“Perhaps…” She shrugged innocently. “But my performance might be better if I knew you were not having the most horrid of times.”
“Does it look as if I am?” He raised an eyebrow at her, and his soft smile spread further across his face.
“Ah, much better.” She clung to his arm as they walked. “We just might fool them yet.”
Their arrival caused a stir unlike any that Clara had found herself in before. The music did not stop this time, as it had thelast time the duke had arrived at the ball, but the attention of nearly everyone in the ballroom still found its way toward them. Heads swiveled. Eyes widened. Mouths hung open. And then came the whispers.
“Ignore them,” the duke said to her as they walked. The crowd parted for them as if an invisible force pushed them to the side. “They like to stare.”
“I am not used to it.”
He chuckled. “You will be soon, I promise you.”
“How…” Clara felt her cheeks reddening. Never one for being the center of attention, to be thrust into it like this was alarming and uncomfortable. “How do you handle it? Everyone is watching and talking about you?”
“Quite simply.” As they walked, Alaric kept a hand on Clara’s, and he was sure to hold her close to his side. It made her feel safe and protected, as if nothing could harm her so long as he was there. “The trick is to not care what others think.”
She snorted. “Is that so easy?”
“You are the Duchess of Ravencourt. You are above everyone here. The only person whose opinion you should care for is my own.”
She side-eyed him. “Does the same go for you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You say you do not care what others think of you, but I hope you do not extend that feeling in my direction. I hope you care just a little what I think.”
This had the duke frowning to himself as if he did not understand. Or if he thought she might be joking or trying to get him to admit to something. It did not escape Clara’s attention that this was the most the two had spoken since they married, and where she felt more comfortable than she’d once thought possible, she could not say if he was of the same mind.
“It does,” he said finally, seeming to relax the moment he did. “You might be the only person here whose opinion I care about at all.”
“That is exactly what I wished to hear,” she laughed. “And do not forget it.”
It took those at the ball a while to grow used to the sight of Alaric and Clara. For the first fifteen minutes or so, they kept their distance in a way that might suggest a pack of wolves had been set loose among them. But slowly, as Clara and Alaric spoke and laughed and drank together, they began to close ranks and shuffle in close.
“Your Grace…” A nervous lord was the first to approach them. “What a pleasant surprise it is to see you here.”
“Lord Whitcombe.” Alaric offered him a short nod. “I would not miss it. You know my wife, the Duchess of Ravencourt.”
“Charmed.” Lord Whitcombe took her hand and gave her a kiss on the back. “It is lovely to make your acquaintance. I heard of your marriage, of course. And I was wondering when I would be given the privilege to finally meet she who stole the duke’s heart.”
“Only for safekeeping, I assure you,” Clara joked.
“Tell me…” The lord glanced nervously at Alaric. “How is married life suiting you?”
Clara was under no illusions as to why they were here. Nobody could believe that their marriage was a natural thing, and everyone assumed without question that she was some sort of victim of a cruel game played by her husband. This might have upset Clara, as she was well aware of the effect this would have on her own reputation, dashing to pieces the reason she had insisted on this marriage in the first place.
Strangely, I find that I don’t care what they say about me. Stranger still, I find that I do care what they think of Alaric. He is not at all what they assume, and it is time they learned this as a truth.
“It is heavenly.” She made sure to relink her arm through Alaric’s as she spoke. “I have never been happier.”
“Truly?”
“You sound surprised.”
His eyes widened in panic. “Not at all. Just musing on marriage – believe me, I wish I could describe my own marriage in the same way.” He laughed nervously. “Speaking of, where is my wife…” He looked about, eager to escape.
Which he did do, bidding them farewell before thanking them for coming once more.
