Page 14 of Lady Beast's Bridegroom
He knew that she went veiled whenever she left her home, for his stepsisters had tittered about it, wondering aloud how much more beast-like she could have become, since she was no beauty to begin with. And he had seen that she wore that half-mask constantly, even here in her own home.
She withdrew her hands from his and wiped the eye that showed. Then she stiffened her spine, shoulders back, chin up, a soldier ready to face whatever came. “The fire was not your fault, and you do not owe me marriage,” she declared.
Perhaps true, but it wasn’t the point. Peter took his seat again. “Thank you for telling me what happened. It makes it easier, I think, to know I could have done nothing if I had been where I should.”How to put this?Peter had never found it easy to put his thoughts into words, but he had to try. “I meant I wanted to help you because of my debt to you—or, rather, my family’s debt to yours, given what you’ve told me. Also, because helping those unjustly persecuted is the right thing to do. I’d like to answer another question, if you do not mind, and ask it of you, too.”
At her nod, he continued, “What do I want from marriage? I will tell you, and when I am done, I want to know: what doyouwant from marriage?”
From the slight widening of her eye, he concluded that he had surprised her. “Whatever our reasons for agreeing to wed, if we do agree, we will then be married, and marriage is for a lifetime. I want…” he struggled for words again, and then they came in a rush. “I want what I saw in your parents’ life. A partner. A friend. Someone who is prepared to listen to me, to tell me if I am wrong, to praise me if I am right, to help me when I need it, and to take my help when they do. Someone who is at my side and on my side.”
“I like that,” Arial said, her voice soft. “I remember them like that, too.”
“I know we are not making a love match, and perhaps that is to the good. I have seen love matches turn horribly wrong. By the time I came along, my parents no longer loved one another if they ever did. My father claimed that he loved Rose’s mother, but then he abandoned her and married Mrs. Turner, whom he also claimed to love.” He grimaced. “I would rather be wed to a friend than come to hate someone I thought I loved.”
“What of children?” Arial asked.
Peter nodded. “I would like children.” Even as he said the words, he wondered if she had misunderstood. Did she think he was offering only friendship? Did she hope to be a wife in name only? How could he ask a lady—and a sheltered maiden, at that—whether she understood the nature of the marital activities that resulted in children, and whether she intended to favor her acquired husband with access to her bed?
She was braver than him, it seemed, for though her voice cracked and caught on the words, she asked, “You are willing to bed me, then? Despite how I look?”
“I am,” he assured her. And would have no trouble doing so. Her high-waisted gown did not disguise her lush figure.
“We can keep the room dark. I can wear my half mask when we…” She reddened as she waved her hand, her frankness not quite up to the task of naming the marital act.
Peter started to assure her that he wouldn’t ask that of her, but she spoke before he could. “I think you need to see the full horror of my face before we make a commitment, Peter.” She was fumbling with the strings of her mask.
He nodded, his mouth drying as his mind reviewed the wounds and the scars he had seen after injuries such as hers. War, unfortunately, offered too many opportunities for gruesome burns.
He detected pride in her gaze, a bit of fear, and some defiance. Her expression said as clearly as words that sheexpected rejection. But he had no difficulty keeping his face impassive. The damage was far from the worst he’d ever seen, and well-healed. But the lid drooped over an empty eye socket, and the burned skin had healed in lumps and knots of flesh.The poor girl.His heart hurt for all she must have suffered. “Does it pain you?” he asked.
Arial shook her head, then nodded. “It is mostly numb, but I get phantom pains at times, especially around where the eye should be. Nothing of any moment. I have a cream to use if the skin dries overmuch.”
“Nothing of any moment” hinted at the pain she had lived through and left behind her. His admiration for her courage transmuted his pity into respect. She sat stiffly, one hand clenched on her mask, still waiting for him to do what? Revile her? Rush from the room?How can I set her at ease?
He passed her his cup. “May I have another?” he asked.
Her chin dropped before she caught the movement and composed herself. “Of course.” She took the cup and busied herself over the tea makings. “You do not mind my face?”
“Only for what you have suffered, Arial. It does not change my mind about wishing to marry you, and it will not prevent me from… er… indulging our marital affections.”
She nodded as she passed him his tea, a short, decisive movement of the head then settled back into her chair and focused for a moment on replacing the half mask. As soon as the worst of the scars were safely hidden, the tension went out of her. He had been going to suggest she didn’t need the mask when they were together, but apparently, she felt better with it on.Small steps, Peter.
“Very well,” she said, her tone brisk. “If you are willing, I am willing.”
Very willing. His errant mind had wandered. Speculation about whether the burns had reached her body had drifted to theshape of her body under those layers of fabric. He dragged his attention back to the practicalities. “I take it you would like the ceremony as soon as possible?”
“Yes. I asked Richards about that. A common license would allow us to wed in your parish or in mine without posting the banns, or he has also made enquiries about a special license. If we can obtain one, we could marry immediately, here in London.” She shrugged. “Richards knows the process.” She would not argue for a special license, afraid to disclose the need for haste that drove her. Surely Richards was right, and her cousin would not attack her here in London? But she had not believed he would accost her in her house, either.
Peter, though, understood without being told. “The sooner you have a husband, the sooner your villainous cousin is disarmed, and the sooner, too, my bachelor status is amended so my stepmother cannot use it to argue for the return of my sisters.”
Arial nodded, relieved that the benefits went both ways. “A special license, then?” she said.
“Shall I call on Richards and see if his enquiries have borne fruit?” Peter asked. “But first, let us tell my sisters and your companions the good news.”
*
Vivienne and Rosalindexpressed delight that their brother was to marry Arial, and relief that the couple wanted the two sisters to live with them. “You are to come to the wedding,” Arial told them, “which we hope will be later today or tomorrow morning.”
The girls looked at Miss Pettigrew in alarm. “But what will we wear?” Vivienne asked.
