’t know for a fact that the Duke possessed immense self-control, she would have feared that he was going to fight.
“It is a pity to see brothers be this hostile,” Vera said.
Brothers? Arabella was surprised. But then again, she could see the family resemblance. So this must have been the brother that Gerald had kicked out of his house along with his stepmother. The infamous incident that earned him his moniker.
Looking at him reacting to seeing his brother, the last word that came into her mind was ruthless. Yes, he seemed quite hostile, but in a more defensive way. It was as if he was expecting an attack and was not going to take it lying down.
She didn’t have more time to ponder on this occasion because the Duke came back, and soon he guided her to their carriage. They said the good night pleasantries with the Pembletons, and he helped her in.
The moment the door of the carriage was closed, it was as if he dropped the mask immediately. For Arabella, it was so fascinating to watch him go from a respectable gentleman to a tired man. And somehow, something warmed her heart to see him let go in her presence.
Arabella realized that she was married to a man whom she knew practically nothing about. And she found herself eager to know more about him to understand him. But she was not sure that the feelings were mutual.