“But what’s up there?”
“I told you that I didn’t want to answer any questions about this,” he reminded her.
“Still, it is curious,” she said. “You must admit that. Are you hiding something in the attic?”
He couldn’t help it—his anger was beginning to mount. He sat forward, leaning toward her.
“I’ve given you three very simple rules to follow,” he said. “In exchange for doing so, you’ll be rewarded with a very good life. You’ll be a duchess. You’ll have everything you could ever want. I’ve promised to help your sister, just as you asked, so you have nothing to complain about. Now, do you mean to tell me that you can’t bring yourself to comply with my requests? All I need you to do isstay out of the attic, and for heaven’s sake, don’t ask any more questions! There’s nothing more you need to know!”
For the first time, she looked slightly intimidated. But he wouldn’t have said that she lookedfrightenedwhich was what he might have expected. He knew he’d taken things a bit too far, leaning into her face like that. He shouldn’t have done that.
And yet, she wasn’t afraid of him.
That was interesting. He wondered what shewasfeeling if it wasn’t fear.
“All right,” she said after a moment. “I won’t go into the attic, then.”
But Arthur wasn’t completely certain he could take her at her word about that.
He would have to try, he supposed. He would have to do his best to trust her because there really wasn’t anything else to be done about it. And in the meantime, he would make sure to let his staff know that she wasn’t to be allowed up there. They ought to know it already—the attic had always been strictly off-limits to everyone—but perhaps a reminder wouldn’t go amiss, and it would certainly alert them to the fact that she was thinking oftryingto get up there. If that was what she was thinking, at any rate. He had to admit that he was having trouble reading her, and he didn’t love that. It hadn’t occurred to him when he had decided to marry her that she would be capable of keeping secrets from him, but she could, of course. Whatever was on her mind right now was certainly a secret, and he didn’t know what to make of it.
As long as she obeyed his rules, though, they would be able to live happily, and there would be no strife between them.
She wasn’t looking at him anymore. She was staring out the carriage window, and it was clear to him that her thoughts were a million miles away. Plotting to disobey him? Hoping to uncover all his secrets? He couldn’t know, and the fact that he couldn’t know was alarming and upsetting.
Maybe this whole business had been a mistake.
But if it had, it was too late to do anything about it.
CHAPTER 9
This was a mistake, Isabella thought dismally.
She sat in the chamber she had been shown to upon their arrival at Windhill Manor. She didn’t want to believe that this marriage had been a mistake, but the only thing the Duke—Arthur—had spoken to her about had been his rules. Once that conversation was over, they had gone their separate ways.
She had expected to be called to dinner eventually, but that hadn’t happened. Just as her hunger had started to get the best of her and she’d been about to go looking for the dining room, there had been a knock on her door. Caroline, her new lady’s maid, had been there with a tray. “I’m sure you’re hungry,” she had said.
Caroline was the one good thing that had happened since her arrival at Windhill Manor. She had smiled at Isabella, welcomed her, and even joined her for the meal. Arthur might have been cold and forbidding, but with Caroline, at least, Isabella knewshe could be herself. At least she would have one friend here in this hostile new environment.
But now Caroline had gone away for the evening, leaving Isabella on her own. At first, this had made Isabella nervous. She’d known there could only be one reason she was being left alone, and it must have to do with the fact that this was her wedding night. Any moment now, Arthur would come and knock on her door and take her to his room, and she would be called upon to perform the duties of a wife.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want that to happen. She knew it was a part of a marriage, and there was a part of her that was curious about it and viewed it as an adventure to be embarked upon.
But at the same time…she and Arthur were hardly able to carry on a conversation with one another. How would she be able to go to his bed? Of course, it was a bit frightening to think of. She supposed any maiden would feel the same way.
So, she waited, her nervousness mounting, wishing that he would just come for her so that she wouldn’t have to sit here thinking about it anymore…and he kept not coming. And finally, she thought,Maybe I’m supposed to be going to him. Maybe he’s waiting for me.
She had been given a tour of the estate upon her arrival, but she wasn’t confident she would be able to find her way around in the dark. Still, she couldn’t bear to face the thought of asking someone for help in this particular quest. She took a lantern, pulled on a robe, and set out into the hallway.
She meant to go to his room—she was sure that was where she would find him—but she found herself at his office first. There was light shining out from under the door, the flickering light of a lantern, and she knew that he must be inside.
She hesitated.
This was one of the rules she had been given. And there had only been three. She wasn’t sure how strictly she meant to adhere to them, but could she really be thinking of breaking one of the rules on her very first night?
But then, on the other hand…this was their wedding night. Surely, she was supposed to come and see him? There would only be one wedding night, after all. Maybe he had gotten so carried away, so distracted by his work, that he had forgotten about her or about the time. Yes, that was probably it. He would probably thank her for coming to find him.
Heartened by that thought, she reached out and knocked on the door.
