Chapter 13
Thirteen
They walked into the back garden of Marlow Estate arm-in-arm, appearing in public as man and wife for the first time since their wedding day.
“Be honest with me,” Sebastian spoke out the side of his mouth. “You’re nervous, aren’t you?”
She rolled her eyes. “Is there a reason I should be?”
“Not that I can think,” he said. “But the way you shake is suggestive of the fact.”
“I am not shaking,” she said, even though she was. It was a warm afternoon, and although she wore a thin gown of pale blue with exposed shoulders and arms, there was no reason for her to shiver as she was doing. But then again, she knew too that it had nothing to do with the weather.
“Is that right?” he laughed. As the duke spoke, he looked ahead, walking with his chest puffed out and his chin pointed high. “I suppose I am imagining it.”
“Perhaps it is you who are shaking?” she shot back. “Nervous, are we?”
He laughed. “Clearly. I have a reputation, you know, and I fear that if I am seen with my wife on my arm, it might ruin everything I have worked so hard to achieve. What will people say of me?”
She could not help but laugh. “Oh no. Too much of this and people might start to assume that you are a gentleman.”
“The horror.”
“Don’t worry,” she teased him. “If anyone asks, I will be sure to set them straight.” She glanced at him, unsurprised to find him smiling. “That you are still a rakish scoundrel, and it is all I can do to avoid your lurid ways.”
“Please do,” he joked. “I mean…” He scoffed and nodded with his head across the garden. “Look at how everyone stares. I can’t imagine what they are thinking.”
Sebastian was correct to notice how nearly everyone in the garden was looking at them.
It was a busy affair; scores of guests spread across the large estate as they ate and drank and engaged in trivial banter with one another.
Games were being played toward the back.
There was also a space in which people danced together.
And with the sun shining as it was, awnings had been erected for people to gather under so as to seek shade. It was a very crowded garden.
And still, the moment that she and Sebastian breached the garden, it was undeniable that they became the center of attention.
That was the reason Margot had been shaking with nerves.
Having spent the last three years hiding from the scandal of her earlier years, she feared that still the whispers of what she had done would follow her.
That was when people saw her arrive; they would sneer and gasp and shake their heads, for what was she thinking coming to an event such as this?
Once I loved the attention, now I loathe it.
What she noticed at that moment, however, was that the way everyone looked at her was different from how she had envisioned it.
The gazes were not judgmental or condescending.
There were no sneers of contempt or rumored whispers behind hands.
Rather, there was a sense of… is that envy? Even respect? It sure felt like it.
As if he could read her mind, Sebastian chuckled. “It feels different, doesn’t it?”
“What?”
“The way you are treated, now that you are a duchess.”
She scoffed. “Somehow, I doubt that makes a difference. Especially considering who my husband is…” She raised a judgmental eyebrow at him.
He laughed. “It makes all the difference, Margot. Oh, sure, they might still wonder at the nature of this marriage. They might still bicker behind our backs about you and your past. But that you are now above them, and that they know it…” He shrugged.
“Believe me, you will see how differently they treat you. Just try not to enjoy it too much.”
Margot had never considered that before. All this time, she had been so focused on the negatives of this marriage. Forced into it. And to a man whom she ought to have despised. She did not want this marriage and had made that clear from the beginning. Only, now…
Is this not what I always wanted? The reason I was so desperate to marry at an early age? To rise above my station and finally have what I felt that I deserved. To be seen in ways that most could never dream.
Margot could not help but smile. Just as she could not help but hold onto her husband’s arm a little bit tighter as they walked. The nerves left her, replaced with pride because she seemed to glow so that everyone could not help but notice her. And oh, how she enjoyed it.
“There she is,” Sebastian chuckled when he noticed the change in her. “I was wondering how long it would take.”
She scoffed. “Just doing my part, husband.”
“As I am doing mine, wife.” He winked at her, and this saw her laugh and shake her head. For once, she wasn’t looking for a reason to dismiss him. For once, she was enjoying being on his arm and in his company.
They walked together through the garden, nodding and smiling at those they passed.
A few came in to greet them, and all that did were polite and congratulatory and seemingly earnest in their praise for what looked to be a happy union.
And once again, Margot found herself liking it more than she should have.
“Margot!” a voice cried across the garden.
Margot looked up and saw her cousin, Arabella, coming for her. She waved her over… “Be nice,” she then warned Sebastian.
“When am I ever not nice?” he said as if offended.
She rolled her eyes but laughed, his sense of humor finally starting to settle on her now that she wasn’t so defensive and wary against it.
“You came!” Arabella reached her and pulled her into a hug. “I know you said that you would, but I was not certain.”
“Of course I did,” Margot said.
“Only because I forced her,” Sebastian stepped in. “She was very much on the fence about it, but I would be remiss if I passed up a chance to show off my wife.”
Arabella frowned at the comment and looked to Margot for confirmation that he wasn’t making fun.
“Ignore him,” Margot chuckled. “His so-called sense of humor takes some getting used to, but it’s not all bad.”
“Was that a compliment?” Sebastian asked as if shocked. “How very rare. And Lady Arabella…” He stepped into Arabella and took her hand, giving it a kiss. “It is lovely to see you again.”
“Oh…” Arabella’s frown deepened. “Thank you, Your Grace.”
“Please, call me Sebastian. We are family, no?”
He was being silly and over the top, Margot knew.
But there was an earnestness to it, a sense of fun that was hard not to enjoy.
And Arabella, always nervous and unsure, seemed to relax under it in a way that surprised Margot.
Is he doing it because he knows how shy she is?
Making it easier on her? Or is it just his way?
They spent some time with Arabella, and soon Elizabeth joined them. Once again, Sebastian was congenial and friendly and soon had the two girls laughing along at his jokes as if they were old friends.
It made Margot wonder further about him, and she found herself studying him closely as she considered this new side to her husband.
Although I suppose it isn’t a new side at all, merely one I have not yet noticed.
All week, she had been so careful to avoid him, to not let his charming personality wear her down.
But now that she was not guarded against it, she found that Sebastian wasn’t at all the rogue she had always assumed. At least not fully.
For that reason, Margot decided at that moment to stop being so distrusting. Still, she could not say what she wanted, or what he wanted, just that she was finally willing to treat her husband as a human being and give him a chance. A chance at what? I suppose time will tell…
It was later in the afternoon when Lord Marlow, the host of the party, finally came to greet them.
Margot had never met the man before, but she recognized him from his beak-like nose and the liver spots that peppered his bald head.
He had a look about him that was stiff and regal, a constant sneer on his lips, and a judgmental glimmer in his eyes.
“Your Grace,” he said formally as he approached. “It is so good of you to come.”
“Ah, Lord Marlow…” Sebastian stepped forward and took the man by the arm, giving him a shake. “Thank you for having us. Have you met my wife…” He turned to indicate for Margot to step forward.
“Lord Marlow, it is a pleasure to meet you.” She curtsied for him.
“So, this is the famous wife,” Lord Marlow said, his eyes flicking over her judgmentally. “I had heard the rumor, but I hesitated to believe it.”
“Oh?” Sebastian said.
Lord Marlow chuckled coldly. “Come now, Your Grace. How long have I known you for? I did not think such a thing was possible. What do they say? Some hounds simply are not made to be domesticated.”
It was an odd comment, its meaning only too clear.
Despite Sebastian’s position and the fact that he was now married, his reputation was not something so easily forgotten.
It made Margot wince, feeling a little foolish for the way she had been acting today.
Sebastian is so charming that it can be easy to forget who he is.
A firm reminder that perhaps the side I see of him here is not the true version of him.
“I would be careful what I said if I were you,” Sebastian said with a smile, even if his voice had turned suddenly cold. And as he spoke, he stepped back into Margot, his hand this time slipping around her waist.
Margot’s eyes widened to feel him hold her, and her breath caught as she glanced at him, noting the glare he fixed on Lord Marlow.
“I meant nothing by it,” Lord Marlow said simply. “Just an observation.”
Sebastian scoffed. “As you are so keen on observations, perhaps you should observe this.” His grip tightened, and Margot’s pulse quickened. “Any hound can be tamed, it just takes the right set of hands to do it.”
“Is that right?”