His expression turned serious.“Reducing the debt that has been run up.Maintaining the house and farms in good repair.And giving you a sufficient budget to do whatever you wish with this house.”
“As in redecorating?”
He nodded.“I want you to be happy here.”
“So you have made me a priority?”She kissed his cheek.“I would be happy living with you in a barn if we were to have moments like this.In truth, I think you would be happier in a barn, too.This house is twenty times more than we’ll ever need.”
“It is a bit of a monstrosity,” he acknowledged.
“And holds such unhappy memories for you, Alex.Would time and a bit of redecoration ever change your dislike of this place?”
“I don’t know,” he said with a tinge of bitterness.
Tulip cast him a soft look.“We don’t have to stay here.Once Thornwycke is put back in shape, we can return to London or go anywhere you like.You can see Mr.Carver is efficiently running this place and does not require constant supervision.”
“But you love being in Somerset, you’ve always said so.”
“Yes, but I lo–” Her eyes widened and she stared at him for the longest moment.
What was she about to say?
That she loved him more?
He held his breath, hoping to hear those words.
But as the air continued to hang thick between them, he knew she was not yet ready to make such a claim.
“Somerset is a lovely place,” she finally said, still wide-eyed, “but it is just a place.My home is with you, wherever you wish to be.”
He kissed her again.“Let’s go to bed.”
He eased her off his lap and rose, but took hold of her hand.“Our first night here.I’m glad that mattress and the linens are all new.”
“Me, too.”She stared at the bed.“New life.New start.”
Tulip removed her robe and he removed the last of his clothes before they settled under the covers.
Tulip regarded him expectantly once they were tucked in.
“What?”he muttered with a soft laugh.“Do you think I cannot control the beast in me?Let’s read first.”
“Just read?”She smiled.“Isn’t this nice?We are like an old, married couple.”
He rolled her atop him, grinning as she gasped in surprise.
“Perhaps I am not quite ready to control the beast yet.There’s still a bit of life left in me, and you are quite delicious.”He clamped his arms around her so that their bodies were pressed to each other.He felt her lush bosom mold to his chest, and her hips rest against his.“Gad, you are distracting.”
He kissed her again because she had the sweetest lips, but then he set her back on her side of the bed and picked up the journal to read.“I really need to get to this tonight.”
She nestled against him and took up her book on his family’s history.
They must have been reading in silence for only a few minutes before Tulip yawned and set her book aside.“I’m suddenly so tired, Alex.”
He frowned.“All right, love.We accomplished a lot today.”
“Not all that much.It wasn’t very strenuous, but my eyes suddenly feel unbearably heavy.I cannot keep them open another minute.”
He was surprised that her exhaustion had come on so rapidly, but this could be explained logically.This first day may not have been physically strenuous, but it held a wealth of feelings that roiled her and must have drained her strength.Who would not feel the same when returning home a duchess and finding oneself mistress of a garishly large manor house with an unsavory history and a mysterious tower room that quite possibly held dark secrets?
