Wrapping her dressing gown back around her, she opened the door and was shocked to find Henry in a robe. “What are you doing here?” she spluttered. “I thought you had agreed to give me time?”
“And I fully intend to honor that agreement,” he said.
“Then what are you doing here?” she asked, bewildered.
“Let me in and I’ll tell you.”
She wordlessly stepped aside to allow him in, puzzled as to his presence. Once he was standing next to the fire, she shut the door and made her way over to him, clutching her dressing gown closed.
“I promise I am not here to make physical advances,” he reassured her, picking up on her unease. “I fully intend to allow you time to become more comfortable with me as we agreed. However, I think it best I stay in here with you tonight. I don’t know about you, but as much as I love my friends, I would like to keep our private business between us. If we kept to our separate rooms on our wedding night, I think it would raise questions they are too tactless not to ask.”
He was right. Of course everyone would think it odd if they did not spend the night together, even if it was a marriage of convenience, and she did not wish to deal with questions. While she thought their agreement to be imminently sensible, it was between the two of them and should remain that way, as their intimate business was no one else’s. While she should have felt uncomfortable sharing a bed with him having known him for such a short time, she realized with a start that he no longer felt like a stranger. She trusted him.
“All right,” she agreed. “I suppose that does make sense. I’ll take the right side of the bed.”
They made their way over to the bed after he banked the fire, and she felt shy as she removed her wrapper, leaving her in only a thin night rail. She quickly climbed under the covers for extra protection, but Henry politely averted his gaze as he removed his own outer layer. He snuffed out the candle on the bedside table, leaving only the dim glow of the fire lighting the room, and slid in the bed beside her.
Turning his body toward hers, he settled onto his side with his head cradled in the pillow and looked directly at her. “I hope you enjoyed today. I don’t know anything about your previous wedding, but from what you’ve told me about the marriage, I can’t imagine there was much to the ceremony.”
“No, it was a rather somber affair, I’m afraid. Today was a much lovelier experience. Especially as I knew whom I was marrying beforehand.” She made her statement lightly, trying to mask her sorrow and not let him see how much she was still affected by how her first marriage had been arranged. Grace could see from his furrowed brow that he was not fooled. “I hope you don’t mind that it was so understated. Moira wanted to make it a much grander affair, and as you are a duke it may have been warranted. But my own desire was to keep the group small and the ceremony simple.”
“I thought it was perfect. I would not have wanted a large affair with people I don’t really care about in attendance only for the sake of appearances. I was very happy with our small but merry group. The only person who I may have also wanted there was my Aunt Hester, but she is with friends for an extended stay now that her period of mourning is over. I wrote to her of the wedding, but she could not be here in time.”
“Tell me more about your aunt. She is the dowager duchess, is she not? Will she reside at the manor with us?”
“She will be away for a while,” he answered. “I think she needs some space and time to grieve her son. But she will live at the Manor for a bit when she returns, as I have much to learn from her. I want to honor our family legacy and retain some of the traditions of the dukedom, and she can teach me that. Eventually, she will move to the dower house on the grounds of the estate, but I would like her guidance first.”
“Are you close with her?” Grace was curious how this woman might fit into their lives as Henry’s closest remaining relative. She desperately hoped they would get along as she had firsthand experience at how difficult it could be when relatives residing in the same space did not get on well. Knowing this woman had been in charge of the manor for many years made her nervous, but she reminded herself that Henry had agreed she would be in charge of running the household.
“Yes and no,” he answered. “I saw her once or twice a year as I was growing up when we would all gather at the manor for family holidays. And I spent a few summers with her and my grandparents before I went to school. She and my uncle lived at the manor as he was the heir and learning to manage the estate from my grandfather. I always liked her, she was kind to me, but she takes family tradition very seriously.” He became quiet as he thought about his family, many of them now deceased. “It wasn’t until she lost her child and I inherited the title that we reconnected at Highland Manor. I really had not seen her much for several years between university and my time away with the army. Even when I returned to England, I rarely left London as my work with the war department kept me bound there.” He had a faraway look in his eyes as he recalled his past. “She hardly ever left Somerset, so our paths rarely crossed. We became comfortable around one another once I returned to the manor, but she was quite consumed in her grief.”
“I look forward to the day she joins us,” Grace said. “I hope spending time in a new setting with friends, away from her grief and memories of your cousin, might be healing for her,” Grace said, smiling at him, her eyes growing heavy as the warmth of the bed seeped into her. She began to relax more fully, closing her eyes and her body turning towards Henry’s, but could feel the weight of his gaze on her, preventing her from drifting to sleep. “What is it?” she asked, re-opening an eye. “I can feel you looking at me.”
“You look so beautiful and peaceful resting in the firelight, I can’t help but admire you.” He reached out a hand and gently twirled a lock of her hair around his fingers. “I’ve not seen your hair down before, it’s lovely. With the remaining glow from the fire, it looks like spun gold.” He spoke quietly, almost reverently. She was not sure what to say, so she continued to look at him while he ran his fingers through her hair. “It is our wedding day, and I promise I will honor our agreement, but do you think you might be willing to give me a goodnight kiss?”
The request made Grace catch her breath. She enjoyed their last kisses, the one by the roses after agreeing to marry, and their kiss after being wed this morning. He had been gentle about it, gathering her close after the Vicar had pronounced them husband and wife, and placing a soft, chaste kiss to her lips. The look of ardor in his eyes as he made his request now, however, made her believe this kiss would be closer to the more passionate kiss they had shared the first time. desire spread through her body as she thought about the possibility, and with the knowledge that she was now his wife, why not allow him another such liberty?
Not breaking from his gaze, she almost imperceptibly nodded her head. He slowly lifted the hand that had been buried in her hair and laid it on her cheek. Angling his body up from the mattress, he spanned the gap that lay between them and closed his lips over her own. Her body awakened at his touch, and she unconsciously moved closer to him. Her response seemed to be the signal he was waiting for as permission for more, and he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer until their bodies were aligned and flush against each other. She stiffened for a moment when his arousal brushed against her thigh, but as he was not pressing for anything more than a kiss, she relaxed back into his embrace.
His caress was drugging and lulled her into a dreamlike state. Before she knew what she was doing, she opened her mouth to him in a desire to feel closer and he deepened the kiss. But after a minute, respectful of the boundary that had been set, he pulled back and kissed her forehead, ending the encounter before it could become too heated.
Even though the kiss had ended, Henry did not release her and kept Grace in his arms, soothingly running his fingers though her hair as they both took a moment to calm their breathing and heart rates to return to normal. “Goodnight, wife,” he whispered. “Get some sleep, we have a long ride ahead of us tomorrow.”
Cradled next to him, head against his chest and feeling safe for the first time in a long while, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER24
Henry awoke the next morning and decided that there was no better feeling in the world than waking up with his wife in his arms. While he had never intended to leave Moira’s house party with a wife, he was glad he had not waited to make her his once the idea had been planted.
Waking before her, he was not unhappy to have a few minutes to study her more closely. In sleep, she looked truly at ease for the first time since he had first encountered her with Thomas in the library. Grace carried so many worries, that beautiful as she was, the tension around her eyes was usually clearly visible. But now, still unconscious to the world and its burdens, she looked utterly peaceful and not a wrinkle of concern could be found on her brow.
It was amazing how precious she had become to him in a week’s time. But even in that small window, he felt like he understood what motivated her fears to a certain degree. He was honored that after all she had been through, she was choosing to subvert those fears and trust him with her future happiness. He would do everything in his power to make sure she felt appreciated and cared for every day for the rest of her life, deserving nothing less.
Possessing such a gentle and loving spirit, Henry could see how it had been easily crushed when her father died, leaving her unprotected and without affection. He wanted to provide her a safe environment where her true nature, stifled for self-preservation, could bloom once again.
Watching her, he had to suppress a laugh when she shifted slightly, causing a piece of her hair to fall across her face and tickle her nose. Adorably, her nose scrunched at the sensation, much as it had with dust in the library. At remembering such a small detail, Henry was struck with the reality that though neither of them had married for love, he could in fact very easily fall for her. Stunned by the realization, he continued to stare at her without really seeing her as she came fully awake. She stretched in his arms, still only partially awake, and it must have been at that moment she realized she was in fact still nestled next to his side. The next moment she snapped to full alertness and stiffened next to him, blushing at the realization that she was still in his arms.
“Good morning, wife,” he said, grinning at her.
