Chapter 3
“You are mistaken! I understand the confusion you must be feeling, but His Grace cannot help that he fell madly in love with my Evangeline. And now they are happily married at long last!”
It was her own wedding breakfast, but Evangeline felt that she was more confused than half of the guests, at the very least. She had slowly been making her rounds around the large banquet hall for the better part of an hour because, since she was the bride, it was her responsibility to play the hostess and avoid her new husband.
It was at least the fourth lie that she had heard her mother say to the guests.
She was not certain which lie was more outlandish than the last. But that the Duke was wildly in love with her?
That was perhaps the most insane of them all.
The viscountess was trying her very best to dispel the rumors, and for that, Evangeline had to give her credit. Besides, the older woman had cried only four times as yet this morning.
“—but I was still expecting to see Miss Anastasia.”
“—where do you think she is? Could she be with child?”
“—Edge of ruin, the whole union reeks of desperation.”
The two women gossiping half behind their fans barely had the decency to stop whispering to one another as Evangeline walked past them.
They paused only long enough to curtsy out of formality alone while watching Evangeline’s every move out of the corner of their eyes.
She knew perfectly well that the moment she was out of earshot, they were going to resume their gossiping.
“My darling Anastasia was called to attend to her aunt in Scotland for the rest of the Season. It truly was rather selfless of her to put her Season behind to take care of her family. If that does not prove what a loving, selfless, family-oriented woman she truly is, then I do not know what would,” Morticia gushed to anyone who would listen as she hastily guzzled down yet another glass of wine.
It was Evangeline’s fourth turn about the room, and she was doing her best to smile and nod to all those that she passed, but this time, the Duke himself intercepted her with a surprisingly soft hand on her elbow.
“It is time that we took our leave, wife. Say whatever goodbyes that you need to.”
He spoke so matter-of-factly all the time. No doubt, he was very accustomed to simply speaking, and then his will was done. Evangeline wondered just how long it had been since anyone had spoken back to him or pushed him on anything at all, for that matter.
She would have to choose her moment carefully if she was going to press her luck on that subject. She knew that much. But a small part of her relished the notion of seeing the look on his annoyingly handsome face when somebody did speak back to him.
What would he do if he heard the word no?
“We have not even yet shared a dance, husband. What would people think if we were to leave now? It would be most improper,” Evangeline said practically as she eyed him strangely.
“Isn’t it bad enough that my mother is standing over there weaving one outlandish tale to the next in an attempt to explain away the hastiness of our union in the first place? ”
The Duke merely shrugged. “I do not see how that is any concern of mine.”
“Do you truly have no regard for the reputation of my mother? She is now your own family as well. Need I remind you of that? We are married now,” Evangeline reasoned.
She could practically see the wheels in his head turning as he registered her words, weighed them, and made a choice.
Yet, when he spoke, all he said was, “I do not dance.”
“Of everything that I said, that is the only response that you will deign to give me?” Evangeline’s brow lifted quizzically as she spoke.
That time, he did not bother to answer her at all. Instead, he merely took her by the arm and started to usher them out of the room.
“Wait! You said that I could say my goodbyes!” Evangeline said as she attempted to pull her hand back and keep away from him.
“Yes, and then you argued with me,” the Duke answered with a mischievous glint in his eye.
“I beg your pardon?” Evangeline protested. She did not care much for his tone.
“You can beg for it if you like, but my pardon is not easy to come by. But, by all means,” the Duke answered and stopped dead in his tracks. He gazed at her expectantly, waiting for a response from her.
Suddenly, her mouth was dry. It was like she had forgotten all the words that she had ever learned in her very well-read life.
Her mind was a stunned blank. It was so much worse than being put on the spot.
Did he truly think that she was going to beg him for anything?
Right here in front of the hungry eyes of the whole ton? She thought not.
“It—it is an expression,” she explained lamely.
If she was not mistaken, the Duke looked… disappointed?
“Very well. You may have five minutes,” he answered.
Evangeline would have questioned him on that as well, but it was abundantly obvious from his expression that he was not jesting in the slightest.
She did not have a pocket watch, but Evangeline would have bet anything at all that it was exactly five minutes on the dot that the Duke returned to her side and forcibly linked her arm with his own. He nodded politely to those she was speaking with and then started to lead them out of the room.
“But I have not finished yet!” Evangeline protested with a hiss. She had not even made it over to where her mother was still speaking.
“I was perfectly clear in my instructions. You do not seem to be a woman of a simple mind. I am more than confident that you can understand a plainly put command when it is given to you,” the Duke explained as he brought them out to the carriage.
The Duke had the carriage door open, and he shoved her inside before she fully understood what was happening. She wanted to protest, but she could not seem to summon the proper courage to do so. All she could do was sit there and stew in her own unhappiness.
“Do you plan on making it a habit of ripping me away from my family and friends at your leisure, or can I hope that this was an isolated incident?” Evangeline said finally as she crossed her arms and focused on staring out of the open carriage window.
The Duke waited so long to answer that she was almost afraid that she would have needed to repeat herself.
“You will find that this marriage will be a good deal more comfortable for you, should you learn to obey me properly without asking quite so many questions.”
The fact that he spoke without malice, but with matter-of-fact frankness, somehow irritated her more than had he barked the words at her.
Evangeline scoffed. “I am not sure where you got the impression that I am obedient, and I certainly shall not obey the words of a tyrant.”
“Is that what you think that I am?”
The way that the man’s head tilted when he spoke made her feel like he was seeing right through her, like he could read her very thoughts and was silently judging them.
She certainly hoped not. She would never be able to live with herself if she were to humiliate herself on that level. “What else am I supposed to think of you, Your Grace, when you have hardly bothered to say any words to me other than ‘I do’?”
“Is conversation what you are seeking?”
“Would it truly be such an unthinkable desire to have a proper conversation with one’s husband?” Evangeline retorted.
Someday, the fact that her mouth moved more quickly than her mind was going to get her in trouble.
“And what purpose would a conversation have when this is a marriage that you rushed into from obligation?”
It seemed that he was rather incapable of answering things directly.
“Are you always this pompous and insufferable?”
“I sit here wondering why it is that you would so eagerly volunteer to marry me if that is what you truly thought about me?” The Duke answered, a hint of—dare she say—amusement starting to creep into his inflection once more.
“You should know the answer to that question.”
The Duke shrugged. “Perhaps, but I should much prefer to hear it from your own lips.”
Heat blossomed in her face as his eyes fell on her lips, but she refused to look at him for a second longer than she had to. Embarrassment and something else swirled in equal measure inside of her. “Are you incapable of answering a single question directly?”
The Duke laughed, a short and clipped sound. One that made her heart pitter-patter in her chest uncomfortably and forced her attention from the scenery outside to the man across from her with wide eyes. She would not have even presumed that he was capable of such a sound.
“You have yet to ask me a question worthy of answering, but please do keep trying. I am learning quite a lot about my new bride,” the Duke answered.
Pride or consternation? Condemnation of her inquisitiveness? She could not read him, not even a single tiny bit, and as such, she was forced to presume he was mocking her.
“At least tell me why you insist on carrying around that sword at all times. Even at your own wedding. It is… intimidating!”
Whatever ghost of a smile had been growing on his face moments before faded away the moment she spoke. His hand drifted to the pommel of his sword and hesitated there for a long moment.
“Perhaps you ought to refrain from asking personal questions.”
“Obey you, ask no personal questions. Are there any other rules that you feel I ought to be keeping mindful of? Because it seems that you intend to place a lot of demands upon me, and we have not even yet arrived at your home,” Evangeline said, her irritation growing once more.
“Why do you even want a wife if you do not want a woman to speak to you?”
Evangeline knew perfectly well that it could be nothing more than a simple obligation on his part.
He was a titled gentleman, but she wanted it to be more than that.
What sort of life was she going to have if she were married to a man who did not even wish to have the simplest of conversations?
Should she merely accept that she had married a man as harsh and demanding as her father? Would he be unfaithful to her as well?
I should not care at all about that. It should not come as a surprise if he were.
She eased herself back into her seat and folded her arms across her chest as she waited for an answer that she was almost certain was not going to come.
“Why do you wish to know?”
“Do you always answer your questions with more questions?” She answered instinctively.
Only, he seemed to be either more patient or more stubborn than she, as she did not receive an answer.
“I just mean to say that this is not a battlefield, and you do not need to arm yourself while in a carriage with your wife. Or your wedding.”
Evangeline did not care for the fact that she almost felt as if she were pouting. That was highly unlike her.
“Perhaps you would be less disappointed if you were to listen to my requests the first time that I make them,” the Duke answered. “You are my wife, and you have agreed to be such. We took vows. You will be expected to maintain a certain level of decorum and certain behaviors.”
Evangeline glared at him. “Such as to be seen and not heard?”
“I shall also request that you refrain from putting words in my mouth.”
Evangeline sighed. She had never met a more insufferable person in her entire life. How was this to be her destiny? A taciturn man who had very few obvious redeeming qualities. The fact that he was handsome would only provide him with so much grace.
Anastasia was right to run away from this as quickly as she could. It seemed that the more Evangeline came to learn about the Duke, the more she wanted to do exactly the same thing.
“Let me tell you something, Your Grace. I can see that neither of us is satisfied with this union already. But do not fret, I shall have the marriage annulled the moment that my sister is found. That will spare us both the misery of one another’s company, for I am not the woman you are looking for. ”
The Duke smirked; that same unnervingly alluring expression that made it impossible to look at anything other than him. She could not tear her eyes away from him, from the way that his striking gaze held her completely captive, demanding her attention.
“Well then, my darling wife, perhaps you ought to make haste in locating your absent sister.”
The words were ominous and laced with a threat that she understood them to be.
“Oh? And why is that?” she asked, knowing that whatever the answer was about to be, it was not going to be one that she wanted to hear.
“Because you only have one week before I come to you to consummate our marriage.”