Page 13 of Wedded to the Beastly Duke
“No one?”
“Not even the maids to dust.”
“I see,” Emmeline said. “Am I to take it he keeps to himself often?”
“Yes, Your Grace, that is quite it. He often takes dinner there, too. We are to leave trays outside the door to his study.”
“How odd,” Emmeline murmured. How little she knew of this man she had married. “Do you have any notion of what he does in there?”
“I imagine he is handling his affairs,” Mrs. Pentwhistle said sagely. “There is a lot of responsibility that comes with having an estate, you know. And especially one in this state.”
Emmeline looked at the faded curtains surrounding her large, stately bed. Once, it must have been grand, but the years had left their mark, and it was increasingly obvious that the only reason he had wanted a wife was so he could use her dowry to fix his estate.
Well, her dowry could do that, certainly. And although she had reacted less than warmly at first sight of the house, she did not dislike it. No, indeed, she positivelylovedit.
That was the last thing she wanted.
She did notwanther dowry to be used for such a purpose, and she resented thinking even for a moment that maybe it would not be so bad if it were used in such a fashion.
“Is he a good master?” she asked, certain she would receive a hedging reply at best—because how could someone with the Duke’s coldness and temper possibly be a good master?
But to her surprise, Mrs. Pentwhistle beamed. “The best! Why, when he was younger, we had never expected he would inherit the dukedom, but all of us are pleased that he has come home and assumed his duties.”
“Come home from where?”
“The Navy, Your Grace. Did he not tell you? He enlisted several years ago, and I am not entirely sure what prompted him to return, but it is good that he did, considering his brother sadly passed away days before he arrived.”
How tragic.
Emmeline then forced the sympathy away. She would have been sympathetic if he had not treated her and her sister so coldly.
“What excellent timing,” she said instead. “Did he grow up here?”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Emmeline cast another glance around the room, her gaze landing on the door that separated her bedchamber from the Duke’s. No doubt the servants all assumed that he would be availing himself of her on their wedding night.
A strange shiver ran through her. The day before, her mother had attempted to explain the particular intimacy that husbands and wives shared, and what her duty would be. By all accounts, it was not going to be entirely pleasant, but she must grin and bear it, and under all circumstances not provoke him.
Inwardly, Emmeline snorted. By all means, she would notprovokehim, but that did not mean she would grant him leave to use her body whenever he wished.
Although, of course, if the Duke were to burst through the door and enter her bedroom, demanding his due as her husband, could she deny him?
Did shewantto? Her mother had made it seem like a chore, but she had several married friends who said otherwise.
“What about the rest of the house?” she asked, turning back to Mrs. Pentwhistle. “I wish to see everything, and explain to me how things are done here. I am accustomed to managing my parents’ house, but this is a rather older building, and I am sure I do not want to disrupt what you have already been doing here.”
“Of course, Your Grace,” Mrs. Pentwhistle said. “Right this way.”
* * *
Adam stared at the ceiling and ignored the raging prompting of his body. Being near Emmeline in the carriage was enough to tell him how attractive he found her. An irritating, useless compulsion to take her and make her his—to shut her infuriating mouth with kisses.
Now she was his wife, that was his right as her husband. And on their wedding night, it was more his right than ever.
But if he allowed her to become anything other than a means to an end—if he allowed himself to want her too much—then that would prove a problem for the future.
He wanted nothing from her. Desire was a force he could put aside. Yes, eventually he would take her to bed, but now was not the moment, particularly if she was still settling in. For all her bravado, he had known how little she wanted to marry him.
