Chapter 7
Dominic stepped out onto the terrace after speaking to Cassian. If one could call that a conversation.
“The deed is done,” the viscount had told him firmly. “Treat Verity well and I trust the past is buried for good. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” Dominic had confirmed.
Then Cassian took his leave down the hall instead of returning to the party. Dominic wasn’t inclined to the festivities just then himself, and had stepped out the side door outside where the sun was shining and there was hardly a cloud in the sky.
Footsteps followed quietly as a voice called, “It is a beautiful day for a wedding.”
Turning, Dominic was stunned to see Mr. Peter Starling coming over to offer him a glass of brandy.
The fellow was shorter with a sinewy build and round glasses since he was nearly blind as a bat.
He had a charming enough face that Dominic recognized from two years past, but much about Peter was new.
His hair was longer, his glasses were larger, and he walked with a slight limp; a wooden cane was hitched under an elbow on his impeccable suit.
“If I had known you were in town, I might have invited you to the church,” he commented while accepting the glass. “Thank you.”
A pleasant surprise all the same. They were old chums from university but rarely saw one another these days since Peter’s trade in antiquities took him all around the globe.
Peter’s great uncle had been a wealthy marquess who had a son who would inherit, a very annoying one, but he’d done what he could to help Peter and his two siblings make their way into the world.
“I only arrived this morning.” Peter tapped his glass to Dominic’s before taking a long sip. “My ship made better time than we expected. I managed a wink of sleep before my sister was telling me to get up since James was still fast asleep.”
Dominic watched for him when he could. James was young and careless but good at heart. He just loved a good tavern most of all. “Drunk, I assume?”
“Of course.”
“And how is Eve?”
“Trouble as ever. She’s best friends with your wife’s sister, Octavia. I hear more about my siblings’ activity in the newspaper and journals more than in my letters from them,” Peter sighed in aggravation. “How fortunate you are not to have siblings.”
He took a slow swallow to savor the taste of the brandy. It was richer than expected, and he felt inclined to asking about the bottle before he left. A servant might know, or at least the butler. Then he considered Peter’s words.
“I do seem to have inherited some today.”
A chortle escaped Peter. “Blast it, you are right! You and that wit. I have missed you. You know, I should be in London for a spell. Perhaps we’ll have time for the club again, eh? After your honeymoon.”
“Honeymoons are unnecessary.”
“What? Who says that?” Peter followed him as Dominic reached the bottom of the steps. But it was Peter who took the initiative to sit down. It wasn’t proper etiquette by any means for a duke. After ensuring they were alone, Dominic followed.
“I do, as does my new wife.”
The words fell easily off his tongue. Easier than anticipated.
He stilled for a moment, savoring the strange sensation.
Although he had known the day would come for marriage––he was the only offspring of a duke, after all––he was still surprised at how it had all come about. And how he felt about it.
This almost feels like it was meant to be.
“Very strange,” Peter was saying. “I can’t imagine what sort of lady wouldn’t like to scamper off to the countryside or around the Continent for a jolly good time with her new husband. It’s not like she’s marrying a weak old fellow by any means. Unless you’re right on money?”
His lips twitched. “What crude topics you bring to light, Peter.”
“As if that’s ever bothered you.”
“Not at all. My solicitor and I agree that my investments are doing well and my tenants are thriving. As for the duchess and I, we like London. The season isn’t over, besides, and her family is all here.”
Nodding thoughtfully, Peter glanced his way. “I suppose I can understand that. Can’t imagine Eve running off anywhere. She used to swear she’d stow away with me, do you recall? But now, all she talks about London this and London that.”
“Many a lady does enjoy the Season,” Dominic said.
The two of them fell quiet for a short spell. While he savored his drink, Dominic considered the views of the garden where flowers thrived and a small stone wall crowded a corner of roses near a statue of a saint. He couldn’t make out which one it was.
“Will you go back in?” Peter was studying him.
Slowly turning to face him, Dominic said, “In a moment.” He said nothing else but considered the man’s thoughtful expression. “What do you really wish to ask me?”
“There’s that charm of yours,” his old friend noted sardonically before telling him, “Fine. You must know the question. I’m curious about the marriage.
Your new wife. If you were to tell anyone the truth, surely it would be me, won’t it?
Eve has a dozen conspiracies, even James.
Apparently, this union came out of nowhere.
You followed the letter of the law without skirting it, but rumors still abound.
It was rather sudden, wasn’t it? Were you not courting her beforehand? ”
“I hardly knew her,” he admitted. Then he drank the last of the brandy, feeling warm from the inside out.
“Then why…?”
Dominic mused mildly about telling the truth, explaining everything that had happened. What secrets were left to die. Words he never intended to say. Although hearing this question again so soon had him wondering if he and Verity should have fabricated a better story.
There was much for them to discuss in the nearby future. While he had put off having definitive and conscious thoughts about Verity as much as possible, he acknowledged that was going to have to change slightly.
And he was looking forward to it.
“We mutually decided it was a fine match,” Dominic said at last. “The viscount approved of me, and the family is, while lively, respectable and decent. The duchess and I suit.”
Peter nodded along and waited some more but he had nothing else to add. It was explanation enough and complimentary as well.
As my father demanded and my mother grew concerned, I was a lad of few words. It makes sense to remain that way as a duke. Too much weight falls on anything that slips off my tongue. I would rather say little than risk saying the wrong words.
“I suppose it’s only… You never talked about marriage before,” Peter mused. “It’s been years, I know. It just surprised me to hear you were getting married this very day upon my return. It’s unexpected.”
“I was actively engaged in the pursuit of a wife. Slowly but surely. It is time. It was time,” Dominic corrected himself and frowned. This was why he preferred to say little. To make fewer mistakes.
Fortunately, Peter paid it no mind. “A surprise all the same. But good for you, Your Grace. She appears lovely by all standards and I’ve heard not a word against her.
If she meets your expectations, then she must be a very fine lady indeed…
And yet.... What made you come out here to be on your own on your wedding day? ”
They were complimentary words but the way his friend spoke had Dominic concerned Peter thought this was a love match. Yes, Verity was beautiful. Yes, they would make a fine couple. But that was all they meant for this partnership.
“The match was of a certain necessity, as I told you. We suit in character and need for a marriage,” Dominic thought it safe to clarify a little more.
“I needed alignment with the Ashbourne family, among other needs, and we found this particular idea of marriage agreeable. The duchess and I are of the same mind and hope to maintain an agreeable partnership in the years to come.”
“Agreeable?”
“Yes. The younger sisters of the viscount are too young and distracted,” Dominic explained.
“I have no sisters, either. But Lady Verity and I had the pleasure of meeting, talking, and dancing. How she has remained unattached, I do not know. She’s a very observant lady and well composed.
She’ll make a fine duchess even with her bold nature. ”
Peter gave a short chuckle. “I hardly know if any of this is the truth or a jest. Are you saying you wed a lady too bold for you?”
“Not at all. I had hoped that marriage would be a simple matter, but I am finding it will require time to understand the lady,” Dominic was willing to admit.
“Her brother wanted the arrangement more than she did. But she’s accepted the union just as much as I have.
We have found what we both want through this, I believe.
She has the cuttings of a beautiful and proper duchess, so I am not disappointed. ”
“Not disappointed.”
“Content,” Dominic offered when his friend appeared skeptical. “She has impressed me on occasion thus far. I hope she will do so again in time.”
Shaking his head, Peter chuckled. He slowly rose to his feet and stretched his arms before collecting his glass he’d left on the steps. “Dominic, I don’t understand. I can be honest about that. You’re clearly tied to something… unpredictable. You’re sure you know what you’re doing?”
“Not yet.” He rose as well, finally smiling. “But I’m not concerned. I shall seek to understand my circumstances instead of avoiding them.”
“And your wife?”
A slight thrill spread through Dominic just like it had when the vicar announced the marriage was official.
“As for my wife… I shall seek to treat her as a lady and a wife deserves to be treated,” he reassured his friend. “Shall we return inside now?”
“Indeed.”
The two of them fell quiet as they turned back toward the doors of the house. This time Dominic took the entrance leading back to the crowded room where the party continued.
The room was as loud as it was cheerful. Just as Dominic considered disappearing again, he caught eyes with Verity.
Whatever tension had been caught up in her body had her relaxing. There was clear relief on her face before she turned back to her conversation with Octavia and Eve.
“A fine match indeed,” Peter mused. He nudged Dominic before taking the empty glass and losing himself in the crowd.
As for Dominic, he lingered in the doorway a while longer.
He wasn’t a fool to assume he knew everything. But he was concerned about what feelings might come in time. Having spent most of his life used to being alone, Dominic didn’t know what to expect as a married man.
But with Verity, I find myself hopeful.