Page 44 of An Accidental Bride for the Duke
Philip rolled his eyes and then, most surprisingly, leaned in and kissed Iris on the cheek. She widened her eyes in shock, and shecaught Percy watching with keen interest. Then, he left them, and Iris was still frowning at how kind he was treating her.
What he said to me earlier… he meant it.
“So, now that the brute has gone, tell me true…” Percy leaned across the table. “How is this marriage, really?” He pumped his eyebrows, and Iris could not help but laugh.
“I told you already,” she said with a raised eyebrow in warning. “And from that, I will not budge.”
“Unfair!”
“But perhaps…” She looked about the back garden. “Perhaps a walk will loosen my tongue? I am yet to explore the estate, and I have a sense that you would make a perfect guide.”
Percy jumped to his feet. “You are right about that. Oh!” His eyes widened. “I take you have yet to explore the forest. The swimming hole?”
“I didn’t know there was one.”
“Let us not waste time.” He offered her an arm to link, and she took it gratefully. “After you.”
They walked together from the back garden and into the surrounding grounds of the estate. It was mostly flat farmlandat first but on the horizon was a densely packed forest. That was their destination.
On the way, Iris told Percy of how she had come to marry Philip. She was sure not to talk down about Robert – even when she explained the scandal to him – and she was just as sure not to tell him of the difficulties concerning her first few days of marriage.
Mostly, she was just glad to have someone to speak to of Philip, a chance to get a better picture of who he was as a person and how she might better understand him and how she should act.
“He has a temper,” Percy agreed with humor. “But most of it is for show.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means he is not the grump he pretends,” Percy laughed. “Most of the way he acts is born from expectation. He has been the head of this house since he was sixteen, and with that comes pressure. And his father…” Percy shook his head. “I did not know the man, but Philip has told me how strict he was. Not in a malevolent way, just the way that dukes so often are. He wants to do right by him,” he continued. “And the softer side of him is at constant war with this.”
“I think I understand…”
“Trust me,” Percy told her. “Whenever he gets into a temper or acts as if the sky is falling, he’s as unsure of himself as you probably are of him. But he always means well…” He smiled at what looked like memory, one which told of his feelings about Philip. “And he will always apologize or admit fault if he goes too far.”
“He can be rather stubborn.”
“Oh yes!” Percy laughed. “Without a doubt.”
It all made perfect sense, and it paired perfectly with the man she was beginning to know. Philip had never been cruel to her, and where the things he said were sometimes confused, she could see how this was just him coming to terms with what he wanted and what he thought he should do.
As I always suspected, there is more to him than was first there. And truly, now I can’t wait to find out more.
They soon reached the forest and started through its brush. It was a wary journey, filled with fallen trees and overgrown bushes. But fifteen minutes later, they came to a clearing that had a deep pond at its center.
“Shall we…” Percy pumped his arms and pretended to dive in.
“You can.” She crossed her arms. “But you have lost your mind if you think I am joining you.”
They spent some time around the pond, the conversation simple and carefree. Mostly, it was Iris telling Percy of her own childhood, how hard it was, how overprotected she had been, and how her sisters had helped raise her with her mother. And her brother, of course.
But soon she found the conversation veering back to Percy and where she wasn’t sure if she should ask, for that might break Philip’s trust, she was also desperate to know.
“Percy,” she began carefully. “Might I ask about…” She hesitated. “And please, tell me if I go too far. But I was wondering… it is just that… Philip has not told me…”
“You want to know where in the name of all things did I come from?” he finished for her with a laugh.
She grimaced. “If it is not too personal.”
“It is perfectly fine,” he assured her. “And you should know. You are a part of the family, after all.”
