“Perhaps it is you who are shaking?” she shot back. “Nervous, are we?”
He laughed. “Clearly. I have a reputation, you know, and I fear that if I am seen with my wife on my arm, it might ruin everything I have worked so hard to achieve. What will people say of me?”
She could not help but laugh. “Oh no. Too much of this and people might start to assume that you are a gentleman.”
“The horror.”
“Don’t worry,” she teased him. “If anyone asks, I will be sure to set them straight.” She glanced at him, unsurprised to find him smiling. “That you are still a rakish scoundrel, and it is all I can do to avoid your lurid ways.”
“Please do,” he joked. “I mean…” He scoffed and nodded with his head across the garden. “Look at how everyone stares. I can’t imagine what they are thinking.”
Sebastian was correct to notice how nearly everyone in the garden was looking at them. It was a busy affair; scores of guests spread across the large estate as they ate and drank and engaged in trivial banter with one another. Games were being playedtoward the back. There was also a space in which people danced together. And with the sun shining as it was, awnings had been erected for people to gather under so as to seek shade. It was a very crowded garden.
And still, the moment that she and Sebastian breached the garden, it was undeniable that they became the center of attention.
That was the reason Margot had been shaking with nerves. Having spent the last three years hiding from the scandal of her earlier years, she feared that still the whispers of what she had done would follow her. That was when people saw her arrive; they would sneer and gasp and shake their heads, for what was she thinking coming to an event such as this?Once I loved the attention, now I loathe it.
What she noticed at that moment, however, was that the way everyone looked at her was different from how she had envisioned it. The gazes were not judgmental or condescending. There were no sneers of contempt or rumored whispers behind hands. Rather, there was a sense of…is that envy? Even respect?It sure felt like it.
As if he could read her mind, Sebastian chuckled. “It feels different, doesn’t it?”
“What?”
“The way you are treated, now that you are a duchess.”
She scoffed. “Somehow, I doubt that makes a difference. Especially considering who my husband is…” She raised a judgmental eyebrow at him.
He laughed. “It makes all the difference, Margot. Oh, sure, they might still wonder at the nature of this marriage. They might still bicker behind our backs about you and your past. But that you are now above them, and that they know it…” He shrugged. “Believe me, you will see how differently they treat you. Just try not to enjoy it too much.”
Margot had never considered that before. All this time, she had been so focused on the negatives of this marriage. Forced into it. And to a man whom she ought to have despised. She did not want this marriage and had made that clear from the beginning. Only, now…
Is this not what I always wanted? The reason I was so desperate to marry at an early age? To rise above my station and finally have what I felt that I deserved. To be seen in ways that most could never dream.
Margot could not help but smile. Just as she could not help but hold onto her husband’s arm a little bit tighter as they walked. The nerves left her, replaced with pride because she seemed to glow so that everyone could not help but notice her. And oh, how she enjoyed it.
“There she is,” Sebastian chuckled when he noticed the change in her. “I was wondering how long it would take.”
She scoffed. “Just doing my part, husband.”
“As I am doing mine, wife.” He winked at her, and this saw her laugh and shake her head. For once, she wasn’t looking for a reason to dismiss him. For once, she was enjoying being on his arm and in his company.
They walked together through the garden, nodding and smiling at those they passed. A few came in to greet them, and all that did were polite and congratulatory and seemingly earnest in their praise for what looked to be a happy union. And once again, Margot found herself liking it more than she should have.
“Margot!” a voice cried across the garden.
Margot looked up and saw her cousin, Arabella, coming for her. She waved her over… “Be nice,” she then warned Sebastian.
“When am I ever not nice?” he said as if offended.
She rolled her eyes but laughed, his sense of humor finally starting to settle on her now that she wasn’t so defensive and wary against it.
“You came!” Arabella reached her and pulled her into a hug. “I know you said that you would, but I was not certain.”
“Of course I did,” Margot said.
“Only because I forced her,” Sebastian stepped in. “She was very much on the fence about it, but I would be remiss if I passed up a chance to show off my wife.”
Arabella frowned at the comment and looked to Margot for confirmation that he wasn’t making fun.
