Once more, she nodded against his chest.“I know.My friends will treat me differently because I am your duchess.They’ll try not to, but it will happen anyway.I hope my mother’s family will still look upon me as one of their own.”
“They won’t stop loving you, but do not be surprised if they show you more deference.This is to be expected.Everyone is going to be more careful in what they say to you and around you.They’ll think twice when talking about you to others, for you now hold all the power.Not that I expect your friends or family ever to say nasty things about you.They know you are a good person.”
“I hope so.I try to be.”
“You are, sweetheart.But do not be surprised if others are jealous and seek to undermine you.This is a problem we are bound to face, never knowing whom to trust and watch out for.”
“Does one’s character change all that much over time?”
“No, but how am I to judge a person’s character when I don’t know anyone from Somerset except for you and my idiot cousins?As we speak, they are probably drinking their way through their allowance at somedemi-mondesalon.”
“It is better than having them sit at home and think up plots against you,” she reminded him.
He grunted.“True.”
Still, this would not address the problems he was bound to face in Somerset.Everyone would be a stranger to him.It was hard to take the measure of a person who had every reason to lie to him and try to impress him.
Alex was quite familiar with the petty nature of people, their jealously guarded aims and desires, since he often came across the worst of them in his investigations.
Everyone lied.
Everyone held back secrets.
“I will introduce you to all the townspeople I know,” Tulip offered.“This is how I can be of help to you once we are at Thornwycke Hall.Of course, this is probably the major reason why you wanted to marry me.”
She was diminishing herself in importance again.
How could she elevate that convenient coincidence and make it out to be anything beyond a minor significance?
“It is onesmallreason why you caught my attention.You had other things to recommend you.Beauty, wit, and brains for starters.”
He sat up and lit one of the candles on his night table.
Tulip also sat up and drew the sheet to her bosom to cover herself.
“Don’t be shy around me, love.I want to see you now in the light.”At her nod, he reached out and gently slipped the covering off her.
“I knew you would be this beautiful,” he said in a reverent whisper and kissed the swell of one breast.
She studied him, too.
He knew she would like his body.
He made love to her again by candlelight.
Tulip was as sweetly responsive to him as the first time.
She was also less awkward and frantic because she now understood this intimacy between a husband and wife.
But their first time would always be sweetest because he was her first and only, and this was something quite wonderful for him.
She brought out his every possessive and protective instinct.
Their second time was hotter and faster.
Oh, so good.
The friction between their bodies was pure, scorching heat.
