Page 19 of Wedded to the Forbidden Duke
“Unfamiliar is not the same thing as uninformed,” she said, though he noted that her voice wavered as she said it. “And I think it funny you would claim to have any experience in this area. You have never been married, my lord, and I have not forgotten the precise and thorough nature of your disdain for love. At least I am aware of my honor. What duty means to me, as a wife.”
“I have married you to save your reputation. Willingly. And still, you lecture me about honor?”
“You married me in order to spare yourself the pain of a bullet,” she said back cuttingly.
“Quite the opposite. If anything, I was quite loath to kill your brother.”
She scoffed. “Truly, my lord, your humility knows no bounds.” They were barely an inch away from each other now; he could feel her breath as she spoke.
It would be the easiest thing in the world to close the distance between them. He was more and more inclined to believe that she would welcome his touch; that she would give in to pleasure and consummate their marriage right in this carriage.
“If you were to kill a man in a duel, you would be forced to leave London. My point still stands: you married me to save your own hide. I hardly think that the pinnacle of chivalry, particularly when it is primarily your fault that I am in this situation.”
“Our fault. You must at least be willing to share the blame.”
“I will share your name, my lord,” she said. “I will share your life, as much as required. You surely cannot expect anything more.”
Expect? No. But it was difficult to deny that he wanted more. Wanted to feel her lips against his. Wanted to peel that delicate gown from her and taste every inch of flesh. It was true that they now shared a name and a life, but that wasn't enough. He wanted her to share his bed.
He wantedher.
And under the surface of frustration, there was a look in her eyes that told him that the fire in her was made of more than mere anger alone.
That she wanted him in the same way.
He leaned forward?—
At once, the carriage jerked to a halt.
Once again, Cecilia stumbled, catching herself with a hand on his chest as he reached out instinctively to steady her. Immediately realizing what had just happened, they both recoiled to their respective sides of the carriage, settling into their seats and refusing to meet each other’s eyes. The carriage was silent but for the sound of unsettled breathing.
“We have arrived at home,” he said, still unsteady.
She cleared her throat, blinking. “Yes,” she said quietly, all of her former bravado seemingly absent all of a sudden. “Yes, I gathered as much.”
“Well, then. Home. Yes.” He tried to clear his head. He straightened his sleeves, and opened the doors, stepping down to the ground. Turning back, he reached up a hand, extending it to her.
“Welcome home, wife.”
Chapter Eight
The house was almost impossibly grand.
Cecilia had known, of course, that entering life as a duchess would mean some changes from her current way of life. Substantial changes. But she had not quite expected the severity of those changes—that she would end up living somewhere likethis.
Then again, she certainly never would have expected to have a husband like this, either. And somehow, despite her awe at the beauty of the brick walls, and the grandeur of the lawn, the fountains, the gardens…the joy and delight were not quite enough to outweigh the sadness that still hung, heavy, like a pit in her stomach.
Nor could it outweigh the other feelings that had been boiling up inside her during their argument in the carriage.
That she was here at all meant the wedding had happened. It was over. She was no longer Lady Cecilia Forbes, but the Duchess. The Duke’s wife.
She was a wife.
Not that it mattered at all. Regardless of whatever heat she had felt between them, the duke had made it plain that this was to be a marriage of convenience; fine. No need to fight it.
Indeed, at the moment, Cecilia found that she had very little fight in her. Indeed, she was so tired that the entire night seemed cast over with a haze, lit dimly by candles and the moon. As they walked through the doors, they entered a grand hall, grander than she could have ever imagined, as though the house itself were trying to outdo her impression of the outside grounds.
And to think, I have yet to even see any part of the grounds out back,she thought, as they came upon a small semicircle of individuals dressed in staff outfits.
