Made one small step forward as the lady of the house. Perhaps this would come more naturally than she thought, after all.
Asher stareddown at the note in front of him. It had been waiting when they arrived after the wedding earlier today.
When they had descended from the carriage, a footman had whispered in his ear that another note was waiting for him, one similar to the last. Asher had no choice but to face the overwhelming urge within him to open it immediately, although he hadn’t told Evelyn about it, not wanting to scare her on the first day of their marriage. She had enough to worry about. Despite the brave front she wore, he could sense that she was struggling to come to terms with all that awaited her, all that was expected of her.
He had an innate need to soothe her, to protect her, to make this all better, but he was faced with a sense that he hadalready done all he could, which only made him feel all the more helpless.
Asher now reread the note, his face draining of color once more, just as it had the first time he had read it.
Marriage will not save you. Nor will it save her.
For some reason, the threat to Evelyn was more frightening than that to himself. Perhaps because he was now responsible for her — yet another responsibility, added to the many others in his life.
He sighed.
If anything happened to her, it would be all his fault. And yet… she wasn’t just an added annoyance of responsibility. A sense of protectiveness flowed through him every time he looked at her.
Even when Julian had leaned in and caused her to smile as he did with all of the ladies, Asher had been on edge, ready to storm over and tell his friend to give her space.
He supposed this was what came from marriage.
His head snapped up at a knock at the door, but it was only the butler.
“Your grace, it is nearly dinner. Your wife has requested that the two of you dine alone tonight.”
“Alone?” He furrowed his brow, unsure what his mother would say about that. But he had told Evelyn that the household was hers to command now, and, truthfully, the idea of being alone with her again was tempting.
Which was ridiculous. She was his wife now.
Yet, when he arrived at the entrance to the private dining room an hour later, finding her sitting there by herself in front of the elegantly laid table, his heart turned over in his chest in strange contortions.
The table was meant to seat a party, but she had arranged for them to sit in the middle of the table, across from one another – equals.
He kind of liked it.
“Good evening,” he said as he took his chair, wishing he had arrived first so that he could have helped her into hers.
“Good evening,” she replied, the attempted half-smile on her face reminding him of how she had appeared arriving at Ravenscar earlier in the day — like she was trying to appear confident but was much more uncertain.
“I’m sure dinner will be wonderful,” he said, wanting to break the silence but unsure of what else to say. “The staff always does a tremendous job.”
“They seem very… efficient,” she said, before taking a sip from her wine. “Well-trained.”
“My mother is very exact.”
“So it seems,” Evelyn said, looking to the side, and Asher was suddenly filled with some dread.
“Did she say anything to you?”
“Your mother?”
“Yes.”
“Actually… she has hardly said anything to me at all.”
That made sense. His mother hadn’t exactly been thrilled about this marriage, nor the rumors that had led to it. She was still sore about the deviation from her plan, but truthfully, Asher had met Lady Tottenham’s daughter, and neither of them had much interest in one another.
Tonight, he was aware of Evelyn. Of how small she looked at the long table. Of how carefully she chose her words, as though she didn’t want to speak anything that wasn’t true, but also didn’t want to offend him.
