Then he was behind her. The door closed. The people cheered and clapped. The carriage started to move. And Rose squirmed in her chair, contending herself with the very real fact that the next stage of her life was about to begin.
The newly married couple sat in silence at first. The Duke, happy to look out the window and pretend she was not there. And Rose, watching him closely, searching for some indication that this wasn’t the biggest mistake she had ever made.
Yes, he had assured her of what was to be expected. And yes, it should have set her mind at ease, if only a little. But the conversation had been brief; it felt like so long ago, and she needed to hear it again.
I need to know what this is, so there is even a chance I might find peace.
“May I ask you a question?” she started.
“Hhmm?” the Duke started in surprise and pulled himself from looking out the window.
“I said, can I ask you a question?”
He frowned. “I think you just did.”
Rose leaned back, caught by surprise at the comment. The Duke wore a smirk, and his green eyes sparkled with amusement. And then, as if realizing something, the Duke dropped his smirk andstraightened. His expression turned suddenly serious, and all humor was gone.
“Of course, you may ask me a question,” he said. “Please.”
Rose narrowed her eyes at her husband. Once again, she was having a hard time figuring the man out. There was undoubtedly a lightness to his personality, a sense that he could be fun and even jovial. But he seemed at pains to hide it, as if scared to show the world that side of himself.
“This marriage…” She cleared her throat. “I wish to confirm exactly what it is going to entail.”
“A little late for that now, is it not?” he said. “You are aware that the ceremony is over? No chance to get yourself out of it.”
“I am not trying to get myself out of it. If you recall, I am the reason that we are married in the first place.”
“Which tells me that you know exactly what you want,” he responded coolly. “So, rather than asking, why not just say it?”
Rose scowled. “You promised me a marriage of convenience, and I want to make certain that nothing has changed.”
“It has not,” he said simply.
“So,” She cleared her throat again. “You and I are just… we are… this is…” She found her tongue growing thick in her mouth, the words not coming out how she wanted them to.
“Allow me to set your mind at ease, Rose,” he sighed. “You do not mind if I call you as such? Seeing as you are now my wife.”
She scoffed. “So long as I may call you by your name? Christopher?”
His eyes flashed with amusement again, which he was quick to smother. “It is as I told you before, this marriage is mere convenience. The reason I married in the first place,” His lip curled.
“My father’s contract.”
“That was the cause, yes,” he said sharply. “But it is not the sole reason. The simple fact is that it behooves a man of my station to marry, to have a wife by my side so that my peers see me as…” He rolled his eyes. “Respectable.”
“It sounds like you do not agree.”
“It does not matter what I think; it is the nature of things.” A shadow passed behind his eyes, and Rose could see that this thought annoyed him. “All I need from you is what you promised. You claim that you know people, that you know how the world works.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “Then prove it.”
“What does that mean?”
He shrugged. “I suspect that we will find out. For now, I need as little from you as possible. We will live together. We will occasionally dine together. Who knows, perhaps in time we might even become friends.”
“Re–really?”
“No,” he said flatly. “My home will be yours, but we are not to treat one another as a married couple. In fact,” He bit into his lip and nodded once to confirm his thought. “Now seems as good a time as any to raise the matter of children.”
“Children?” Rose’s heart leapt through her throat.
