Page 69 of Bride By Mistake
She tilted her head with a quizzical look. “Something funny?”
“Just wondering if you knew how to dance.”
She shook her head. “Only country dances from when I was a child. Dancing wasn’t taught in the convent. Is it important?”
“No, I’ll teach you.”
“I look forward to it,” she said softly, and the look in her eyes told Luke she really had forgiven him for accusing her of entrapment. Something loosened in his chest.
He put his napkin down and pushed back his chair. “If you’ve finished, we’d better get moving.”
His bride was good company on the road, too, Luke discovered. She made observations here and there, but they were interesting ones. She wasn’t like some women he knew, thinking it their role to fill a silence—any silence—with aimless chatter. Nor was she the sort who expected a fellow to entertain her.
With Isabella, sometimes they rode in silence, other times they’d talk. It was easy, effortless. A bit like traveling with his friends, only more interesting, because he never knew what she’d say.
She asked him about his family, and he told her about Mother and Molly and Molly’s come-out, which had been delayed so many times. “You’ll like Molly,” he finished. “She’s fun and very sweet-natured. Everyone likes her, and she’ll like you, I know.”
Isabella pulled a wry face. “Maybe.”
“You doubt it?”
“She probably had one of her friends lined up to marry you. She won’t be at all pleased with you bringing home a foreign wife who isn’t even pretty.”
He shook his head. “Molly isn’t like that. As long as I’m happy with you, she’ll be happy, too.”
“Then that’s the question, isn’t it?”
Before he could respond, she broke into a canter and forged ahead of him. He raced after her, caught up, and cantered alongside her until their horses began to tire. When they slowed to a walk, he leaned over and caught hold of her bridle, bringing them both to a halt.
“Molly will like you.”
She gave him a wry look. “Even though I’m difficult and disobedient and quarrelsome?” She wasn’t talking about his sister’s opinion.
He smiled. “I’m not exactly a bundle of laughs, myself.”
“You were quite lighthearted when I first met you” she said softly. “Not during the fight, of course, but afterward, when we were traveling.”
He shrugged and looked away. “People change.” He signaled his horse to walk on.
They walked in silence for a few minutes, then she said, “So you don’t think Molly will mind me being difficult at times?”
He didn’t respond. Did she think he was foolish enough to give her carte blanche?
“Reverend Mother used to say I gave her more trouble than all the other girls in the convent.”
“She told me you were a treasure to be cherished.”
Isabella turned an astonished face to him. “Truly? Reverend Mother said that?” She considered it. “Aunt Serafina Reverend Mother? About me? A treasure? Are you sure?”
He found himself smiling again. “She did. She told me to take good care of you.”
“Well!” She was clearly astounded. A little smile played on her face. Then she shook her head. “Why is it that people only tell you the bad things to your face, never the good things? She never once called me a treasure. A plague, yes, a pest, an imp of Satan—” She broke off, clearly feeling she’d said too much.
He laughed. “Perhaps she thought praise would ruin your character.”
She shook her head. “No, I’ve received very little praise in my life. I still get into trouble all the time.”
He laughed again. “Why am I not surprised?”
