Chapter 16 #2
“It is a comfortable and spacious room. The doors could use some more width, though that was against the fashion,” he admitted before shaking his head. “I didn’t have much intention beyond those changes. As you’ve settled in here, have you had the chance to enjoy it? Do you have any opinions?”
The last question was drawn out slowly, almost like it was reluctant. As she plucked at the final bits of sausage in her own soup, Verity wondered how much the sunroom meant to Dominic. Why it meant something to him.
“Not in particular,” she admitted after a spell. “Just the table. And that’s only if you wanted more excuses to use the space.”
“It is a fair recommendation.”
“Thank you.”
“And thank you,” he responded with a wry smile. “I haven’t seen much of any other changes take place yet. Have you put in any orders yet? Rugs, paintings, wallpaper? I understand most wives seek to make their new home in their preferred image.”
Verity hesitated and then nodded. “Yes, but I’m afraid I don’t know what my preferred image might be.”
“Have you gone shopping?”
“Not quite. I looked at draperies but didn’t submit any orders, I’m afraid.
I wouldn’t even know where to begin. My family’s home is exactly how my mother designed it while she was alive,” Verity wound up explaining, her heart thudding over the memory of her tender mother.
“Any changes I made were simply because we couldn’t replicate everything all over again. ”
Nodding thoughtfully, Dominic took another slice of bread before offering the bowl back to her. “You could begin with one room at a time. Your own chambers, for example, or this dining room. Wherever you spend the most time.”
“You should benefit from it as well,” Verity reasoned before chuckling a little over his insistence here. “It sounds as though you wish for me to remake your house. And I would think you would like to save the expenses like any reasonable husband. What makes you so different?”
His lips twitched and it took him a moment to respond before admitting, “When I took on the title, one of my first expenses was to add pillows to every room. I replaced the art. Those were most prominent in my memories growing up here. Beyond that, I haven’t done much.
I should like to see a change and I’d like to ensure it will make you content as the lady of the house. ”
“Ah, I see.” The questions kept growing. She added several and wished she could trust him to answer more now. “Are there any colors of which you are fond?”
“Hm? Oh. Green, I suppose.” He looked at her, leaving her wondering if he was considering her eye color. Growing up, her brothers would jest that they were a muddy brown over the hazel glints that shined brighter in time. “Warm yellow, too.”
A strong blush overcame Verity. She felt it stretching from her cheeks across her nose and down her neck.
“Then perhaps we find some fresh bronze frames. Warmer artwork, like landscapes.”
“Do you have any paintings?”
She tilted her head. “Of what?”
The expression on his face remained guileless. Innocent and open. And yet there was a glimmer in his eye… “Of you, I suppose.”
“No, I have no paintings of myself. Not since my parents were alive; there’s one above the fireplace mantle once my youngest sister was born. I believe Octavia painted a few small pieces of me, but nothing that we would hang on our walls.”
“Perhaps we should request a painting, then.”
“Only if you’re included,” she said with a teasing smile. “We are family now, aren’t we? It would be proper.”
Only then did he hesitate. “I don’t know if that is necessary.”
Straightening in her seat, Verity smirked. “Well, I believe I shall only be painted now if the piece includes you. It would only be fair.”
His head tilted as he caught wind of her amusement. “Fair? Is that the term you are going with?”
They were looking at one another now. She wasn’t sure when it happened, specifically, but she had yet to look away. It wasn’t that she couldn’t, only that she didn’t want to. Dominic was quiet but stern with room for wit. She liked egging him on and she liked that he let her.
My brothers have no patience when I tease them. I’m glad to see Dominic bears it well, and has no qualms about speaking to me truthfully. He can be charming. How did no one else lay claim to him before me?
“Is there a better one I should use?”
Chuckling, he said, “No, I suppose not. Very well. No paintings.”
“Yet,” Verity couldn’t resist throwing in as she nudged her plate an inch away. It was usually a signal to be done with the meal, though there was no one to attend to her now. “But I’m certain we can think of something.”
“We shall.” He was leaning forward now. Closer to her, their eyes taking each other in. A different sort of feast. Verity could only listen to the pounding of her heart as she studied those deep gray eyes of his.
There was something building between them, between their words and their smiles.
She couldn’t lay her finger on it. Only that something special between them had come to life.
A tingling sensation that made her shiver over the tension in the air…
She wanted to stay right there for the rest of the night.
“It’s late,” Dominic said instead. He finally looked away to eye her plate and his empty one. “Shall I escort you to your bed chamber?”
“Please.” She didn’t want their conversation to end.
As they took to the hall each with a candle in hand, Verity wished the conversation wouldn’t end. That he would stay longer or even enter her bed chamber just to keep talking…
But he was a gentleman. “Good night, my lady,” he murmured. “Sleep well and warm.”
“Thank you. Good night.” She reluctantly stepped inside.
Once alone, Verity slunk against the door and sighed, wondering what the beating of her heart was really trying to tell her.