He was curious, was he?
She imagined that was all she was to him. A curiosity. A diversion. Perhaps even a shiny new toy, much like the porcelain dolls she and her sisters used to play with. This past week had taught her a truth she had been ignoring the better part of her life: she was worth nothing more than a passing interest to those around her. Her new husband was, clearly, no different.
Tears formed again, but she blinked them back.
Anger.She must focus on the anger.
She could not afford to fall to pieces here. Not now.
But it was too late. All the anxieties of the last week broke. At least they came forth on a rush of loathing rather than tears. Her frustrations burst from her, her emotions breaking through in a way the daughter of a duke wasnevermeant to allow.
“You have absolutely no regard for the people around you, my lord. You do as you wish and brush off the consequences without realizing who else you might affect. I am certain that is how you have lived your entire life and how you intend to live in our marriage. How many lives have you utterly ruined? I am sure I am just another. And you cannot even stretch your limited imagination to see. You cannot fathom how you have changed everything about my future against my will? Certainly, you are unaffected, so why should you wonder whether I am? It is disgusting—youdisgust me! So tell me, why would I ever behappyto be forced into a union with such a man?”
Amelia’s chest heaved with her fury, and she hardly noticed the look of surprise and...distress?... on Lord Norwich’s face. But then his jaw clenched, and he looked away.
“I see.”
Nothing. He said nothing else. The space between them silently filled with the repercussions of her words. She pursed her lips, refusing to allow remorse for her unkind speech to enter her. They were true. Were they not?
Silence reigned for the remainder of their journey, nearly a quarter of an hour due to London’s busy streets. Lord Norwich looked out one window, and Amelia stared out the other. Nothing but the sound of rain still falling atop the carriage filled the space between them. She once again twisted her hands in her lap and bit her lip, floundering between being grateful for the lack of conversation and wishing to take back her venomous speech. Never before had she struggled with an inability to rein in her words. She spent so much time controlling her thoughts and emotions, yet somehow this mandidsomething to her that just loosened her tongue.
But that wasn’t fair. She could not blame him for her emotions and words, however much she blamed him for her circumstances. And was it really fair to blame him for those entirely?
Her shoulders began to lose their tension, and by the time the carriage slowed, she was entirely defeated.
Yesterday, she would have believed that informing Lord Norwich of how she felt could only alleviate some of the pain she had been feeling. But now, after releasing her sharp words, she felt worse.
Anger, it would seem, did not invite contentment when freed. Unfortunate. Regardless of how she felt toward the man, her life and his were now inseparably connected. And she had just taken a cannon to any chance they had of starting off on the right foot.
She sighed as they stopped at the front of what Amelia assumed was Lord Norwich’s home. From her view through the rain, she could see her father’s crest on the carriage stopped in front of their own. Her husband placed his hat atop his golden hair, sparing her only the slightest of glances as he exited the carriage.
Despite her former fury, she did not wish to go into her wedding breakfast so at odds with her new husband.
In all honesty, she was still unhappy, and she could not entirely rescind her accusations to the man. But while she did not believe in handing out false sentiments, she truly did feel some remorse for the diatribe she had inflicted upon the man.
A hand reached in to assist her from the carriage. “Lord Norwich.” The words emerged louder than she’d intended, and she grimaced as she took the offered limb. “I-I apologize for the unkind way I delivered my thoughts—” But as she came fully into the rain, an umbrella being held over her head, she found that it was not her new husband but a footman who assisted her out. Through hazy sheets of rain, she saw the end of Lord Norwich’s coat entering the grand townhome ahead of her. Unbidden, the anger came flooding back in. Perhaps Lord Norwich had fully deserved her set down.
Or perhaps their marriage mattered as little to him as did her unheard apology.
Chapter Seven
Edward’s eyes slid to wherethe footmen stood along the walls of this extremely small wedding breakfast. Might he invite his servants to join the meal? Then perhaps something besides silence and the clinking of glassware would fill the spacious room.
“I do not believe you have told us the entire story of how you and Lord Norwich met, Mellie.” Lady Edith spoke with a calm demeanor, but her eyes stared unblinking at her sister.
“Edith,” His Grace cut in with a warning tone.
Lady Edith’s lips puckered, and she drew in a deep breath through her nose. “I only wish to speak with Mellie. I haven’t had the chance nearly all week.”
Had Amelia been avoiding everyone, not only him? Perhaps she was not simply angry at Edward alone, as she had displayed half an hour before in the carriage. Perhaps she was only angry at being forced to wed.
ThatEdward could handle. It could not be hard to convince her of his merits and how they would get along just fine. Were he to make her fall in love with him... well, that would fix just about everything.
Amelia had not responded to her sister, had not even looked up from her plate, though she had not touched her food. He studied her. Would it be that simple? A week or two of wooing her, and she would see how this was not so terrible an arrangement.
But did he even wish to after how she’d wounded him in the carriage? A man’s pride could only take so much pressure, and she had effectively told him she hated everything about him. Hated him. Certainly, he wanted a marriage different than his parents... but at what cost?
“Mellie? Did you hear me?”
