“No,” he said simply. “Most of what you have heard is true – and a lot that you have not heard, for the best if I know the man as well as I do.”
“Oh…”
“I just wish to say that Sebastian is not as bad as many seem to think he is. Oh yes, he has a past. But don’t we all…” He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and she winced. “But our past does not define us, and Sebastian is one whose heart is always in the right place. Even if he would never admit it.”
“So, what you are saying is that I should be over the moon with cheer for this marriage?” There was a sharpness to her tonethat she didn’t mean but could not hold back. “Grateful that His Grace offered me such an opportunity.”
He laughed. “Sebastian said you were different – in a good way,” he made sure to clarify. “The point I am making is that you should not go into this marriage expecting the worst. I know as well as anyone that these things rarely turn out how we think they will, and if you are willing to give it a chance….” His smile grew, and she saw that he was watching his wife with what could only be described as utmost adoration. “You might find that this is not nearly the death sentence you seem to think it is.”
She was frowning at the duke, unsure what to make of his comments. “I will remember that,” she said finally, wanting to believe him, while doubting he had any idea of what he spoke of.
“Just something to think about…” He touched her lightly on the arm and smiled at her. “And congratulations. Truly, I wish the best for both of you.” With that, the Duke of Ravencourt left her, making for her husband, whom he slapped on the back and then pulled into a tight hug.
“What was that?” Arabella came in beside her.
“Hmm?” Margot turned and blinked, her mind and thoughts elsewhere.
“The Duke of Ravencourt,” she said in a whisper. “What did he say to you?”
“Oh…” She looked back, focusing not on the Duke of Ravencourt but on her husband. He was smiling and laughing with his friends, back to his usual self-assuredness for which he was known. And where Margot could still see in him the same arrogant and cocky man whom she had met two weeks ago in the library, she wondered now if there was more there.
Is it possible that all this worry is for nothing? This might not be the marriage I wanted, but what if it is not the tragedy I expect? And is it worth hoping for the best…
“Nothing interesting,” she lied to her cousin. “Just wishing me the best.”
“You’re going to need it,” Arabella sighed as she took Margot by the arm. “I still cannot believe this has happened. I cannot help but wonder what might have been if we had done as I had known we should and skipped the ball altogether.”
Things might have been easier that way, Margot knew. But that would not have solved them. Before the ball, she had been a social outcast, and she knew too well that things would have remained that way, lest a miracle were to occur. And maybe, just maybe, this was that miracle.
Seven
“Welcome to your new home…” The duke stepped ahead and opened the doors to the manor. “Your Grace, the Duchess of Eastmoor.” He grinned as he spoke the words, seeming amused by them. Or perhaps it was the nervous look on Margot’s face that brought such a reaction?
Margot hesitated before entering. It was a strange thing, but until right now, none of this had seemed particularly real; as if she might close her eyes and wake up to find it all a dream. Only once she stepped across that threshold, there would be no going back…
“Is something the matter?” he asked, noting her hesitancy.
“I…” She frowned as she considered. “Before I do, I would like to confirm a few things.”
“A little late for that, no?”
“Perhaps,” she agreed, not at all liking the amused look in his eyes. “Still, I have some questions – one question specifically that I would like for you to answer.”
“Hmm…” He rubbed his chin. “Is this a question I will like?”
“Only if you have nothing to hide,” she shot back.
“I suspect I have many things to hide,” he said with laughter. “But isn’t that the point of marriage? To learn about the one you are now bound to for eternity. After all, we have a lifetime to learn such things.”
“Better that I do now,” she said, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow at him. “So as to avoid any surprises.”
“And if you do not like what I have to say?”
She narrowed her eyes, her anger growing because he was not taking this seriously – indeed, he seemed to take pleasure in frustrating her. “For your sake, I hope that I do.”
Margot had yet to decide fully how she felt about her husband. To understand him on anything more than a superficial level. The few times they had spoken, the duke was playful and deprecating, never serious, as he did anything he could to turn the moment into a joke. It made him damn impossible to read.
It had been the same at the post-ceremony breakfast, from which they had just come. For the entire morning and earlyevening, he had avoided her as if she were the plague, leaving her to sit alone and watch him as she tried to figure out who this man was. And most importantly, what he wanted. Oh sure, they had spoken about that already, but that was weeks ago, and the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she had not been nearly clear enough about what was expected.
