Absurd! He made it perfectly clear the day we agreed to this, and nothing has changed. I have not changed… or I don’t think that I have…
“Is there anything else?” he asked her.
“No,” she said a little too quickly. “I mean…” She sat up and looked at him. “It is as we agreed, and I thank you for keeping up your end of the agreement.”
He rolled his eyes. “Still, so formal.”
“It’s who I am.”
“No, it’s not,” he said. “But you’ll figure that out soon, I am certain. And, quite honestly, I cannot wait to see when you do.” He grinned suggestively and she shifted and looked away, her cheeks burning.
She had no idea why her husband was insistent on seeing a different side to her, one he was certain to exist, while she wasn’t so sure it did herself. Yes, she wanted freedom. Yes, she wanted to be able to do as she pleased. But Sophia had her limits, and being raised as she had been, she doubted that she was anything like what the Duke suggested.
“I am glad we have that sorted…” She went back to looking out the window. “Now, if you do not mind, I am quite tired and would like to rest.”
“Do not let me stop you.” He leaned back. “After all, isn’t that the entire point?”
They spent the rest of the ride in silence, and Sophia watched the countryside pass them by. Slowly, the sun set low, painting the pastures in dark purples and deep reds, and then it sank even lower until the sky was pitch black so that not even the stars glimmered across its expansive breadth.
For this reason, when they reached the estate, Sophia did not even see it, and it wasn’t until they slowed down that she realized where they were.
“It looks better in the light of day,” he said to her as he too shifted to the window and looked outside. “Likely a little bigger than you know, but you will get used to it.”
Would she? Perhaps she would get used to her new home, but would she get used to her new life? She had no idea what to expect from it and now that she was here, living it, she wondered time and again if she had made the right choice.
A quick glance at her husband, her stomach flipped, and she could not escape the feeling that she was missing something…
When the carriage came to a stop, the doors were opened from the other side. The Duke was the first out, and he offered her a hand. But it was not warm and loving, and she sensed he was only doing it because he felt that he should, not because he wanted to.
“I’ve had the staff arraigned to greet us in the morning,” he explained as they walked the drive. “For now, your personal maid will have to do. She will take you to your room and help you settle it.”
“My maid?”
“One of many,” he told her. “Your life is going to be different now, Sophia. I suggest you get used to it.”
It was an ominous thing to say, and not for the reasons the Duke thought.
True to his word, a single chambermaid stood waiting in the foyer. Her name was Mary, she was the same age as Sophia, and she was only too eager to show her to her room.
“This is where I leave you.” The Duke stayed by the base of the stairs. “But I will see you on the morrow… or not,” he shrugged. “It is really up to you. After all, isn’t that the point.” He winked.
“Y – yes,” she stammered. “It is.”
Her room was opulent and wanting for nothing. A four-poster bed sat the center, and a soft fire flickered in the hearth. Mary asked if she wished to bathe before bed, but Sophia just wanted to sleep. It had been a long day, her body was worn, and she hoped tomorrow would bring a clearer head.
Typically, little sleep was had that night.
She spent it in a state of tossing and turning, unable to settle, her mind continuing to drift to the Duke. This marriage looked to be everything that she wanted and expected, and she knew how happy she should have felt. But there was a niggling feeling in the back of her conscience that she was missing out onsomething, and that married life should be about more than freedom.
When she did finally drift off, it was with images of the Duke in her mind’s eye. His charming smile. His probing eyes. The way her stomach squirmed when he spoke to her… when he touched her.
Not an easy first night by any stretch, and Sophia knew that things were only set to get harder from here on out.
CHAPTER 14
Contrary to how she felt the previous evening when she went to sleep, Sophia woke up in a flurry of excitement… well, perhaps not a flurry, but she was certainly more eager for the day than she had expected. And it had everything to do with her new life.
Once, her life had been structured down to the minute. Her parents had kept a strict control of everything that she did, forcing their idea of a perfect routine onto her because they wished to raise the perfect lady. She no long had to worry about such things, able to do as she pleased and when she pleased it.
