8. Chapter 8
T he next day I met with Mrs. Moore and Mrs. Pontipee, interviewed more staff, discussed plans with the carpenters about work on the castle, and created shopping lists for the things that needed to be purchased. There was much to be done in just four weeks and there was no time to lose.
I’d sent one of the footmen to Ravenscar to post my invitations and hoped to hear back within a few days. He’d also been sent with several lists to be dropped off with local merchants and by the end of the day, I anticipated many deliveries.
After luncheon, I was tired of being inside the castle and longed to stretch my legs and finally get a look at the property I now called home before writing for a bit and then dressing for supper.
Sunshine had been streaming down upon the moors all morning and birdsong had been tempting me to go out and explore. When I finally stepped out the main door of the castle, I took a deep breath and then sighed.
I spent much of my time on the back side of the castle, looking at the moors.
But here was the courtyard, encircled by a stone wall and five imposing towers, facing the North Sea.
Stone steps led up to the main watchtower straight ahead, but they were crumbling and in disrepair. To the right were the stables—and Ames.
He was standing with the groom, wearing his casual work clothes. As always, his shirtsleeves were rolled up to his forearms, and his hair was tousled by the wind. He glanced in my direction, said something to the groom, and then made his way toward me.
I had been awake long into the night, listening to the wind, trying to discern the occasional moaning noise that often followed it, and thinking about the moment next to the piano when it looked like he wanted to take me into his arms.
Part of me had been tempted to return to the music room and ask him what kept him from making me his wife in every sense.
After all, even if this was a business venture, an heir was usually an important part of a duke’s plans.
But I did not have the courage. And seeing him now, in the light of day, the master of his castle, in full command of his domain, I could not even comprehend being so forward.
“Do you need something?” he asked as he approached.
“I am going on a tour of the grounds.”
He looked toward the stable, where the groom was still waiting, and then back at me. “Now is not a good time.”
“I don’t need you to accompany me,” I said quickly. “The weather is pleasant, and I need some fresh air.”
“You should not tour the grounds on your own.” He let out a breath. “Perhaps Brant can take you, or Davis.”
Disappointment lowered my shoulders. “But I am not married to Brant or Davis.”
He studied me for a moment. “Do you desire that I should take you on a tour?”
Warmth filled my cheeks. “I am quite capable of going on my own, but if you insist that I be accompanied, then, yes, I do desire that you take me.”
“I will speak to the groom and tell him to carry on without me.”
I followed Ames to the stables, where five horses were housed. They were beautiful animals, well cared for and healthy.
When Ames joined me again, he said, “Even in our most dire circumstances, I refused to sell our horses. I’m quite pleased we were able to hold on to them, and I hope we’ll add to our stable in the coming months.”
Over the next several hours, Ames showed me the gatehouses, two of the towers, the castle mound, which was part of an ancient fortification built around A.D.
915, and the remnants of the original moat.
We did not venture past the curtain wall, as he called it, but he did take me up a different set of stairs to the castle’s ramparts.
We walked the length of them and stopped where the curtain wall connected to the castle, offering a stunning view of the North Sea.
I wanted to ask him about his parents, and how they had died, but the day was too beautiful to bring up such ugly memories.
“There,” he said, pointing toward the sea. “Do you see the dolphins?”
I looked in the direction he pointed, but it took me a moment to spot them. They were so far away, and the sea was so vast, I was surprised he’d noticed them. I grinned. “I do.”
The dolphins jumped and frolicked as they swam through the waves, making me think of my childhood when my father had taken me to San Francisco and I had seen my first dolphins.
“I didn’t realize how close the castle was to the sea,” I said. “The night we came in was so dark and stormy, I didn’t get a good look. And yesterday, I spent mostly indoors, looking at the moors.”
Ames took a deep breath and briefly closed his eyes. A gentle breeze ruffled his hair. “The sea is so much a part of me. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.”
My heart constricted at his words, thinking of California, a home I might never see again.
“Do you miss New York?” he asked.
“No.”
“Then why do you look so pensive?”
“I miss California, but seeing the cliffs and the sea eases my homesickness a bit. I was born in San Francisco but spent most of my childhood in Sacramento, in the valley. We visited San Francisco often and my father brought me to the ocean as much as he could.”
“I had forgotten you lived in California.”
“I don’t think I ever mentioned it.”
“No.” He crossed his arms, shifting his attention away from the sea and toward me. “But I knew a lot about you before I approached you at Lady Sheffield’s ball.”
“Oh?” It was the first time he’d spoken about that evening since we’d been married. I studied him. “Why did you pursue me in the first place?” I paused, not wanting to sound petty or bitter, but realistic. “Had you heard my inheritance was substantial?”
He was quiet for a moment, and I couldn’t read his expression. “Miss Hill was the first person who suggested that I consider you.”
“Clara Hill?” I frowned. “When did she make that suggestion?”
“The night she told me she was marrying another man.”
Clara had been the person to suggest my name to Ames? “I had no idea.”
“She said you were eager to get away from London, which appealed to me very much.” He touched the crumbling stone wall.
“And when I stopped focusing on her, and saw you again—” He paused, his guard lowering.
“I thought you were quite beautiful, elegant, and charming. So I began to ask around discreetly about your past, your family, and your connections. It took me over a week to learn everything I needed to know.”
He’d spent a week learning about me? He hadn’t proposed to me only because of my money?
The revelation felt disorientating.
“What if you hadn’t liked what you discovered?” I asked.
“Then I would not have proposed.” He squinted toward the moors, and for the first time, I watched Ames Welby lower his carefully constructed fortification. “I didn’t know everything about you, though.”
I was intrigued. “What else did you need to know?”
He returned his powerful gaze to my face. “If you would only see my title, or if you would see me. Because despite how desperate you thought I was, I wasn’t so desperate that I would marry the wrong woman.”
The world felt as if it had stopped spinning for a moment and I was on a precipice, uncertain which way to lean.
Ames hadn’t told me he loved me, or that he desired me as a man does his wife, but he had said that he hadn’t married me for my money alone.
He’d chosen me, among all the others, because he liked what he found.
If he wasn’t desperate enough to marry the wrong woman, was he intimating that I was the right one?
That changed everything. At least for me. And made me more determined than ever to prove to him that he had made the right choice.
“We should head back inside the castle,” he said. “We don’t want to miss the dressing gong.” The barest hint of a smile tilted his lips. “I hear the new duchess is quite particular about supper.”
My own smile appeared. It came not only from his teasing, but from a place deep within my heart.
A secret hollow that I’d only just discovered—a spot reserved solely for Ames Welby.
The place that wanted to believe I was desirable.
Beloved. Chosen. Not for my money alone, but for everything else that made me unique.
“There are many secret passageways and hidden doors in the castle,” he said, not taking me back the way we’d come but leading me to a wooden trap door on the flat roof of the castle. It creaked on its old, rusted hinges, revealing a narrow set of circular stone stairs.
I began to approach, but he lifted his hand, his face serious again.
“Be very careful, Lily. Many of the passageways were created for secret escapes or hiding prisoners of war. If you find a hidden passage or secret door that I haven’t shown you, don’t go in.
The castle is ancient and very few of them are safe.
Besides getting hurt, you could get lost, and it would be very difficult to find you. Do you understand?”
Frowning, I nodded. “I do.”
“Good.” He waved at the steps. “This one is safe. Brant and I used it to escape from our governess when we didn’t want to do our sums as children.”
“I cannot imagine how energetic you and your brothers were as children.”
He smiled and I glimpsed the carefree Ames Welby, before tragedy changed his life forever. “I have forbidden my brothers from telling you stories about my past.”
I lifted my eyebrows. “Is that so?” I tapped my chin. “I wonder which of your brothers would be the most likely to disobey your orders?”
His smile disappeared and he narrowed his eyes. “All of them.”
I laughed. “Then I will make it my personal goal to extract at least one story from each of them.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I most certainly would. And I’ll relish the challenge.”
He studied me for a moment, his brown eyes filled with something akin to respect. “I’m sure you would.” He motioned to the trap door. “This will take us to the corridor outside our bedchambers.”