Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Edward hoped that after what had transpired, he would be able to get some work done.
His aunt’s visit might have been a surprise, but that did not mean it was wholly unexpected. The woman was a stubborn force of nature and had been through most of his life, and he had grown utterly familiar with her mannerisms and could identify points of contention when it came to her.
Still, he had hoped she would show Phoebe some grace.
He had caught wind of some of the things she had said to his wife and his blood had boiled in a way he did not expect it to.
He wondered vaguely, if it was simply because Phoebe was being blamed for the results of his actions and being suspected of deeds she had not committed, or if there was something more to it.
“I cannot spend the rest of my afternoon like this,” he complained to no one in particular. “I have already wasted so many days in the last week. I must get something done today.”
He had spent the last few days stuck in the memories of his first real night with his wife.
Edward had not expected to have gotten swept up in all the sensations.
He wanted to convince himself that their wedding night was simply nothing more than a spark charged by the sensual idea of being with someone who was no more than a stranger to you.
He believed that since he knew more about Phoebe — in a sense, their bodies might just barely be compatible. He did not need it to be, to get the job done.
Then he arrived at her room and she was naked, like a present that had been unwrapped and waiting for him to take it. And oh, how he had wanted to take her.
Over and over again, until that pretty mouth that was so accustomed to frowning at him was screaming his name, until her limbs were tightly wound around him, her grip slipping with each thrust of his hips. He wanted to devour her.
But he knew she was not ready for that. She was barely ready for what they were about to do, and that was even after he had given her some time to grow accustomed to the idea.
He supposed it should not have surprised him greatly, given that it was still her first time.
So, he had aimed to make it good for her at least.
Edward had never been one to brag seriously, but he could say with full confidence that he had been able to grant her pleasure unlike anything she had ever known.
The problem was, she had been pleasurable for him as well.
It had taken everything in him to exercise control and despite it, he was still not satisfied.
He still wanted more.
The knock at the door of his study broke his thoughts apart he cleared his throat, ignoring the stiffness in his breeches as he shifted his chair and stared down at his desk in hopes of looking busy as he called,
“Come in.”
The door opened Edward looked up from the correspondence he had been pretending to read to find his wife in his office.
He had not expected to see her again so soon. It had been about an hour since his aunt had left and he thought that Phoebe might have wanted to hide away for a bit — and he wouldn’t have minded if that was the case.
If he had endured what she had, he might have wanted to isolate himself too.
“Forgive the interruption,” she smiled apologetically, the expression lighting up her lovely face. “I only wanted a moment.”
“You are not interrupting anything too important.” He pushed the letter aside and gestured toward the chair across the desk. “Sit, if you like.”
She obliged, settling down in the chair delicately like a swan on a lake and for a moment, Edward wondered how he could have made a better choice than her.
It was clear that he was the only one who was aware of how much potential she had, how much of a good match she truly was to him.
He knew she did not believe him at all but had chosen to trust his intentions and he knew it would have to suffice.
It was not as though their agreement required much more than that.
He sat back in his own seat and watched her ad she stared at his desk, following her gaze as it trailed over the surface — from the somewhat organized pack of papers, the inkwell and the paperweight made of green glass that had belonged to his father at one point.
He let her drink in her fill of information, feeling completely contented to leave his gaze on her until she was ready to address him.
Eventually, she raised her gaze up to him and said, “I wanted to thank you, for what you said to Lady Shadborn. It was… rather kind. And I did not want you to think I had not noticed.”
“It was nothing more than was necessary,” Edward told her sincerely.
“Perhaps. But it was still something more than I had expected, and I am grateful for it.” She paused, then added, more quietly: “I imagine it is not easy, going against one's family. Even when one is right to do so.”
Edward considered this. “My aunt has never made things particularly easy. It is something of a constant, although in that same vein, one can attest that she always means well. She was displeased about the advertisement from the start. She had been making plans to assist me in finding a wife in a manner she considered appropriate — through the correct social channels, introductions, the expected process — and she took the newspaper approach as a rather pointed dismissal of her efforts.”
Phoebe was quiet for a moment, then she surmised, “She wanted to find you a wife by conventional means. Why did you not let her? With her reputation and connections, she might have found you someone better.”
“She wanted to find me a wife by her means, which is not quite the same thing.
Barbara considers herself a person of considerable expertise in the management of other people's affairs. And I have said it before, so while I am not fond of repeating myself, I will do so for your sake — there is no one better than you, Phoebe.”
Phoebe pressed her lips together and Edward could see that she was attempting not to smile, and he found he was somewhat curious as to what would happen if she simply gave in and did.
He got his wish in a second because she met his eyes, and the smile she had been trying to contain broke through, brief and genuine and rather lovely.
“In Lady Shadborn's words, your decision to find a bride using the newspaper as your channel of communication made you seem like a man selling off a carriage,” she informed him, her eyes shining with mirth.
“That is very nearly exactly what she said to me as well, when I told her. She was quite furious.” Edward responded sagely, pretending the look on his wife’s face had no effect on him or on the corners of his lips that were threatening to rise and well.
“I believe she heavily implied that I had disgraced the family.”
“And yet you did it anyway.”
“The alternative was allowing Barbara to find me a wife, which I felt certain would end rather poorly for everyone involved.”
Phoebe laughed — a real one, this time, unburdened and unrestrained and he was stunned by how it changed her face entirely. He had noticed this before, the way amusement moved through her and altered everything, lowering her guards exponentially.
He watched it and found, to his mild and slightly inconvenient surprise, that he wanted to see it again.
“I begin to feel rather sorry for Lady Shadborn,” Phoebe sighed, recovering her composure.
“Do not,” Edward waved a hand in the air dismissively. “She is perfectly content as long as she has something to be displeased about. She would be at a loss without it.”
“Does she visit often?”
“Often enough. She means well, underneath the exterior. She is simply —” he considered the word carefully. “Singular in her views.”
“That is a very kind way of describing it.”
“I thought so.”
Phoebe smiled softly at him and said, “She must care for you a lot, to worry about you so much.”
Edward was willing to acknowledge that fact, if only just this once, with his aunt nowhere in sight.
“She does. As I care for her. But you do not see me going about in an attempt to cause her great stress.”
The conversation had found, somewhere in the last several minutes, a lightness that Edward had not anticipated and was not entirely certain what to do with.
She seemed comfortable here — in his study, of all places, and he found that he was growing accustomed to the idea of seeing her in that very chair more often.
He cleared his throat. “There is the matter of the Ravencroft ball.”
Her expression shifted slightly and the openness dimmed slightly “Yes. I recall that it is to take place soon.”
“It is to take place in a fortnight and it will be hosted by the wife of a friend. The duke and duchess of Ravencroft will be our precious hosts for that evening — though gracious is not a word I would use to describe the Duke of Ravencroft. Are you ready?”
“Do I have a choice?”
Although her words sounded cutting, she looked only exasperated.
“You should wear your most extravagant dress,” he instructed instead of addressing her remark. “You should look every bit the duchess of Montford.”
Phoebe pursed her lips thoughtfully then nodded.
“I have a dress I am sure will be suitable but …” She exhaled deeply. “I confess I am somewhat nervous about it. Going out. Being seen in this new capacity.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“I am not oblivious,” he remarked, dryly. “I understand that being presented to society as the Duchess of Montford, is no small feat.”
He met her eyes as he assured. “I intend to be by your side the entire evening. I will not abandon you to navigate it alone.”
She looked at him for a moment, then the tension in her shoulders eased, if only slightly.
“Thank you,” she expressed sincerely.
Edward nodded and watched as she rose to her feet and left without another word, wondering why his marriage seemed to be growing more complicated by the day.