Page 32 of Wedded to the Forbidden Duke
“Zachary!” Lady Lindbury chided him, though she smiled broadly.
“It is true! It is your first evening hosting as a duchess, after all. Ian was just telling me that you put this entire evening together yourself.” He looked once more about the room. “Who knew that you were such a gifted hostess?”
“You would have,” Cecilia said teasingly, “if you had not spent the entire last year away from home. Our social life did not cease entirely just because you were away, you know. I helped Mother plan quite a few events at our house while you were gone.”
“That she did,” Lady Lindbury agreed. “Still, it is all the more remarkable that you accomplished this as sole lady of the house. I am so proud of you, my sweet Cecilia.”
“Yes, well. Consider me impressed, as well,” Zachary said.
“Do not be too impressed,” Cecilia replied, though she smiled as she looked about the room, seemingly pleased with herself. Ian could not help but trace the line of her neck with his eyes, recalling how it had felt to kiss the skin there, and all of the little gasps and moans she had let out while he touched her. “The evening has not even truly begun yet. Though we will be beginning soon.”
“Ah, yes,” Zachary laughed. “I suppose I should begin finding my way to my seat, then?”
“Yes. If you would like the best possible view, may I recommend you sit over here?” She gestured to a seat in the front row, near the end—right next to where Miss Nancy Banfield was sitting, as it so happened. Ian’s jaw tightened as he realized what she had set her mind to, yet again. “And know that if I catch you sneaking out at any point, I will never let you hear the end of it.”
Zachary waved her off. “Yes, yes, of course. I would not dream of it.”
“Good,” she replied.
“Harwick, old man, good to see you.” Zachary shook his hand, nodding. “Come find me at the interval, won't you? I am sure we have a great deal more to discuss.”
“Certainly,” Ian said, shaking his hand back vigorously.
After Zachary went off to his seat, he and Miss Banfield struck up a conversation. Cecilia went to leave, but before she could, Ian stopped her with a hand on her waist. He leaned in, so that his lips just barely touched the shell of her ear, pitching his voice low so that only she could hear him.
“Do not think I am unaware of what you are up to, wife,” he said, his voice a low growl.
Chapter Thirteen
He heard Cecilia’s breath catch in her throat, and he could not help but smile in spite of his annoyance, recalling the similar sounds she had made a few nights prior when they kissed. “I know, now, why you were so intent on hosting a musicale this week,” he continued.
Cecilia swallowed. She turned to face him but did not pull away so that their faces were mere inches away. That defiant light glinted in her eyes, barely concealing the lust underneath. “I am sure I have no idea what you are talking about, husband.”
“Do not take me for a fool,wife,” he said, enjoying the flush that rose to her cheeks. Heat pooled in his loins at the sight of her like this. The passion that arose within her at moments like this almost made him look forward to their arguments. “Shall we take this to my study? I am not certain you should like for your guests to hear what I would have to say.”
“Ourguests,” she insisted. Her eyes flickered down to his lips, then back up to his gaze. “But certainly. To your study. Only for a brief moment; I am certain neither of us wishes to delay the start of the musicale.”
The entire walk down the hall to his study, Ian barely resisted the urge to press his wife up against the wall and kiss the stubbornness out of her.
Once the door shut behind him, he whirled on her. “I see you have not given up on this ill-advised plan to push your brother and Miss Banfield together. It is plain as day that you are still intent on meddling in their lives.”
“I am hardly meddling,” she snapped. “Though, frankly, after all Zachary has done as of late to meddle in your lifeandmine, he would have no right to be angry if I were meddling. But I am not. I am merely providing them with an opportunity to get to know each other better, particularly given the feelings which they both clearly feel for each other.”
“Providing opportunities is one thing. What you are doing is leading him down a very specific path of your choosing.”
“I just want the best for him!” she said, brows pinching in frustration. “I am hardly forcing him to propose to her. But it is clear he feels something for Nancy, as does she for him. I just want the best for my brother. I would think you would want the best for your best friend, do you not?”
“Of course, I want what is best for him,” Ian said through gritted teeth. “I merely think he should be allowed to decide for himself what that is. I should think you would as well after you and I had our own choices so suddenly torn from us. It is Zachary’s life. Who he to or not to court is none of your business.”
“Of course, it is my business!” Cecilia exploded, her voice suddenly thick with emotion. “My father asked me two things before he died. I have already failed him on one account. I cannot fail to fulfill his second wish.”
Ian’s brows knitted together. “What are you talking about?” he asked, his voice softer.
Cecilia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she looked back at him, her eyes were shiny with tears. “My father—my father was everything to me. I love my mother, of course, but my father taught me everything I know. No one in this world knew me better than he did, and now he is gone. When my father was on his deathbed, he made me promise him two things,” she said, her voice wavering. “The first was that I do not marry a rake. The second was to ensure Zachary found an honorable match, so that he may protect his and the reputation of our family. You took away his first, but I owe him his second dying wish, at least.”
Ian fell silent. A heavy wave of guilt washed over him as he realized what she was saying. While it upset him to hear the depths of how low her opinion was of him, stronger still was his sympathy for the pain in her voice. It was clear that, at this moment, she spoke not to upset him, but only to express hergenuine remorse for disappointing her father. A disappointment that, however unintentionally, he had aided her in.
“Cecilia—”
