* * *
Dinner was another strain.Sunny sat at the opposite end of the table from her husband, so far away that she could barelyseehim.
Before the first course had been removed, it was obvious that the dowager duchess was a tyrant, with all the tact of a charging bull. She made a string of remarks extolling Gavin’s noble spirit and aristocratic style, interspersed with edged comments about the deficiencies of “poor dearJustin.”
Charlotte tried to divert the conversation with a cheerful promise to send Sunny a copy of the table of precedence so that she would never commit the cardinal crime of seating people in the wrong order. That inspired the dowager to say, “There are about two hundred families whose history and relationships you must understand, Sarah. Has Justin properly explained all the branches of the Aubreys and of my own family, theSturfords?”
“Not yet, Duchess,” Sunny saidpolitely.
“Very remiss of him. Since he wasn’t raised to be a duke, he hasn’t a proper sense of what is due his station.” The dowager sniffed. “So sad to see poor dear Justin in his brother’s place. Such a comedown for the family. You must be quick about having a child, Sarah, and make sure it’saboy.”
Sunny was tempted to sling the nearest platter of veal collops at her mother-in-law, but it seemed too soon to get into a pitched battle. A quick glance at her husband showed that he had either not heard his mother, or he chose to ignore her. Clearly Alexandra had heard, for she was staring at her plate, her faceflushed.
Carefully Sunny said, “The eighth duke’s death was a great tragedy. You all have my sympathies onyourloss.”
The dowager sighed. “Gavin should have betrothed himself to you, not that Russell woman. If he had, he might be alive now, in his properplace.”
Sunny had heard enough gossip to know that the fatal problem had not been Gavin’s fiancée, but his inability to keep his hands off other women, even when on the way to his own wedding. Hoping to end this line of discussion, she said piously, “It is not for us to question the ways ofheaven.”
“A very proper sentiment,” the dowager said. “You have pretty manners. One would scarcely know you for anAmerican.”
Did the woman suppose that she was giving a compliment? Once more Sunny bit hertongue.
Yet in spite of her good intentions, she was not to get through the evening peacefully. The gauntlet was thrown down at the end of the lengthy meal, when it was time for the ladies to withdraw and leave the gentlemen to their port. Sunny was about to give the signal when the dowager grandly rose to her feet and beat Sunnytoit.
As three women followed the dowager’s lead, Sunny’s blood went cold. This was a direct challenge to her authority as the new mistress of the household. If she didn’t assert herself immediately, her mother-in-law would walk alloverher.
The other guests hesitated, glancing between the new duchess and the old. Sunny wanted to whimper that she was tootiredfor this, but she supposed that crises never happened at convenient times. Though her hands clenched below the table, her voice was even when she asked, “Are you feeling unwell,Duchess?”
“I am in splendid health,” her mother-in-law said haughtily. “Where did you get the foolish idea that I might beailing?”
“I can think of no other reason for you leaving prematurely,” Sunny said with the note of gentle implacability that she had often heard in her mother’svoice.
For a moment the issue wavered in the balance. Then, one by one, the female guests who had gotten to their feet sank back into their seats with apologetic glances at Sunny. Knowing that she had lost, the dowager returned to the table, her expression stiff withmortification.
As she waited for a decent interval to pass before leading the ladies from the table, Sunny drew in a shaky breath. She had won the first battle, but she knew there would beothers.
* * *
The evening endedwhen the first clock struck eleven. Accompanied by the bonging of numerous other clocks, Justin escorted his wife upstairs. When they reached the door of her room, he said, “I’m sorry that it’s been such a long day, but everyone was anxious tomeetyou.”
She smiled wearily. “I’ll be fine after a night’ssleep.”
“You were a great success with everyone.” After a moment of hesitation, he added, “I’m sorry my mother was so... abrupt. Gavin was her favorite, and she took his death verybadly.”
“You miss him, too, but it hasn’t made you rude.” She bit her lip. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to soundimpertinent.”
“My mother is a forceful woman, and I don’t expect that you’ll always agree. Blanche and Charlotte used to have terrible battles with her. Just remember that you are my wife, and the mistress ofSwindon.”
“I shall attempt to be tactful while establishing myself.” She made a rueful face. “But I warn you, I have trouble countenancing unkind remarks about otherpeople.”
That sensitivity to others was one of the things he liked best about her. A volatile mix of tenderness and desire moved through him, and he struggled against his yearning to draw her into his arms and soothe herfatigueaway.
He might have done so if he hadn’t been aware that the desire to comfort would be followed by an even more overwhelming desire to remove her clothing, garment by garment, and make slow, passionate love to her. With the lamps lit, not inthedark.
Innocently she turned her back to him and said, “Could you unfasten my dog collar? It’s miserablyuncomfortable.”
The heavy collar had at least fifteen rows of pearls. As he undid the catch and lifted the necklace away, he saw that the diamond clasp had rubbed her tender skin raw. He frowned. “I don’t like seeing you wearing something thathurtsyou.”
