“Catherine, this is Colin,” Anna introduced informally, and Lady Darpley curtsied, her smile slight and composed.
“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance at last, Your Grace. Anna has told me much about you.”
He glanced at Anna, wondering exactly what she had told her sister, because she still did not know him well. He had not allowed it to happen. But she knew his body very well. Anna knew what to say and do to get him enflamed and engorged. He sometimes behaved mindlessly when she touched him. She had also unleashed another sort of yearning within him, one that had prevented him from straying too far from her. He should travel to the north to Edinfield, yet he delayed the trip at every opportunity.
“Likewise,” he returned politely, inclining his head. “There is no day that goes by that Anna does not speak of you. Welcome to our home, and I hope you will be comfortable here.”
“I thank you, Your Grace.”
He decided to excuse them, and nodding at Anna, he turned and left.
Catherine embraced Anna again when they were alone. “I am so happy to see you.”
“So am I,” Anna said, leading her to sit on a sofa. “You look well, too.” Her husband’s passing had been difficult for her, and Anna was glad to see her smile more. Catherine claimed she did not love him, but there had to have been something that attached her to him, because her grief had been significant.
Catherine gently touched her cheek, smiling. Then she glanced at the door before leaning close and lowering her voice. “Now that I am here, will you tell me about your sudden marriage? My nerves have suffered greatly from curiosity. What made you propose to him?”
“I could not bear Papa’s choice,” Anna answered. She thought she could be partially honest with her sister.
“Who did he want you to marry?”
“Hunter.”
Catherine’s dark brows knit. She looked like Anna but she was not as pale, and her eyes were a soft hazel. “Hunter?” she echoed. “Why would he want you to marry him?”
Anna raised one shoulder. “I am unsure. Perhaps he thinks he will make me a better husband than any other man.” Anna knew exactly why her father had wished for her to marry Hunter. He wanted more money, and if she had become his wife, he would have gained a great fortune.
Catherine shook her head. “Hunter is a good man, to be sure, but he is quite a bore. I can understand why you refused him.” She was oblivious to his tendency to be cruel, but then, that was something he could easily hide from her.
“Yes.” Anna was happy her sister believed that tale.
“What about the Duke? How did you find him?”
“I heard he was seeking a wife, and so I traveled here to ask him to marry me.”
Catherine’s brows ascended. “And he agreed?”
Anna grinned. “I convinced him.”
“Indeed!” Her sister appeared to be impressed. “You two looked very happy when you walked in. I think you made a love match.”
If you only knew that my husband does not believe in love.“That is my hope. It is too early to tell.”
“I cannot agree with that,” Catherine said, leaning back in her seat. “One usually knows if they can love their husband within the first few weeks.”
“Did you know?”
Catherine’s lips curved, but not with a smile. “Yes, I did.”
“I know you said you did not love Marcus, but it seems…” Anna trailed off, unsure if it was right to inquire about her sister’s affections for her husband.
“As if I do?” she asked, and Anna nodded. “We were very good friends. The dearest of friends, even.”
Anna did not think she was friends with Colin. She enjoyed his company and their conversations, for when they were not disagreeing, they were very pleasant. There was a great measure of passion between them, however, and Anna sometimes thought it was excessive. Sometimes it only took a gaze to have her breath catching with desire.
“There was no passion between us,” Catherine said, drawing her thoughts back to her. “Passion is important in romantic love and its absence always suggests that romantic love will not exist.”
Anna understood now. There could be love between her and Colin. She smiled, one of her fears both rising and falling. It rose because she did not ever want to leave him, and the fear subsided because she wanted to believe he could love her enough to keep her at his side.
