“Certainly not,” he replied firmly. “You are to wear it all day, if you please.”
She giggled, and her hand slipped into his as they continued down the hallway. There was an ease about them, one that she had always wanted to have with her husband, and though it was new, she wanted to trust it.
“I wish to take you out today,” he explained as they ate, “so, alas, you may actually have to change into a gown.”
“I can do that. Where are we going?”
“Well, I was hoping to take a boat onto the lake together, but I do not think this is the weather for it. Instead, I believe there is an auction in town, and I thought you might enjoy that?”
“Oh? And why do you believe that?”
Spencer flashed her a grin, his gaze lowering briefly before flicking up again.
“I have been looking at the household, and while you have done a wonderful job with it, I thought you might like to change it again?”
“Again? But it has only been a year. My mother and father hardly ever redecorated. They said it was a waste of their money.”
“And that is not a concern of mine. What matters to me is that you love your home.”
“Our home,” she corrected.
She noticed that he bristled at her words, but she did not mind it too much. It was all very new to both of them, and it was normal for him to have strange reactions at times. What mattered was that he was home, and he was doing all that he could to make her happy.
“May I ask you something?” he asked.
“You may, as long as you are not going to ask me to paint the drawing room a hideous shade of brown, or some such thing. Should that be the case, I will have to refuse.”
“I shall have no requests about the household. I was actually wanting to ask you if your family had financial troubles that you know of.”
She flushed pink, not knowing how to respond. She had faint memories of it, her parents raising their voices at one another about not having enough funds to hire a new servant, or pieces of jewelry going missing at times, only for a household purchase to be made shortly after. There were issues, she knew that, but she had never expected to think of them again.
“There were,” she replied. “They never told me how bad it was, but I knew.”
“Children always do, from my knowledge.”
“And how many children do you know?”
She had meant it to be lighthearted, but she saw how he shuddered. She tried not to think about the rumor that he had a child elsewhere, for it was not conducive to their having a good marriage. He claimed there was not one, and so she would believe him.
“I know other people who were raised in your circumstances,” he explained. “In truth, I knew that something was amiss when your father claimed you had no dowry.”
The words echoed in her mind. She did have a dowry; her father used it against her every time they argued. She was unable to make even the tiniest critique without him reminding her just how much he was sacrificing for her sake.
“But I had one,” she said quietly.
“I did wonder why you never mentioned it. You see, he claimed it was spent on the wedding and attaining the special licence that we used. I never questioned it, and I was more than happy to go without it. I am more than capable of taking care of you financially without your father’s assistance.”
“Even so, that is unfair. He should have paid you.”
“Like you were a prize pig?” he asked, reminding her of their conversation the night before. “It is as I told you, Anna. I did not marry you for money, nor for any particular gain. I needed a wife, and it helped knowing that I was bringing you away from your father.”
“Is that to say you did not like him?”
“I could not stand him. He spoke of you like you were nothing, even though any man in his position would have only spokenhighly of you. He was supposed to make me want to marry you, and yet–”
He stopped, likely because he did not have to say anything further. Anna knew what had happened, and there was no need for him to remind her of it. She knew what her father thought of her, and it did not matter what she did. She was not a boy, and therefore not an heir, and therefore she was useless to him.
“What I am pleased about,” he said instead, “is that we will not cross his path for a long time. Should he lack funds, he will be unlikely to attend the auction today.”
