Chapter 24 #2
She blinked innocently. “Like what?”
“Like I am something far better than I deserve to be.” His hand lifted slowly, brushing lightly against her cheek.
Charlotte’s heart thudded hard in her chest as his gaze darkened upon her face. “That is a dangerous habit for a woman married to a man like me.”
She swallowed hard. “And what sort of man is that?”
Victor’s thumb traced softly along her jaw. “One who is beginning to think he would do anything to keep that look in your eyes.”
Victor approached the cluster of gentlemen gathered beneath the striped pavilion with the easy confidence expected of a duke, though inwardly he already regretted leaving Charlotte’s side.
Laughter rolled through the group as glasses clinked together while servants circulated with trays of punch and champagne.
The garden party stretched brightly around them beneath the afternoon sun, filled with ladies twirling parasols and gossip drifting like smoke through the air.
Yet Victor found the entire event considerably less interesting now that his wife was not standing beside him, blushing at his teasing.
“Ah, there he is,” Morgan Harding declared the moment he spotted Victor approaching.
The Marquess of Whitemore lounged carelessly against one of the pavilion poles with a glass dangling from his fingers and mischief already glittering in his eyes.
“The newly tamed beast himself.” Several gentlemen chuckled while Victor merely sighed inwardly.
“Morgan,” Victor greeted dryly.
Morgan grinned broadly. “Victor, I have not seen you since the wedding,” he said dramatically. “Tell me, how are you finding marriage?”
Victor accepted a glass of punch from a passing servant before answering coolly.
“It is not all as bad as I thought it would be,” he replied. “Nothing has changed.”
Morgan’s brows shot upward with theatrical disbelief. “Nothing?” he repeated. He leaned closer with a conspiratorial grin. “In that case, care to join me at the pleasure gardens this evening? These garden parties are dull affairs riddled with treasure hunters and desperate mamas.”
Victor raised one brow slowly. “No,” he answered flatly.
Morgan blinked. “No, to which part?” Victor sipped his drink calmly. “All of it.” That earned him several interested looks from the surrounding gentlemen.
“I have no interest in the gardens,” Victor continued.
Silence fell for precisely one beat before Morgan burst into delighted laughter. “Oh, things have changed,” Morgan announced triumphantly. “Even though you said they had not.”
Victor already regretted walking over to this conversation.
“You,” Morgan continued dramatically while pointing at him with his glass, “are yet another victim of the ball and chain.” One of the gentlemen muttered something about never expecting to hear those words attached to the Duke of Mulford.
Victor finished the rest of his punch in one swallow before setting the empty glass aside. “I am going to find refreshment,” he announced. “Preferably somewhere far away from you.”
Morgan laughed loudly behind him. “Do bring your duchess back when you return,” he called after him. “You smile more when she is nearby.”
Victor very nearly ignored that statement.
Unfortunately, the damned fool is correct.
Victor moved toward one of the refreshment tables positioned beneath the trees at the edge of the lawn.
Crystal bowls filled with chilled punch gleamed in the sunlight beside silver platters of cakes and sugared fruits.
He poured himself another drink slowly while trying very hard not to replay Morgan’s words in his head.
Yet the more he considered them, the more irritated he became.
Victor stared into his glass thoughtfully as the sounds of the party carried around him.
He had changed. Somewhere between fake engagements, scandalous library kisses, wedding vows, and Charlotte smiling at him over breakfast, he had become a completely different man than the one he had once sworn to remain.
He had not visited the pleasure gardens.
He had not even thought about Diana Reed or any of his former amusements in weeks.
The thought of pursuing another woman now felt exhausting to him.
Worse, it feels entirely unappealing.
Victor frowned darkly at that realization.
Once upon a time, he had sought distraction constantly.
Women, drink, gambling, long nights that blurred into mornings, all of it had helped silence the thoughts in his head.
Yet now the only thing he seemed to desire was to return home to his wife.
He wanted Charlotte beside him at dinner.
He wanted her laughter echoing through the manor.
He wanted her soft blush whenever he whispered scandalous things in her ear.
Good God. I have lost myself.
Victor took a long swallow of punch.
Marriage was supposed to be convenient. Predictable.
Controlled. He had married Charlotte to preserve her reputation and secure her family’s future.
That had been the arrangement. Nothing more.
Yet lately he found himself thinking about whether she had smiled that day or whether she had slept well or whether some gentleman had looked at her too long.
His grip tightened around the glass.
Jealousy was a particularly ugly emotion. Victor disliked discovering that he was capable of it.
Across the gardens, he spotted Charlotte laughing beside her sisters beneath one of the rose-covered arches.
Her cheeks were pink from the heat while sunlight glimmered against her brown curls.
Joan was speaking animatedly with her hands while Penelope nearly spilled tea, laughing at something Irene had whispered.
Charlotte’s smile softened as she watched them, and Victor felt something strange. ..
Contentment.
The sight of her happy affected him far more than it should have.
“She is quite lovely, you know.”
Victor glanced sideways to find Morgan suddenly beside him again, holding two cakes.
“Have you considered becoming less irritating?” Victor asked dryly.
Morgan offered him one of the cakes. “No,” he answered honestly. “It seems terribly dull.”
Victor declined the cake.
Morgan took a bite himself instead. “You’re madly in love with her,” he said around the mouthful.
Victor immediately stiffened. “Do not be absurd.”
“Oh, I am rarely absurd,” Morgan replied cheerfully. “Reckless, certainly. Occasionally drunk. But never absurd.” He swallowed before grinning knowingly. “You look at your duchess like a starving man looks at supper.”
Victor stared ahead at the gardens. “Desire is not love.”
“Perhaps not,” Morgan agreed lightly. “But preferring her company to all others certainly is.” Victor remained silent. Morgan studied him for a long moment before his teasing expression softened slightly. “You seem frightened by it.”
I am not frightened. I simply know better than to trust happiness.
Morgan sighed dramatically when Victor refused to answer. “There you are again,” he said. “That dreadful brooding silence you always retreat into whenever someone comes too close to the truth.”
Victor shot him a flat look. “And yet you continue attempting conversation.”
Morgan grinned. “Because unlike most men, I enjoy irritating you.”
Victor almost smiled despite himself.
Almost.
His gaze drifted back toward Charlotte again just in time to see her glance across the lawn searching for him. The moment their eyes met, her entire expression brightened subtly. It was small. Brief. Yet Victor felt it like a physical blow directly to the chest.
Morgan noticed. “Oh dear,” the marquess murmured with wicked delight. “You are completely ruined.”
Victor exhaled slowly. “I am not ruined.”
“You are married, devoted, possessive, and one step away from writing dreadful poetry about your wife’s eyes.” Morgan clapped him once on the shoulder. “I fear there is no saving you now.”
Victor snorted quietly despite himself. “If I ever begin writing poetry,” he said dryly, “you have permission to shoot me.”
Morgan brightened instantly. “Excellent. I shall prepare my pistols immediately.”
Victor finally laughed, then, low and brief though genuine. The sound startled him slightly.
Morgan looked unbearably pleased with himself afterward. “There,” he declared triumphantly. “Marriage suits you, unfortunately.”
Victor rolled his eyes, though his gaze drifted once more toward Charlotte.
And this time, when she smiled at him from across the gardens, he smiled back without even realizing it