The real smile is even prettier.The thought caught him off guard, making his heart speed up, and he felt a small furrow form in his brow. He could hear the sound of a second carriage pulling up to the door, and felt his shoulders relax.
“Efficient as always, Mr. Wilkins.” Alaric rolled his shoulders and turned to leave, but as he did, a voice called out.
“Will... will you not be joining me?” his new wife asked.
Alaric turned to see her standing a little way from him, a slight frown on her face. “I am afraid not. This is where we part ways.”
He saw her frown deepen. “What do you mean?”
“That I have no wish to reside with a stranger.” He shrugged.
“Then why did you marry me?” she canted her head toward him.
“Because it was necessary to preserve your reputation and maintain my honor as a gentleman. This is a legal arrangement, nothing more, nothing less.” He ran a hand through his hair and turned away from her, heading toward his waiting carriage. “If you need me, I will be at Coldmere Castle, just outside of Bath. However, I suggest you only contact me in the most dire circumstances.”
Her words stopped him, pulling his gaze back to her before he had even taken a step. “And what about me? While you are doing whatever you want, am I supposed to sit here twiddling my thumbs?”
“If that is how you choose to occupy your time, so be it. It is of little concern to me. It is your life, after all. You are free to do as you please.” He waved his hand through the air in a gesture of dismissal.
So long as you keep your distance, I do not care.
“And I am supposed to take you at your word?” Her eyes narrowed even more.
“Are you always this suspicious, or is this something you reserve just for me?” He canted his head toward her. “Have I given you reason to distrust me?”
“No. But you have not given me any reason to trust you either.” He watched the muscles in her neck contract as she swallowed.
“Is marrying you and restoring your reputation not enough?” He crossed his arms across his chest.
“By your own admission, that was born of propriety and obligation; hardly things that support a woman’s freedom.” Her shoulders had risen just slightly, her fingers flexed and clenched.
She is nervous.Alaric continued to study her, expecting her to look away from him, but she did not. “More to the point, it is difficult to believe that a man who did not even ask me for my hand, who sought no consultation with me in my own wedding, and who even dictated where my wedding dress would be purchased from would allow me to live my life as I wished.”
“Your wedding dress? Why would I intervene in such a thing? I told your parents that I would pay for your dress and for your bridal wardrobe as a matter of duty.” Alaric frowned, unable to keep the explanation from slipping from his lips.
How much of her life has been controlled by others? It is no wonder she is so furious beneath that façade.
He kept his thoughts from his face, focusing on the way her eyes widened. He could see her recalculating something in her mind, some of the frustration fading from her eyes. That would not do.
I must make her want to keep her distance.
“So long as your actions do not bring my reputation into disrepute or cause a nuisance, I do not care what you do.” He made to turn from her.
“I am sure that will be only too easy with your gregarious nature.” The sarcasm in her voice pulled his focus back to her.
Alaric took a step toward his wife, letting his frown deepen even as amusement and admiration welled within him.
Few people would talk to me like that.
“I do not care for your tone, Duchess.”
“And I do not enjoy being treated like a simpleton. You cannot tell me I am free to do whatever I please, and then tell me not to make a nuisance of myself.” She tilted her chin toward him, her eyes flashing in the light, even as she took a half a step back. “That is not freedom, it is control dressed up as rationality.”
He closed the distance between them, towering over her, his tone dangerous and silky as she pressed herself against a wall.
It must be like this.
“You think it unreasonable to expect you to stay out of trouble?”
