Chapter 2
“You two seemed to get along well enough,” Michael said with a broad smile.
Norman sighed. “You’re as ridiculous as her father is, Michael. I couldn’t believe it when Lord Crownway said what he did about the two of us forming a bond.”
“You didn’t like that?” Michael asked. He rose from the chair where he had been seated, walked to one of the library shelves, and plucked a book from it.
He brought the book back to his chair and sat down, but he didn’t open it.
It was the cousins’ habit to spend evenings in the library reading in peaceful silence together, but Norman doubted any reading was going to take place tonight.
There was simply too much to talk and think about, thanks to the arrival of Lord Crownway and his daughters.
“I didn’t mind it,” Norman said. “I mean, I didn’t take offense to it. But really, the two of us exchanged a few words, nothing more. How could anyone call that a bond? There’s no bond. We hardly know one another.”
“It’s not the number of words you exchanged, but the quality of them,” Michael explained.
Norman shook his head. “We had an argument,” he said. “There was nothing admirable about that exchange. Nothing to give a father hope that the marriage will be a successful one.”
“I think you’re determined that the marriage should be a failure,” Michael said, leaning forward in his chair and bracing his elbows on his knees. “I think there’s a substantial part of you that doesn’t want this to go well, Norman.”
“Ridiculous,” Norman scoffed. “Why would I want my marriage to fail?”
“We both know you never truly wanted it at all,” Michael pointed out.
“But I need it,” Norman said. “And I accept that I need it.” He sighed. “If there was truly something I didn’t want, I think it would be this dukedom. I never asked for this, and I never imagined I would inherit it in the first place. I was happy with my life before any of this happened.”
“You’d return to being a commoner?” Michael asked.
“Yes. In a moment. It’s different for you, because you were raised as part of society,” Norman said.
“Your mother was always a countess, and you’re used to this life.
But me… this was never who I was, and never anything I dreamed of becoming.
And then one day, out of nowhere, I receive a letter telling me that my father has died, and that he was a duke, of all things, and everything changes for me overnight.
Now I have to find a way to fit in with the other gentlemen of the ton.
I need to be able to do business with them, or Heathmare will fall apart.
And even though I might not have wanted this role, I don’t want to fail at it.
I want to keep my estate together. I want to help the tenants thrive and have good lives…
I know what it’s like to be in their shoes.
” He sighed. “I wish these things didn’t matter to me, but they do.
And for the gentlemen of the ton to trust that I am truly one of them, I have to make a good marriage. ”
“You’ve explained this frequently enough, but…”
“I need a respectable wife,” Norman went on.
“I need someone who fits into this world. People need to be able to look at me and see that I’m like them, that I’m playing the game, and having the right wife will do that for me.
It will show everyone that I belong among the men of society.
Until I’m married, I know people will wonder whether I’m really a part of all this.
They’ll expect that I might choose to marry a woman beneath my station, which would prove that I’m still a commoner at heart no matter what my inheritance might say. ”
“But you don’t have any desire to marry such a woman, do you?” Michael asked.
“I have no particular desire to marry anyone at all. If I am to marry, though, I might as well marry a lady.”
“You know,” Michael said, leaning back in his seat, “Mother thinks you ought to wait for someone you love. That you ought to marry a lady because you truly care for her, not just because it would benefit your reputation.”
“Your mother understands this even less than you do,” Norman said with a sigh.
“I’m sorry to say it. She’s a good lady, and she’s been no end of help to me since I came into my inheritance.
But she can’t help me with this. I need to make sure that my reputation is intact, and that’s why I’m going to marry the Earl’s daughter. It’s as simple as that.”
“It doesn’t have to be,” Michael said. “It really doesn’t. I know you don’t trust the peerage, Norman.”
“How could I trust them? It’s all social climbers and attention seekers.”
“You say that, but who are you talking about? That’s not what you think of me or Mother.”
Norman sighed. “Of course not. You know I’m not talking about you.”
“I do know that,” Michael agreed. “But I don’t know who you mean when you say that society is full of that type of person.”
“Do you mean to suggest you don’t think there are any?”
“I’m only saying that people aren’t staring at you with the kind of expectation you seem to think they are,” Michael said.
“No one will assume the worst of you if you don’t marry a lady within a year of coming into your inheritance.
It’s all right to take your time a little bit, to wait and see what feels right.
Mother has a point. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to wait a while, to see if you meet someone you can truly fall in love with.
Wouldn’t you rather have a marriage based on love? ”
“I can’t see that it makes much difference,” Norman admitted.
“The point is to have a wife, not to fall in love with her, and the Earl’s daughter will do perfectly well for that.
I don’t need to have forged some deep and meaningful bond with her for that to be true.
I just need her to be here and be willing. ”
“Well, she’s here, at any rate,” Michael said.
“You don’t think she’s here willingly?”
“I have no way of knowing that,” Michael said. “But the way she acted when she came in did make it seem like she didn’t want to be here. Did you catch how cold she was? Almost as cold as you were.”
Norman rolled his eyes. “I’m sure that was nothing,” he said. “She felt awkward, that was all. She was shy, and that was the way it showed.”
“If you say so,” Michael said lightly. He picked up the book he’d chosen and flipped it open.
The truth was that Norman wasn’t sure he was right about that at all.
She hadn’t seemed very shy. She had answered everything he’d said sharply, without hesitation.
That wasn’t the action of a lady who felt uncomfortable or ill at ease.
She might not be pleased to be here, but it wasn’t because she was shy.
He didn’t know what to think. All he knew was that she wasn’t what he had expected. She was nothing like what he had expected. And now that she was here… what was he going to do with her?
I have to get through this week, that’s all.
The engagement party. And then the wedding.
Once she’s officially my wife, the two of us can live virtually separate lives.
I won’t make any demands of her. It’s in name only that I need a wife, and that will be easy enough for her to live up to.
But I’ll make sure she knows that she’s free to live her life as she sees fit once she’s here.
After all, I expect to do the same thing.
Michael set his book down once more and faced Norman.
“Oh, good grief,” Norman said. “I thought you were done lecturing me. What now?”
“I’m not lecturing you,” Michael said. “But I am asking you a question—are you sure you’re going to go through with this? Really?”
“I’ve made up my mind,” Norman said. “It wasn’t even a difficult decision, truth be told. This is how I join society. I have the title, but I don’t yet have the things people expect of a duke, and I need those things if I’m to be taken seriously.”
“If being taken seriously is what you want, you ought to start taking this seriously yourself,” Michael murmured.
“And what does that mean?”
“It means that this lady, whoever she is, whoever she might turn out to be in your life, isn’t just a prop or an accessory,” Michael said.
“Even if it’s the only reason you want a wife, you can’t just bring her out to show off when you’re around members of society and ignore her the rest of the time. ”
“What would you know about it?” Norman asked his cousin. “You aren’t married. You don’t know the first thing about what to do with a wife.”
“I may know more than you think,” Michael said roguishly, and Norman rolled his eyes.
But then Michael’s tone turned serious. “I know that it’s going to be as difficult for her as it will be for you.
In fact, I’d say it will be more difficult for her than for you, because at least you get to remain in your own home.
At least you have some measure of control over what happens next.
For her… her whole world will be turned upside down the moment she comes to live in this house.
Everything she has ever known will be left in the past.”
“And what am I to do about that?” Norman asked.
“That’s what happens when a lady marries.
She moves into her husband’s estate. She’ll have been preparing all her life for this day.
I’m the one who’s been uprooted, because I never expected anything like this to happen to me.
I never planned to come and live at Heathmare.
This wasn’t supposed to be a part of my life.
So as much as she is trying to adjust to new circumstances, I’m doing the very same thing. ”
“All I’m saying is that you should try to treat her as an ally instead of a stranger,” Michael said. “You should try to see what the two of you have in common.”
Norman scoffed. “We don’t have anything in common.”
“Are you sure?”
“You sound like her father, talking about the bond between the two of us.”
“I don’t know about that,” Michael said. “But she’s going to be your wife, so wouldn’t it be better if there was really a bond between the two of you? Wouldn’t that be preferable?”
“No,” Norman said. “I don’t think it would be.
What I would prefer is for the two of us to lead independent lives.
I want her to be happy, but I don’t want her to rely on me for anything beyond the basics, and I don’t want to rely on her too much either.
This is a partnership, you’re right, but nothing deeper than that. ”
“Well, I think you’re making a mistake,” Michael sighed. “I think it would cost you nothing to make her happy—and to make yourself happy too.”
“You’ll understand when you’re a bit older,” Norman said.
“I’m thirty years old, Norman. I’m not a child. I understand life perfectly well. And I know that the relationship between a man and his wife can be a good and valuable thing—but only if he allows it to be.” Michael fixed him with a steady gaze.
Norman turned away and looked out the window. Whatever his cousin might think, this arrangement was strictly business. That was all it was ever going to be.