Chapter 8
The sight of Prudence in her nightgown had been sufficiently distracting.
Leonard hadn’t expected to find her like that though if he had been thinking about it, he probably should have expected it.
After all, he had come here late in the evening, knowing that she had retired several hours ago. Of course, she’d gotten ready for bed.
Seeing her like this now, though, made him think about the situation in which the two of them had found themselves.
Neither of them had expected to be married to one another today when they had gone to the church this morning, but that was what had happened.
She was his wife. Where it would have been scandalous yesterday to see her in this state of undress, and to permit himself the thoughts that were now dancing in his mind about her, the fact that she was his wife now made those things perfectly acceptable.
That didn’t mean that he was going to put his hands on her, though.
He had made that decision the moment he had offered to marry her.
It wasn’t going to be that kind of marriage between the two of them.
He hadn’t wanted to marry at all. He might have considered doing so one day, for the sake of his duty, but he had never felt any desire for such a thing.
Looking at Prudence now, for the very first time in his life, he understood what it meant to desire the state of marriage.
It gave him the right to look at her in this way and to think of her in this way, and he found himself wanting those things badly.
He almost changed his mind about his resolution to keep his hands off of her—but Leonard was nothing if not self-controlled.
Prudence lowered herself slowly to sit on the edge of her bed, something she had clearly been avoiding doing until now.
She did not make herself comfortable, though.
She looked very ill at ease. “What about our future?” she asked him.
“You seem as if you have something specific on your mind, Leonard.”
“I do,” he agreed. “I’m sure you’re wondering about the nature of your life here. What you can expect from it. What things will be like for you now that you are my wife.”
“Of course,” she said.
“You will have all the privileges due to a duchess,” he told her.
“You are a duchess, even though that is not what either of us was planning. I take these matters seriously, and even though I know you doubt me, I do intend to treat you as you and your title deserve. You will be the lady of this house. You are free to do whatever you would like. My staff is your staff, and they will serve you just as they serve me. They have been instructed on this—they know that they are to take your orders seriously and not to question you.”
“Well—they have been very welcoming to me so far,” Prudence admitted. “I suppose I must have your instructions to them to thank for that.”
“They deserve credit as well of course,” he said.
“They are good people. I hired them for a reason. They would have been kind to you regardless of anything I had to say about it. But I can fully guarantee that they will respect your authority here and treat you with the deference you deserve as Duchess of Desford.”
“I don’t insist on deference,” Prudence told him. “All I want is respect.”
“And you will have it. Now, there will also be an allowance, for I know a lady has expenses she must tend to. You will receive money weekly from my treasury.” He named a sum.
It wasn’t up for debate. He had made this decision the moment he had made the offer, and he wasn’t asking for her opinion on the matter.
Still, he was pleased to see the hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth and to know that she was satisfied with the amount. “That’s very generous,” she admitted.
“I want to make sure you have everything you need,” he explained.
“You can go into town yourself and do your own shopping, if that is what you prefer, or you may send the staff to buy things for you. If you choose to go on your own, you can ask your sisters to accompany you, or Emily may go with you. I have no particular preference when it comes to the way you handle these matters, so I will defer to what you would like to do—just as long as you don’t cause any trouble.
I know you have a proclivity for scandal, and if I find out you are involving yourself in anything unwise or unsavory, we will have to make changes in the way we handle things.
Can I rely on you to act with responsibility and discretion when I am not around? ”
“I can be perfectly well behaved,” she said indignantly.
Of course, she could be. That wasn’t in doubt. He understood that she was clever. The question was whether she would be well behaved. But the only thing he could do was to give her the chance to prove herself and hope that he wouldn’t live to regret it.
“Very well, then,” he said. “Now, when it comes to the household itself, is there anything you’ve noticed right away that you need? Is there anything I can get for you that would make you feel more comfortable or more at home here?”
She hesitated then shook her head. Leonard had the feeling that she had been about to mention something but had changed her mind about it at the last second, and he decided not to push things.
“If anything does come up, please don’t hesitate to speak to me about it,” he said.
“I’m always happy to do whatever I can to be of help to you. ”
She frowned and nodded slowly.
“Is something the matter?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “It was just… you say you want to be of help to me, and you sound as if you mean that.”
“I do mean it.”
“And yet, you haven’t acted that way. I know you’re going to say that you were trying to help me when you married me, but we both know that was done for your sake as much as for mine. And I haven’t had the feeling since the wedding that you had any interest in me or in what was best for me.”
“I needed the day to myself to process everything,” he said, his voice tight.
“I’m here now. So, you can accept what I’m saying or not.
I’m not going to force you. I couldn’t if I wanted to.
Is there something else you need, something you’re afraid to ask me for?
Or are you simply saying these things out of a desire to make me pay for the way I have treated you so far? ”
“I’m not trying to make you pay for anything.” She frowned. “Why would you think that?”
“I think you’re upset about everything that happened today, and you’re taking it out on me,” he told her.
“That’s why you’re acting as if you’re angry with me right now.
That’s why you seem frustrated with the fact that I’m trying to be kind to you.
Maybe I have that wrong—but I don’t believe I do.
I think I have the measure of you, Prudence.
When things don’t go your way, you lash out about it. And that’s what’s happening here.”
“If you’re going to speak to me as if I’m some sort of errant child, you can leave my room right now,” she told him firmly.
“I can’t make you respect me enough to spend time with me on my very first day in your home, but I will not tolerate being spoken to with disrespect, and if that’s the way you’re going to communicate with me, I will bid you good night. ”
To his own surprise, Leonard felt a smile breaking across his face. “You know, I think I’m going to like living with you,” he observed.
“I don’t think I’m going to like it very much,” Prudence shot back.
“Well, you won’t have to tolerate it for very long,” he told her.
She frowned. “Won’t I?”
“No. I have to stay here with you for long enough to make things look good, of course, but not forever. I have a house in the country, and in a few months, I will go there. You will have this house, and the staff you met today, all to yourself. You won’t have to put up with seeing me anymore.”
“You’re saying…” She shook her head as if trying to process what she had heard. “You’re telling me that it’s your intention to move to the country? To leave me here in this house on my own?”
“I know you aren’t going to tell me now that you have a problem with that as well.”
“I don’t have a problem with it,” she said. “But it surprises me. This is your house after all, and it is not my intention to throw you out of it.”
“You aren’t throwing me out of anything.
I am choosing to go,” he said. “It’s important that we make sure all of society perceives us as living here together—enjoying a honeymoon phase to our new marriage.
But once that is over, we will be free to go our separate ways.
This union is legally binding, of course, and neither of us needs the scandal of a failed marriage on top of everything else.
But there’s nothing so scandalous about a gentleman living in the country while his wife remains in the city.
We’ll come up with a story to explain our separate lives, and people will believe it.
And in the meantime, you and I will each be able to live as we’d like, without worrying about the other. Now, how does that sound to you?”
“It… well, it sounds too good to be true to be perfectly honest with you,” Prudence admitted. “Are you sure this is what you want, Leonard? I won’t deny that having that kind of freedom sounds wonderful to me, but I can’t quite see what’s in it for you. Why would you want to leave your home?”
“I like my country house,” Leonard told her.
“I will be just as happy there—happier, perhaps.” That was almost certainly true.
He had always enjoyed that house, and now more than ever, he liked the idea of being out of the city and away from the pressures he faced here.
He didn’t want to deal with the things he knew that society would say about his sudden marriage, even if there was no way that people could know for sure what had happened to warrant it or where Peter had gone.
This was London society, and people would begin making guesses soon enough.
He didn’t want to listen to all of that.
A part of him felt badly about leaving her to deal with it of course, but she had brightened noticeably at the revelation that he would be leaving the city, so he suspected that she was going to be all right with the way things were going, even if it took some time.
“Are you sure about this?” Prudence asked. “It really isn’t my intention to drive you away.”
“You bear no responsibility for my choices,” he told her. “And yes, I am sure.”
“Well… then I suppose we just have these few weeks to get through together,” she said. “And after that…”
“After that, I will be gone, and you will be on your own,” he agreed. “Does that please you?”
“I won’t deny that it does.” Her chin lifted slightly. “I think it will be best for both of us.”
He nodded and rose to his feet. “I couldn’t agree with you more.”