“Do you like it?”
Bethany closed her mouth, which had fallen open the moment she stepped through the door and then spun around in awe. “But it wasn’t supposed to be done for at least another fortnight.”
Chase took her hand and walked her through to the dressing room, adjacent to a small but pleasant chamber for Polly, and then a tiled suite which had been outfitted with the most modern plumbing available.
But none of it was as perfect for her as the room itself. The walls had been painted a cool mint, the wainscoting a clean white with molding around the ceiling to match. It wasn’t overly ostentatious or overwhelming. It was exactly what she’d envisioned.
“I love it! It’s exactly what I wanted. Calming, pretty, and feminine.” She glanced toward the bed that, although larger than any she’d ever owned, featured simple canopied drapes and wasn’t so high off the floor. “But it’s practical too.”
Chase grinned at her from where he stood, leaning against the wall with his ankles crossed. “Like you.”
“Practical?”
“And pretty and feminine.” His eyes danced. “I’ll admit that you are calming, but there have been too many occasions when you have been anything but.”
“Likewise, husband,” she teased.
He flicked his silver blue gaze toward a bureau. “Look in the top drawer.”
When he met her eyes again, his were no longer teasing, but intense with the slightest hint of uncertainty.
Chase had a way about him that had her anticipating the next wonderful moment instead of always worrying about what was coming next. “Another surprise?” She looked over her shoulder, cocking a brow as she grasped the ornate handle on the drawer.
“Open it and see.”
As much as she appreciated any gift he would buy for her, the trinket itself didn’t matter. Over the past few weeks, since she’d been shot, her husband could not have been anymore loving or considerate in any way.
He’d introduced her to his sisters and their mother and then been adamant that an end be put to the lie regarding his rakish reputation. He’d insisted that it wasn’t fair to the girls, nor was it fair to her.
Bethany had seen that he was torn as far as how to deal with his mother, as was she.
And so, after a very long discussion with Mrs. Jones, Collette, Diana and even Sarah, they’d all decided to formally introduce the girls to society as his cousins. New records had been established for all three of his sisters, in the name of the late Harold Corbet. A very distant cousin to Chase’s father. They resembled Chase and his father well enough that it was a natural assumption.
Blackheart had, of course, handled the legalities of appropriating a deceased man with three grown daughters: Misses Collette, Diana, and Sarah Corbet.
Bethany was to sponsor Collette and Diana’s entrance into society, and Sarah and Mrs. Jones would travel to Easter Park indefinitely, along with a special teacher who would work with the young girl so that she could exercise more independence.
Upon hearing of these long-lost relations of her husband’s, Christine had offered up the use of the dower house there for as long as they had need of it. Although the scheme seemed complicated at times, all of it seemed to be worth it.
Bethany opened the drawer and blinked.
A pendant necklace, almost identical to her wedding ring. Staring at it took her back to that moment in the church, when although their future had been uncertain, as had been their love, he’d made her feel…
Beautiful. Feminine.
Special.
“I love it.” Her voice came out little more than a whisper. She lifted it out of the velvet box and slid the chain over her fingers. “You don’t need to buy me things.”
“I know.” Chase stood behind her now. When Bethany lifted her hands to clasp it around her neck, he took the ends from her and did it himself. “I wanted to though.”
The warmth and promise of his breath sent a shiver through her.
“You do so much, not only for me, but for my mother, my sisters, your family… You are a strong and capable and clever woman but…”
He turned her around, his gaze burning into hers.
“…you are also an incredibly lovely woman.” He lowered his mouth to the edge of her jaw. “Alluring.” He trailed his lips down her neck. “Sensual. Passionate.”
