Chapter 6 #2
“How... wonderful!” Mrs. Tolbert exclaimed. “I had no idea Miss Mason had such connections to the nobility.”
“She is indeed,” Damien went on, seemingly ignoring Caroline’s astonished expression. “However, seeing as I will soon be taking my bride-to-be back to London, she will have to oversee those changes from there.”
Then Damien turned his attention to her, his eyes sweeping down her plain muslin dress and apron.
“Many changes will be taking place there,” he added.
Indignation burned through Caroline as he gave her a pointed look, as if making sure she understood that he was speaking of her plain clothing.
She turned back to Mrs. Tolbert with a forced smile, not even hearing what the woman was so very excitedly saying.
“Pardon us, Mrs. Tolbert, but I must be getting to work. Have a pleasant day!”
She grabbed Damien’s hand, not even thinking twice about it, and pulled him along. From behind her, she heard Mrs. Tolbert call out, “Work? What do you need to work for? You are to be a duchess! Oh, wait until I tell everyone how our latest neighbor was a noble lady all along!”
Caroline ducked her head, hating how loudly the woman shouted the news.
“She has a point, you know,” Damien said, easily falling into step alongside her. His amused tone only furthered her frustration. “You do not belong here, and you definitely do not need to work.”
“Do not ever do that again!” Caroline snapped, snatching her hand away from his.
Damien raised an amused brow.
“Do what, precisely?” he asked.
“Kiss me like that,” she snapped. “I told you I would be your duchess in title only! Do you wish for this marriage to be over before it even begins?”
“You say that now, but you certainly did not seem to mind it in the moment,” Damien replied.
Caroline whirled on him with a glare.
“I did,” she bit out.
The lie tasted bitter on her tongue, but she was certainly not going to let him think that he could touch her like that again. She had never felt such a way before, so betrayed by her body, her mind. Kissing Damien again would no doubt prove to be dangerous.
“So allow me to make things clear between us,” she pressed on with the same biting tone.
“You do not touch me like that again. In fact, you do not touch me at all. We are going to draft a business contract that clearly lays out the terms of our relationship. I will help the boy until you discover the truth of his parentage. I will care for him and teach him as he deserves.”
“This sounds more like a contract for a governess than that of a wife,” Damien replied, frowning slightly.
“That is exactly what it shall be,” she quickly replied. “As far as you are concerned, I will be a governess for the boy. You will take no other liberties.”
Damien’s frown deepened for a moment, then he steepled his fingers together in front of him as his face smoothed into a look of calm.
“Counteroffer?”
“No,” she bit out.
“Listen to me for a moment,” he implored calmly, holding up a hand. “I agree to your terms. With a caveat. I will indeed keep my hands off of you. Unless you first put your hands on me.”
Caroline laughed at the incredulity of the thought. She would never!
“Very well,” she agreed, crossing her arms over her chest. “I will accept that.”
“Before we do anything, though, you need to change your wardrobe,” Damien added, his eyes once more raking down her person. “Immediately.”
Caroline’s anger returned with both immediacy and vengeance.
“You will not control what I wear!” she all but shouted.
“If you are going to be a duchess, you must dress like it,” he insisted. Caroline was ready to tell him to bite a rock when he added, “Besides, Elara will be back in a few months, and I am worried that she will accuse me of abuse if she sees you in such rags.”
At the mention of her cousin, Caroline paused.
Slowly, she lowered her head and looked over her clothes.
When her grand adventure began, the plain dress she bought to blend in had been clean and new.
She had always planned to buy one or two more, but as time went on, most of her money went to repairing her cottage, paying rent, or donating to the orphanage.
Now, the fabric of that single dress was worn out from many washings.
Tears lined the bottom of the skirts. Small, rubbed-away patches appeared under her arms and on the top of her skirts from the nervous rubbing of her palms. She only now realized she must have done this quite often.
Her apron was also very faded; the white color had turned to a light beige.
“Perhaps a change of wardrobe is in order,” she begrudgingly agreed.
“Perhaps the shop you work at could provide such a thing?” Damien countered, and Caroline jolted.
Work!
They had left the orphanage with enough time to get to the shop, but with their... quarreling in the street, she was sure that she was now late. Mrs. Parks was going to be furious.
“I have to go to the modiste’s,” she said, hastily heading toward the direction of the shop.
“I am coming with you,” Damien answered, but she quickly disagreed as she kept up her hurried pace. She did not want Damien there for the scolding Mrs. Parks was surely about to give her.
“Come in later, if you must, but please, stay away for a little while. I must discuss some things with my employer. Privately,” she insisted as she rounded the street corner and stopped before the shop’s door.
Annoyance spread across Damien’s face as his jaw twitched, but after taking a look around, he gave a stiff nod.
“There is a messenger service just over there. I need to send out word to inform my accountant and solicitor of our recent purchase. They will ensure that Miss Willa receives the proper amount for the orphanage promptly. As soon as I am done, I will come to the shop.”
“Fine,” she quickly replied, choosing to ignore that he had said ‘our’ instead of ‘his’ purchase.
She shifted nervously on her feet as Damien was annoyingly slow to cross the street, unwilling to let her leave his sight, but finally, when he disappeared into the shop, Caroline turned with a quickness toward the modiste’s, opened the door, and hurried inside.
Just as she predicted, Mrs. Parks was waiting for her, and her anger exploded the moment Caroline closed the door.
“Where the devil have you been?”