“What do you mean?”
“You were more forthright and had no issue in telling me what you thought of me and my… ways.”
“I suppose I wasn’t sure how to act around you any longer, now that you were going to be my husband,” she said.
“We have much to learn about one another,” Asher returned. “But one thing I can tell you is that I am fair, and I will never ask you to do anything that feels uncomfortable.”
Evelyn bit her lip. “How would you feel about me continuing to solve the puzzles at the British Institution every morning?”
“I would feel slighted, I suppose,” he said, and her mouth dropped open before he grinned, “Only because that would mean that you’re beating me to the answer every day.”
Her eyes widened. “You are going to try to solve them as well?”
His brow furrowed. “Why would you think I would onlytry?”
“Well, judging from what I witnessed the last time…”
By the time the carriage pulled to a stop in front of Ravenscar House, they were both laughing, the tension eased, at least until the carriage came to a stop and suddenly this small bubble where they were completely alone burst all over again.
“Why are all of the staff lined up in front of the door?” Evelyn asked.
“To greet the new lady of the house.”
“Would that not be your mother?”
He fixed her with a look, realizing that she hadn’t quite considered what all of this would mean.
“Not anymore.”
When the carriage door opened, he took a step down before reaching a hand up to help her.
“Welcome to Ravenscar House.”
Evelyn had triedto imagine what marriage would be like as she lay in bed the previous couple of nights, but she hadn’t imagined this.
That there would be a staff of people, waiting and ready to answer to her.
At her father’s townhouse, she had been the lady of the house, of course, but it was just the two of them with a few maids and footmen. Their housekeeper and butler had been with them for so long that they looked after almost everything.
Here, an entire staff was staring at her as though they expected her to make some kind of speech before telling them each exactly what they should be doing.
“This is Mrs. Jenkins,” Asher said, as the first woman curtsied to her. “She is our housekeeper. Mrs. Jenkins, please introduce the rest of the staff to her grace.”
Her grace. Evelyn swallowed hard as she looked to Asher for guidance, but he seemed preoccupied now that they had arrived, like he had done his duty and would now leave her be.
“I shall see you shortly for the wedding breakfast,” he said, before he was in the house, with Evelyn staring after him, open-mouthed, while the staff scrutinized her.
She nearly chased after him in her overwhelm, but then relief fell over her when a slightly familiar figure emerged from the house.
“Lady Thalia,” Evelyn said, relieved, if somewhat curious as to how her new sister-in-law had arrived before her. “How are you?”
“Welcome to Ravenscar, your grace,” Lady Thalia said.
“Oh, please call me, Evelyn,” she said softly. “I’m not sure if I will ever become used to that title.”
This was her home now. This was her family now. Would it ever start feeling like her reality?
“In that case, I will be Thalia,” she said with a shy smile. “I hope you will soon feel at home here.”
