Chapter Thirty-One
Across the breakfast table from Matthew, Jasmine huddled over paperwork with Honora and Aunt Valentine—planning the next charity event they intended to drag him to.
He stared as Jasmine lifted a teacup to her lips, blew the steam from the top, then took a careful sip. When her tongue darted to the corner of her mouth, visions danced in his mind of where her mouth had been earlier that morning.
Even two weeks after their wedding, he couldn’t keep his thoughts off her—let alone anything else.
His day revolved around her. Waking in her arms to the tender kiss she left on his cheek before he left for work.
He carried that kiss with him until he returned home to her, when he would ask for a new one.
Passionate nights were followed by sweet mornings when they loved each other slowly.
Jasmine matched his sexual appetites and at times exceeded them.
Endlessly imaginative, she often surprised him with her nightly requests—and that reminded him…
He needed to replace their headboard.
Shifting in his seat, he returned his attention to the newspaper, hiding his blush from the rest of his family.
Everyone had fallen into a routine, including Saturday breakfast at the Reeves’ residence in Mayfair.
Seth had bought a larger table to accommodate Jasmine’s parents.
Between the Coopers, the Reeves, the Sinclairs, Honora, Zeke, Blackmoor, and the children underfoot, he would be better off expanding the room.
Matthew glanced over at Cassandra and her growing belly and thought Seth should get started on that soon.
Following the events at Duke Kendall’s ball, Matthew had wished to move everyone back to Lincolnshire. Seth had agreed, but Cassandra was past the point of travel. She would soon enter her confinement and needed to be close to her physicians.
After careful consideration, he and Jasmine pushed back their honeymoon until after the baby was born.
Jasmine wanted to be by Cassandra’s side in her time of need.
As did Matthew, but more for Seth’s sake.
The poor man was beside himself, catering to Cassandra’s every need—to her growing frustration.
Seth lifted a fork with a slice of ham to Cassandra’s mouth. With a glare, she snatched the utensil from him and took a deliberate bite.
“I can feed myself,” she tutted around the food in her mouth. Once she finished chewing, she addressed Matthew. “Could the two of you box today? I need some peace.”
Jasmine looked up. “Oh, that would be perfect. Lady Alverton and Mrs. Winslow are dropping by for tea this afternoon. I need Matthew out of the house—the ladies get so flustered when he’s around.”
“It’s because he looks at you like you’re a meal. It makes everyone uncomfortable,” Honora drawled. “Now pay attention…”
Jasmine returned her eyes to the paperwork with reddened cheeks, but listened dutifully to her mentor.
Wishing to establish herself as Viscountess Lincolnshire, she took every word Honora said as gospel.
Every conversation of theirs was a strategy meeting where they developed a battle plan for their reemergence into society.
Their schedule was a careful dance of avoidance.
Aside from daytime functions like garden parties or tea, the family declined most social invitations once they learned Duke Kendall would be in attendance. The man seemed to be everywhere, limiting their options, and that created the other shadow hanging over the family.
Caroline.
The family’s social absence meant isolation from many sources of entertainment.
She hadn’t received a caller in weeks, and Matthew wondered if perhaps he had made a mistake in being so harsh before.
He had promised his father he would see his sisters happily married—though at that moment, he would have settled for Caroline being happy at all.
Picking at her toast, she ignored everyone.
She sat with Trevor on one side of her, and Blackmoor on the other, but didn’t look at either of them.
Both gave her a wide berth. Sighing, she reached for a lump of sugar.
She plopped it into her tea, stirred it idly with a spoon, but didn’t drink from her cup.
After a few moments, she placed both hands on the table and stood. “If you’ll excuse me.”
The men stood as she left the room. Cassandra sighed and shared a sympathetic look with Matthew. As Cassandra tried to stand to go after her, Jasmine put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a soft smile.
“I’ll talk to her.”
Jasmine followed Caroline from the room, and Matthew didn’t see her until they were ready to return home. In the carriage, he asked what they had spoken about.
“It’s not a big secret.” Jasmine sighed. “She’s lonely.”
“She’s surrounded by family,” Matthew argued. “How could she possibly be lonely?”
“She’s surrounded by love-matches, a widow, your friends, and children,” she corrected him.
“With all of this love around her, she’s worried she won’t find her own.
” She squeezed his hand. “Everyone treats her like a child. Cassandra married at Caroline’s age.
You need to allow her to try to find a match. ”
“I know, but…” He brushed his hand through his hair. He was hesitant to leave their haven, didn’t want to go back to looking over his shoulder. “I can’t be everywhere at once. If anything ever happened to her—”
“We face it when it comes.” Her voice gentled. “We cannot hide forever on a possibility. We’re part of this world, we need to live in it. It’s time we rejoin society properly.”
“Fine, but a slow start,” he conceded. “What would you suggest?”
Jasmine’s face lit up. “The opera is tonight. What do you say we attend as a family? My parents will be in attendance, and I don’t imagine it will take much convincing for Cassandra and Seth to leave the house.”
Unease stuck to him like tar, but the hope in her smile softened his resolve. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.
“You win, but I’m inviting Blackmoor too.”
“Why?”
“He enjoys music,” he said flippantly. “If there are that many of us, we’ll need his box. It’s bigger.”
And the most secure.
Hours later, Matthew returned home from boxing.
Keeping his steps quiet, he padded past the sitting room of his townhouse.
From a sliver in the doorway, he watched Jasmine command their sitting room.
When she spoke, every woman listened. She had taken to her role as a viscountess perfectly.
She mastered her smile, poise, and needlework—evident by the pile of baby clothes she handed to Honora.
Before, he hadn’t understood the power of gossip, but Jasmine learned more about society’s happenings over tea than he ever could in the House of Lords.
Smiling to himself, he ascended the stairs to take a much-needed bath.
The ladies had left by the time he finished.
He pulled a linen shirt over his head and donned a pair of drawers.
Before leaving the room, he plucked a small rosewood box from his nightstand.
He had hidden the gift in the back of a drawer for a special occasion.
Tonight would be perfect.
Barefoot, he stepped into what his wife called their study. Jasmine sat in his leather chair behind a mahogany writing desk. She had positioned bouquets of flowers in every corner of the room, filling his nose with the fragrance of roses and violets.
Jasmine signed a piece of parchment, then added it to a stack of papers before her. She looked up from her work and greeted him with a smile before returning her quill to its stand. She gestured to the box in his hands.
“What is that?”
“A gift.” Matthew moved to stand behind her and peered over her shoulder. “First, tell me how you’re spending my money today.”
“Our money,” she said sweetly. “We have more than we’ll ever be able to spend. What’s the point in having wealth if you don’t do any good with it?”
“All right, all right.” He reached over her and grabbed the top page from the desk and made a show of squinting at it. “Which good cause are we donating our money to?”
Jasmine stood, took the page from him, and then set it back down on the desk.
“I’ve been thinking of what I want to devote my time to, and I’ve finally decided. I want to take care of our soldiers—the ones who went to war with your rifles,” she said. “If you hadn’t taken Seth in, where would he be now?”
Matthew pursed his lips. “I hadn’t considered it.”
“Not all men are fortunate enough to have someone to care for them, and Royal Hospital Chelsea is overrun with injured veterans.” Her face fell. “Now that the war is ending, our soldiers are returning home. I want to give them a home to return to—a hospital meant for them.”
“You’re a beautiful soul, Jasmine Cooper.” He lifted her chin and kissed her cheek. “That sounds noble, indeed. Tell me what you need from me, and we’ll make it happen.”
“Good.” A corner of her mouth lifted. “Now, what did you buy me with our money?”
He flipped the clasp and opened the box, presenting her with a single strand of pearls nestled in black silk. “These should fit better.”
“Let’s see.” She turned around and lifted her hair.
Carefully, he placed the pearls around her neck. After fastening them, he ran his finger between the necklace and her skin. Satisfied that she had enough room to breathe, he playfully licked along the line. “Later tonight, I want you to wear this necklace—and nothing else.”
She faced him with a teasing grin. “What if I don’t want to wait until later?”
He brushed his nose against hers. Holding her close, he indulged in a slow kiss. “I just got out of the bath.”
She reached between them and stroked his hardening erection. “Take another one with me, I’ll wash you.”
He leaned into her touch. “We’ll be late.”
“Let them wait on us for once.” She kissed him. “We’ll take the phaeton, it’ll be faster.”
“Your dress will be ruined by the end of the night,” he murmured.
“You promise?” She pulled his lower lip into her mouth and bit lightly. Step by step, she eased him back until the backs of his legs touched the chair. She encouraged him to sit, then lifted her skirts.
“Make haste, husband.” She shot him a daring grin and straddled him. “I’d hate to miss the first act.”
He aligned himself with her, and she slowly sank down—ready for him. And he couldn’t bring himself to rush. They made their own music, with the slow rhythmic thumps of the chair shifting under them, her pitched breathing, and the ringing in his ears as pleasure overwhelmed him.
As Jasmine climaxed, she whispered, “I love you.”
And that was the sweetest music of all.