Chapter 8
“Here we are.” It was the first sentence spoken in nearly thirty minutes.
Lucy started when she heard her husband speak. She had been so determined to ignore him that she had nearly forgotten that he was sitting right across from her.
Also, her focus was saved for the sudden appearance of the Duke’s home. While she knew that he owned a vast estate in the countryside, he had explained to her earlier that for the remainder of the Season, they would be living in his townhouse on London.
Lucy could not say what she had expected from his residence.
She had little to do with dukes, so she supposed she had envisioned his home to be more…
grand. That wasn’t to say that it wasn’t an opulent home, clearly quite large and rich and wanting for nothing.
But it wasn’t too different to that which she had grown up in.
Not that any of this mattered. When the townhouse appeared at the end of the empty London street, her chest tightened. If there had been any doubts about the seriousness of her new world, those were dashed and done away with.
She was here now, it was happening, and there would be no escape.
It will not be so bad, Lucy. This is a marriage of convenience only. Did he not promise you freedom? Why would he lie about such a thing?
“Lucy…” The Duke spoke softly from her right.
She started and looked across, surprised to find that he had climbed from the carriage already and was offering her his hand to help her down.
In many ways, Lucy knew that she had no right to treat the Duke as coldly as she had been doing. This was not his fault. He had not conspired against her in any way. They were both victims of circumstance, and both were just trying to make the best of an awful situation.
Indeed, as he held his hand out for her, he smiled warmly. There was a kindness in his eyes, and she remembered what they had spoken about at the patronage. He too was disgusted with the event, which told her that he was not like other lords... or so he had claimed.
“Shall we?” He indicated his outstretched hand.
She very nearly took it, only to remember suddenly what had happened on the road just now.
When she had fallen into him, Lucy’s world had turned upside down.
For all her efforts to dismiss the Duke outright, to pretend that she felt nothing for him, those few seconds were enough to remind her that things were not nearly so simple.
Lucy could still feel his hands around her waist. She could still feel his fingers gripping her. Just as she could remember how safe she felt in those few moments, a sensation she did not expect and could not imagine what it meant.
For that reason, and because she was so stubborn, she thought it best not to encourage him. This marriage was to be one of convenience, so it was best to start right away.
“I am perfectly capable, thank you.” She ignored his offered hand and climbed from the carriage herself.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the Duke frown at her rudeness. This made her smirk; glad that for once he was on the back foot.
“As you say,” he said coldly. Then he strode past her quickly and made for the front door.
Stupid, Lucy. Stop antagonizing the man. We are set to spend the rest of our lives together. Would it not be better if we at least got along?
She sighed deeply, shook her head, and followed her husband inside.
The inside of the townhouse was larger than it looked from the outside.
The foyer especially; it opened wide and stretched back far, twice the size of the foyer in her own home.
And growing from the center was a spiraling staircase, winding up to the second and third floor.
Lucy’s chest tightened further she took it all in, again reminded that this was very real…
her new home, her new life, her new world.
“Would you like a tour?” the Duke asked as he strode across the foyer. “Perhaps an introduction to the staff? They will be who you deal with mostly.” He reached the base of the steps and turned.
“A tour?” She looked about the foyer. “Is there anything particularly different about this home that I need to know of?”
“I doubt it.”
“Then I think I will pass on the tour,” she said. “I am happy to show myself around. It is not as if I will not have time to do so.”
He studied her with curiosity. Lucy was not usually this rude and blunt, but she was on the defensive and felt a need to assert her dominance. If the Duke was being truthful about her so-called freedom, it was best to start now.
He sighed. “Is there anything that you do need?”
“Yes, actually…” A thought came to mind, and Lucy could not believe it had taken her this long. “Seeing as you married me for this reason, might I see the child?”
Finally, it was the Duke’s turn to look uncomfortable.
Lucy could not fathom why he did but, as soon as she mentioned the child, he withdrew and his confidence shattered in an instant. She saw him glance up the staircase, and she saw him swallow as if from fear.
In all the rush to marry, Lucy had not had time to ask the Duke the specifics of the child he had adopted. As he told her, he needed someone to be a mother to the infant, without going into where the child came from or what had happened to the mother.
In hindsight, Lucy would have done well to have asked such questions. But with all that had happened, she was far too focused on herself and her own trials. Now, she regretted it.
“Another time,” he said after a few moments. He looked up the staircase once more, considered, shook his head, and turned away. “Tomorrow will do. There is no rush.”
“No rush?” she frowned. “I thought –”
“Tomorrow,” he cut her off, his voice emitting a low growl of warning.
Lucy started, taken by surprise.
Whatever this child was to the Duke, it was not a standard affair. There was tension there, even fear, and Lucy had to stop herself from asking further questions.
“Well, if that is how it is to be…” She sighed. “Perhaps you might point me in the direction of my room. I assume my things have already arrived?”
“Ah yes, about that.” The Duke looked her over and his confidence returned in droves. “We have not had time to discuss such things, what with the rush of the wedding ceremony, but now seems as good a time as any.”
“Things? What things?”
He took a quick step toward her. And then another. Lucy’s first instinct was to retreat but she stayed that urge, refusing to be cowered or made to feel small. This was her home, he had promised her freedom, and she was determined to remind him of that.
Easier said than done…
He was tall… too tall. Like a mountain looming on the horizon, as he came near, he towered over her. And so broad were his shoulders, so large was his presence, that the foyer shrunk around him so that he was all who she could see.
“We have so much we need to speak of…” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “What is expected of this marriage. Of us, for that matter.”
Lucy swallowed. “Us? I thought you said –”
“We are set to spend the rest of our lives together,” he spoke over her. His voice was low, but it was deep, like the rumbling of thunder over the ocean. “And while it might be easy to envision a world where we have little to do with one another, it is also not realistic.”
Lucy’s legs started to tremble. “What are you saying?”
“I think you know what I am saying,” he purred. “Why fight the inevitable? I may show you to your own room, if you like. Or…” Behind his eyes, she saw wickedness. “I can show you to my room instead. It is, after all, our wedding night…”
Lucy gasped as his meaning became clear.
I knew it! Everything he said… his claims of convenience… his feigning of chivalry. It was all a lie!
Suddenly, Lucy’s breathing turned heavy. Her legs trembled and her body shook. She tried to turn away, but the Duke’s dark eyes captured her, held her close, refused to even allow her the chance to say no to him.
She wanted to say no… or she thought that she did. She did not want this marriage. She did not want anything to do with the Duke. She wanted to be free, to live her life how she saw fit. And yet…
“Well?” Standing over her, the Duke slowly reached up a hand. Her breath caught as it came near, and she gasped when it flicked away a strand of hair that dangled across her face. His fingers lightly grazed her skin, and the effect left a burning sensation on her cheek.
“I… that is not… you promised me…” She stammered her response, wanting to say no, but unable to.
What is going on? Why can I not say no? He does make a good point… if this is to work in the long run, we cannot hate one another… and if that means that he and I…
That was when the Duke chuckled darkly.
“I am joking, Lucy.” He took a sudden step back.
“Wh —what?” she lurched.
“You will have your own room, as promised. And while we do need to discuss the path that this marriage must take, I cannot help but feel that it can wait for the morrow.” He wore a cocky smirk, and there was humor in his eyes.
She looked at him coldly. No! She looked at him with hate.
Until this point, she had not thought of the Duke as one to make jokes.
He was constantly dispassionate, even cold, and she could not remember having seen him smile even once.
Now, while it might have been a relief to learn that he had it in him to be humorous, the way he had decided to show her was infuriating.
“What was that?” she demanded hotly.
He shrugged. “Payback.”
“Payback for what?”
“I have tried to be courteous to you, Lucy. I have tried to be kind. And so far, I have been rewarded with apathy and even hostility. You might try and fix this in the future.” He smirked. “We have a long life ahead of us, you and I. Things will go far smoother for all if you drop the act.”
“What act is that?”
“That I have conspired against you, somehow. And rather than treating me with some semblance of respect, you have decided to throw a tantrum.”
“I am not throwing a tantrum –”
“I will not put up with it,” he spoke over his, his tone turned cold and sharp. “I am your husband, this is my home, and I would appreciate that you pay me this respect. Is that clear?” He raised a warning eyebrow at her.
In response, Lucy just glared.
“So be it,” he sighed. Then, he turned and started up the steps. “This way, if you wish to see your room. Lest you plan on finding it on your own.”
With no choice, Lucy followed the Duke upstairs. And she glared daggers at the back of his head the whole while.
She was furious with what had just happened, but she was also understanding – as frustrating as that was to admit! She had been somewhat rude to him since they left the ceremony, and despite this being his fault, she knew too that this wasn’t entirely true.
We are both victims here. We are both thrust into a circumstance we do not want. And if this is to work… maybe it is time that I remember that.
Not that she told him this, of course. The Duke led her into her room and she looked upon him coldly the whole time. He stayed by the doorway, a plain expression on his face, almost as if he was enjoying her rancor.
“Here we are,” he said once she was inside. “My room is just down the hall, if you need anything. Even if you have made it so clear that you do not, nor will you.”
“I am certain the staff will assist me if that changes,” she said darkly.
He scoffed, shook his head, and closed the door behind himself as he left.
Lucy was left alone. She looked around the large room, and she tried to stoke her anger because that felt safe to do. All the while, in the back of her subconscious, she could not scrub the sensation that had overtaken her when the Duke offered to spend the night with her.
It was confusing… it was frustrating… it was not what she wanted or what she expected to be feeling. If this was just the first evening of their married life together, Lucy shuddered to think of what might come next.
Whatever this marriage might be, it would at the very least be interesting. Of that, she had no doubt.