He laughed. “And maybe a little more than that.”
The fact that he was laughing was something that Rose could not get her head around. That he was showing emotions, while not trying to hide them, was so unlike him she had half a mind to ask who he was and what he had done to her husband.
As she watched him, she noticed again that he aligned his cutlery beside the plate so that it sat evenly on both sides.
“Why do you keep doing that?” she asked.
“What?” His eyes widened, and he dropped his hands.
“The cutlery. And the glass,” She laughed gently. “The staff said that you liked things a certain way, but I had no idea how much.”
He grimaced. “As I said, this has been hard for you, as well as me.”
Guilt struck Rose suddenly. She did not mean for it to happen, she did not expect it, but for the first time, she saw her husband as more than the duke who had tried to force her sister into a marriage that she did not want. He was a victim in this, too. His world had changed as much as her own. And here he was, trying to accept these changes, to make them work, and the least that she could do.
“You are right.” She straightened up. “About everything.”
“I am?”
She laughed. “This past week has been tragic, and I will not deny it. But that does not mean next week has to be the same. Or the one after, for that matter.”
“Truly?”
“Truly.”
The Duke allowed his smile to show, and then to reach his eyes. Rose felt a squirming in her stomach to see it, and she felt her heart race just a little to feel the changes happening between them both.
Finally, she was starting to see the Duke as a real person, a man, her husband.
“With that in mind, there is something else we must discuss,” he said and cleared his throat. “I was not sure if we were quite ready.”
“Oh?”
He scoffed. “It is nothing to worry about, but there is a Ball I was planning on attending in three days. I was not certain if I should invite you, or if you would even want to go.” He clicked his tongue and looked away.
“I would love to go,” she said, realizing it was the truth.
“You would?” he asked with great skepticism.
“Of course,” she said, again finding that she meant it.
“Wonderful.” A quick smile. “It will be good for us to be seen together. And now that we can stand to be in the same room.” He laughed, and it sounded real. Better than that, it soundedright. “Speaking of which, what are you plans for tomorrow?”
She frowned. “Ah, none so far.”
“Good.” He nodded firmly. “We will go shopping. If we are to attend this Ball, it will do for you to have some new gowns.”
“I have plenty of gowns of my own.”
He looked at her and cocked an eyebrow as a smirk worked over his lips. “The gowns you have are those of the daughter of a viscount. You are a duchess now, Rose, my wife, and when you appear in society, people should know it. More than that, they should fall on their knees with gratitude that they were lucky enough to bear witness to such a thing as your beauty.”
Rose’s cheeks flushed bright pink. “Oh, please.”
“I am being serious,” he said, sounding like he meant it. “Tomorrow, we will go shopping, and I will show you what it means to be the wife of a duke.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“As am I.”
