At that moment, he was saved by the appearance of his wife. Wearing a pale-blue gown that had him longing to carry her back to bed, tear it off her, and make love to her again, she was astonishingly lovely. She moved with confidence and poise, and had he not been seated, he likely would have fallen on his arse.
For here, before him, was a Vivi he had never previously seen.
It was the Vivi she had become without him. Bold, brave, commanding, elegant, and more beautiful than ever. Pride stirred inside him.
He stood with such haste, he nearly knocked his chair over in his eagerness to escort her to the table. “Duchess.”
Court presented her with a courtly bow and then offered her his arm.
She accepted it, smiling brightly at the gathered assemblage—the ladies who were a mere hint of the guests that were to come. “I am so pleased that you all could join us for the next fortnight,” she announced to the table at large.
He hoped to God she wasn’t including Lady Featherstone in that statement. Court would speak to her about the matter of her ladyship insulting her and the rest of the ladies present later. Instead, he escorted her to the place setting which he’d had ordered laid for her, at his side, and pulled out her chair.
As she seated herself, the scent of her wafted up to him, teasing his senses, making his cock twitch. The next fortnight—continuing to woo his wife with an audience of houseguests—was going to be a challenge. Of that, he was certain. But Vivi was worth it, and they’d already spent far too much time apart. He would gladly endure all the Lady Featherstones of the world if it meant he could win his wife’s love and trust. He owed it to Vivi—and Percy—to make her happy.
CHAPTER13
Vivi was already exhausted, and many more houseguests were still yet to arrive. Lady Featherstone was being every bit as dreadful as Vivi had feared she would be. Luncheon had been something of a disaster, despite the pleasant attempts of her friends to redirect conversation from the marchioness. Vivi had been incredibly aware of her husband’s presence at her side for the duration, and she couldn’t deny how right it felt to have him there. To share not just her bed with him, but every other aspect of her life.
He had been the piece of herself that had been missing. And yet, she remained torn between her love for him and her fears that one day, he might find another reason to leave her or that he would never return her love, no matter how hard she tried to earn his heart.
When the meal had been completed, the tension in the room had been thick enough to cut with a knife, and Vivi had been eager for an excuse to escape. She had ventured to the gardens to make certain the final chessboard had been painted on the north lawn.
And now she was lingering in the rosebushes, savoring a moment of peace amidst the mayhem, wondering for the hundredth time why she had decided to host this house party after all. Perhaps it had been a spectacularly bad idea. Also hoping she wouldn’t regret her decision to let Court back into her life and into her bed.
For he had never been gone from her heart. And now that he had come back to her, with his charm and determination to woo her and the sincere explanations she had so desperately needed to help her understand him, her husband had entrenched himself all the more firmly.
Running her finger along one of the rosebuds, its petals still tightly closed, she sighed heavily before doing something that had become a comforting habit in the wake of Percy’s death—talking to her beloved brother.
“Oh, Percy,” she murmured softly. “I love him. I always have since I was but a foolish girl of fourteen with no true notion of what love was, only that I felt it deep in my heart whenever I was with him. But I’m terrified he will hurt me again.”
There it was, the truth she hadn’t dared allow herself to linger upon for too long during the past two weeks. She understood Court’s reasons for leaving, even if she didn’t agree with his decision. Grief over Percy’s death had changed her as well. In those early days, she had been broken inside, too wounded to make sense of much of anything. But then Court had left her when she had needed him. In the span of a few short weeks, both of the men she loved the most had left her. And although she understood how conflicted Court must have been, given his promise to Percy, she couldn’t shake the fear that she would wake up one morning to the same curt stranger who had left her that day without an explanation.
If he walked away from her a second time, she wasn’t sure she would survive the pain.
Tears burned her eyes, threatening to spill. She missed her brother so much. Missed his smile, his laughter, his warm embraces. Missed the way he had teased her. Missed riding with him, the way he had listened to her, championed her always.
But then, hadn’t Court done that as well? Looking back on her life, it seemed to her now that it had always been the three of them. Until it had only been the two of them. Not even the strong bonds she shared with her parents had ever compared.
She sniffed, fighting the sorrow as she whispered, “You were the best brother I could have asked for, Percy. I’ll miss you always.”
What would have happened if he had not drowned in the Bristol Channel that day? If theMargueritehad not sunk in that terrible squall? If he had never gone aboard his yacht, never made the trip to Devon? She had asked herself those questions many times, and there existed no answers which weren’t painful.
Vivi liked to think Percy would have understood just how much she loved Court. That he would have been happy the two of them had married, despite the promise he’d forced Court to make. But she would never truly know. Her brother was forever lost to her. All that remained was the future, if she was daring enough to entrust herself to it.
The sweet warbling of a nearby bird reached Vivi then, bringing her back from the murky depths of the past just as a footfall on the gravel path sent it winging away. She turned to find Court approaching her, dashing as ever, a tender smile on his lips that was for her alone.
“I thought I might find you here,” he said.
“You were looking for me?” she asked, surprised.
He had told her his intention to meet with the land steward whilst she worked out the remaining details of the house party. She hadn’t expected to see him again so soon after luncheon, whilst the guests settled into their private apartments. And yet, it was fitting that he was here, that he had found her in a moment so profound.
Just when she needed him most.
Court stopped before her, suddenly solemn. “I’ve been looking for you always, Vivi. Everywhere.”
Those felt like the only words she needed him to say, so magnificent and bursting with promise. The only words she ever wished to hear again, save three precious ones that may never be hers.
