“I am less worried about her than I am of you.She is merely throwing us a party, something she has done for your family fairly often over the years, I expect.”He leaned forward and took her hands in his.“Marriage is new to both of us, and has created an immediate upheaval to our lives.We will soon settle as newlyweds in Somerset.I’ll give you all the time you need, Tulip.Just know that I would like us to share a bed once you are ready.”
“I hadn’t thought to ask, but are we to share quarters while traveling to Somerset?”
“Yes, but that is for your protection.I do not think it is safe for you to be in a room by yourself in any of those coaching inns.It will be one room for us, but I will set a pallet for myself on the floor, if you are reluctant to share the bed.”
“I see.”
He released her hands and leaned back against the squabs.“Something more for you to contemplate.No answer needed yet.”
“All right.”She looked out the window as his carriage turned onto Chipping Way.Her cousins, Violet and Marigold, were on the street conversing with each other.“I’m going to miss them.”
“Your family has very strong bonds.”
She nodded.“I liked being able to walk next door or just across the street to chat with my cousins.We’ll be rather isolated at Thornwycke Hall.”
“It might not be so bad.We’ll be forced to rely on each other, and this could strengthen our bonds of marriage,” he pointed out.
“Yes.”She nibbled her lip.“But it is also a reason to take it slow and not leap into something we might regret as we get to know one another better.Don’t you think?”
Actually, he thought the opposite.
Their isolation was enough reason to go all in, leap straight into that fire.Trust each other, and hope for the best.Sometimes, closing one’s eyes and jumping in was the most sensible thing to do.
But Alex knew Tulip had been burned by her impulsive decision to ask Caruthers for a first kiss and was not looking to repeat that mistake.
He groaned inwardly.
Being close to Tulip and not touching her was going to be agony for him.
He wasn’t certain why he felt this strong desire for her.
He’d never felt this way about anyone before.
These amorous feelings had taken him quite by surprise and he was still trying to understand them.
What made Tulip stand apart from the other young ladies he had met?
He observed that Violet, Marigold, and Tulip could have been triplets, they looked so much alike.And yet, his heart did not beat faster when looking at Violet or Marigold, two obviously pretty ladies.
The three of them had the same shade of dark hair that curled in the same way.They had big eyes framed by sooty, black lashes, although Violet’s were a pale lavender while Marigold and Tulip had striking blue eyes.
Yet, one glance at Tulip’s dazzling eyes and hesitant smile had been all it took to capture his heart.
And then months of frustration because Tulip ran from him whenever she saw him approaching.
There would be no running from him now, he hoped.
After seeing her to the door, and greeting her cousins as they scurried over to Tulip, he returned to the carriage and instructed his driver to take him past the Davenport townhouse in Belgravia before heading to his apartment in Bloomsbury where he still resided.“Aye, Your Grace.”
His carriage rolled away from Chipping Way.
He had chosen not to move out of his Bloomsbury apartment and take up residence in Belgravia for several reasons.
First, his apartment was large and comfortable, and more than met his needs.
Second, Bloomsbury itself was a lively, student area where taverns stayed open late and he could always find a meal at odd hours.
His investigative work often kept him out scouring the streets of London into the wee hours, so it was much simpler to sit in a quiet corner of the tavern and eat whatever was on the day’s menu rather than attempt to make anything for himself.
