Chapter 11 #2
“Oh, nonsense,” Anthony chuckled, stepping closer to the window. “I have seen your bride at a few social functions, you know. Miss Seraphina Beaumont. She is quite pretty, actually. Very striking.”
William didn’t look back. “She is acceptable.”
“Acceptable?” Anthony laughed softly. “My dear William, the woman looks as though she was carved out of pure, white porcelain. Does she ever step outside into the sunlight? I don’t think I have ever seen a woman with skin quite so pale.”
William permitted himself an almost imperceptible turn of his head, a wry look touching his features before he caught himself.
“She does possess an extraordinarily pale complexion. I would believe it if she lived entirely in a darkened library, surrounded by old dust and leather bounds, emerging only when the moon is high.”
Anthony grinned, leaning against the window frame. “Mmm. Sounds to me like you are paying attention to her, William. Getting a little attracted to your future Duchess, are we?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” William snapped. “Attraction is not even remotely on my mind. To be quite frank, the woman is very frustrating.”
Anthony raised an eyebrow, clearly enjoying the rare sight of William rattled. “Frustrating? How so?”
“She does not behave like a normal lady. She is... unusual,” William said, taking a step away from the window. He stopped near the center of the room, his mind turning over the baffling reality of Seraphina Beaumont.
“Unusual?” Anthony asked, genuinely curious now. “In what way? You’re not saying enough, William. She is the daughter of a late viscount, no?”
“It is everything about her,” William muttered. “The way she speaks. The way her mind operates. She is... strange.”
In truth, William had never met a woman who unsettled his worldview quite like Seraphina did.
She was not so different from her pseudonym.
Most women of his acquaintance operated within the predictable, well-rehearsed boundaries of the ton.
They giggled, they flirted, they discussed the weather, or they dropped subtle hints.
They were easy to manage because they were predictable.
Seraphina was an anomaly. She was outrageously daring in a way that defied every bit of common sense a woman was supposed to possess.
Who else would have tracked a blind stamp, sneaked onto a Duke’s private estate, and confronted him in his own domain without so much as a tremor in her voice?
She hadn’t swooned. She hadn’t panicked.
He thought back to the way she had handled Alice. Where anyone else would have offered empty platitudes or coddled the girl into further hysteria, Seraphina had applied a logic that was completely un-ladylike, entirely bizarre, but utterly brilliant.
She was strange.
Yet, that exact strangeness was the precise reason he had agreed to put a ring on her finger.
A standard lady of society would crumble under the weight of his household.
A standard bride would demand his constant presence, complain about the gloomy atmosphere of his estate, and throw her hands up in flustered despair the second Alice began to scream in the night.
Seraphina wouldn’t do that. She was a strange, daring, completely absurd woman, but she was precisely what he needed.
She seemed practical to a fault. It was a thoroughly convenient marriage, the most pragmatic, unromantic, and sensible proposition he had ever agreed to.
“William?” Anthony called out to him.
William glanced at him then. “She views everything through a lens of strict logic and observation,” William said, turning his back to Anthony. “I have never met a woman so consumed by facts and science. She is different from anything I anticipated. It is... unsettling.”
Anthony chuckled, shaking his head with an amused grin. “Well, my dear friend, it sounds to me as though you have finally met your match. Also, given the reputation of these Byron sisters, you stand very little chance of keeping your neat, orderly world intact. Heaven help you, William.”
William turned to look at him then, suppressing the urge to roll his eyes. “As long as she maintains we both keep up our ends of this agreement, this union will serve its purpose perfectly.”
“The agreement being your... protection for her to raise Alice?” Anthony asked.
“Yes,” William replied, knowing he only gave Anthony a portion of the truth.
Before Anthony could offer another teasing retort, a knock rattled the door of the study. The butler stepped inside, bowing deeply.
“Your Grace? The carriage has been brought round to the front. It is time to depart for St. George’s.”
William took a deep breath, expanding his chest and settling his shoulders. He adjusted his coat one final time, preparing himself for the get everything over with as quickly as possible.
“Remember what we discussed,” William said firmly to Anthony. “You’re right about looking inward. So, we’ll look into the estate records. Check every single name connected to my father’s past. I want to know who holds that crest, and I want to know as quickly as possible.”
“I am on it, Your Grace,” Anthony said, offering a deep, mock bow as he reached for his hat. “Now come along. Let us get you married, shall we?”
William turned on his heel, and walked out of the study, his mind already calculating the next move in a game he had no intention of losing.