“You can turn around.” He was dressed and he needed Isabella to understand what he was about to tell her. It was also imperative that nobody hear him so he stepped closer. “After today, you and I will never speak of this again. Not Blythe, the sale, anything. It will be as if it hadn’t happened.”
She frowned and studied him.
“Not even when we are alone in this tent,” he added. “After what I tell you, it is never to be mentioned again.”
“It is not a secret,” she reminded him.
“In time it will be forgotten.” He pushed his fingers through his hair. What he hoped was likely impossible but Blythe would not have her life and true freedom back until everyone forgot, if that were possible.
“You do not want anyone to know you bought a wife?”
“I do not care what anyone thinks of me. I will not have Blythe further shamed.”
“Dear brother, you do care for her.” Isabella grinned, her grey eyes light with teasing.
“I do not even know her but that does not mean she deserved to be auctioned off like a horse,” he retorted.
“I do agree with you on that point. Besides, I assume that she wants to return home. I would in her situation.”
Orlando cocked his head and snorted. “Truly? Your family would ask where your husband was and what do you think your brothers would do if they learned he sold you?”
Isabella’s eyes widened.
“Mercutio would likely kill the man with a single, well-placed fist.”
“No, I suppose that would be news that I would not want to share.”
“That is just your family, I cannot imagine how Blythe’s father would respond.”
“No differently, I suppose,” Isabella decided.
“Yes, well, you are not the daughter of the Duke of Arscott.”
Isabella gasped as her eyes widened again. “Are you certain?”
“Unless she lied to me, but what reason would she have to do so?”
“Is her husband a fool?”
“Apparently.”
“Is that why you want it kept a secret? Because of who her father is?”
“It is more for her then anyone else. How many men who witnessed the auction are also second or third sons of lords who will return to ballrooms in London when this bloody war is over? I do not want the gossip of what happened yesterday to follow her into Society.”
Orlando did not know why he cared so much but he did. He just knew that he needed to protect Blythe, vulnerable and alone, the best that he could.
Chapter Seven
Blythe woke to the bright sun shining into her chamber and realized that she had slept through the night, which had rarely occurred once she arrived on the Continent with her husband. She had not even dreamed but had been at peace.
Weight that she had carried no longer existed and she was relaxed, calm and in no hurry to quickly prepare a meal or straighten a tent or proceed cautiously because she was never certain what mood she might encounter.
She could lay here all day and do nothing because there was nobody to object.
Except, her stomach tightened and grumbled reminding her that sustenance was needed so she reluctantly pulled herself from the comfortable bed and prepared for the day before she joined the others in the dining room to break her fast.
Not everyone was present, but there were enough guests that pleasant conversation surrounded her without Blythe having to participate.
