“Have you quite finished pestering my wife, Mother?” he asked in a teasing tone.
Nora and Bridget both laughed as Nora swatted the air in his direction.
“Hush, you,” she teased back. “What do you want? Can you not see I am bonding with my beautiful new daughter-in-law?”
Bridget felt her heart swell even more at Nora’s words. In turn, Adrian’s smile grew bigger, and he pushed himself away from the doorframe to stride into the room.
“How goes the day?” he asked, bracing his hands on Bridget’s shoulders.
She beamed up at him.
“Quite well,” she replied earnestly, then looked over at Nora.
“It has indeed,” Nora agreed, reaching out to pat Bridget’s hand.
“I am happy to hear it,” Adrian replied, and Bridget knew he meant it wholeheartedly. However, I must pull my new bride away. We have plans this evening, and we must not be late.”
Bridget looked back up at him, surprised.
“We do?” she asked.
“We do indeed,” Adrian replied, then nodded toward the windows. “And seeing as how the day is fleeing, we must attend to readying ourselves.”
Bridget’s brows furrowed as she felt even more confused, then gasped as she looked toward the windows. The sun was indeed setting, which meant that she and the dowager had been talking for hours without even realizing it.
“Well, I suppose if you have plans,” Nora said with a dramatic sigh as she leaned back into her chair. “I shall let you take her away. But only if you promise to bring her back.”
“I swear it,” Adrian replied, and Bridget smiled as she heard the mirth in his deep voice. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 23
“Where are we going?” Bridget asked as the carriage took them away from the Redgrave London estate.
“It is a surprise,” Adrian answered with a mischievous grin.
Bridget rolled her eyes, feeling light and giddy, and turned to the window to look for any familiar landmarks.
As he had requested, Bridget had readied herself to go out with the help of Eva and Mona, who had been more than happy to join her at her new home. Mr. Conway and Farley, as well, had been found posts in the Mason home.
Her two maids had strung pearls in her long hair and braided it beautifully into a crown. A touch of rouge was applied to her cheeks and lips, just enough to highlight her cream complexion. For her gown, she had chosen a blue silk trimmed with silver thread—a color that most accurately matched Adrian’s eyes.
Adrian had positively beamed when he had first seen her, and murmured words of praise into her ear as he took her hand and led her to the carriage. Even now, as they were on their way, she still felt the delightful hum those words had caused. However, asBridget began recognizing familiar houses, her happiness faded a little, replaced by a slight gnawing in her stomach.
“You are taking me to Katie and John’s party?” she asked, turning to him with a worried look.
She had received the invitation a couple of days ago, but had not yet felt up to returning to parties. After all, the last one she had attended had gone so horribly and had left her feeling like a mouse being pulled apart by vultures.
“I thought it was time that you were reintroduced into society,” Adrian replied, his deep voice calm. “You are no longer the Countess of Winslow.”
He paused, leaning forward to take her hand. She looked at him and found his blue eyes full of sincerity.
“You are a changed woman entirely,” he said reverently. “I have seen you shed that old version of yourself, and now you have also shed your title. It is time our peers met the Duchess of Redgrave so that they may marvel at her splendor.”
Bridget’s breath caught in her throat as she was moved so very deeply by her husband’s words.
“Are you sure this will not go terribly wrong? I mean… I would normally have been expected to still be in mourning, and now I have gotten married, and… What will people say if we begin to attend social events so boldly?”
“Have faith, dear wife,” Adrian urged, then kissed her hand. “A new day has approached.”
