“Albury, I didn’t think you would honor us,” he said in a loud voice.
Everyone around them openly observed. This was the main event of the night, in a way, the juiciest of gossip. The Cruel Duke returns to the family he had kicked out of his estate.
“I intend to honor all family duties,” Gerald replied.
“We, of course, invited you to the event. We would have returned the favor, had we received the same courtesy.”
The guests murmured behind their palms and fans. Gerald really needed to shed all manners but resisted the irresistible urge to strike him.
“Come now, Joseph,” Unity cooed with fake sympathy. “Your brother married so suddenly, he barely had time to invite anyone.”
“I wonder,” another voice was added to the mix, “what prompted him to marry so suddenly.”
It was Cecilia, his half-sister and the bride of the evening. She was looking at him with the same distaste that his stepmother reserved for him. Gerald knew that this was coming. This was what the rest of the ton was wondering, too. He had, of course, been seen with Arabella outside, promenading, but that was just one occasion that didn’t warrant a wedding proposal.
“I was unaware there existed a prescribed timetable for matrimony,” Gerald fired back.
Unity and Cecilia exchanged an enigmatic look.
“We are being rude to the new Duchess,” Unity said with the widest smile on her face. “Welcome, Your Grace.”
“I am very pleased to make your acquaintance,” Arabella said smoothly. “And very happy to celebrate such a joyful occasion.”
Her composure was flawless. Everybody attending was looking at her, waiting for one slip. But Gerald, very proudly, knew that Arabella would not fail him.
“How do you find the Albury Estate these days, Your Grace?” Cecilia asked pointedly.
They kept calling her by her honorific, instead of something more intimate, as would be fit for members of the family. Gerald didn’t mind, of course. Those people, after all, were not part of his family. But to the outside world, that created a clear distance. Arabella was simply not accepted. As if these three people had any say as to who would be accepted into the family. They had been kicked out of it by the only person deciding who did: him.
“The Albury Estate is simply majestic,” Arabella said honestly.
Gerald looked down at her and realized that she was speaking the truth. She really loved their estate. But before he had time to enjoy that thought, Unity absolutely had to open her mouth.
“I am sure it must be quite different from your paternal house,” his stepmother said so sweetly.
His stepmother’s implication that Arabella came from a lesser family might have been amusing. Considering that she and her children survived solely on his generosity, the hypocrisy was almost impressive. Almost.
“Different, certainly,” Arabella agreed with lightness in her voice. “Though I suspect any house feels like home once one is entrusted with its care.”
Fans snapped shut, and there was a moment of silence in the ballroom. Gerald looked down at the woman by his side. With just a simple sentence, she had managed to convey, with grace, that she was now the mistress of the Albury Estate.
He gave his family a wide smile that ended the conversation and guided Arabella finally to the refreshment table. Everyone’s eyes followed them, but they decided to focus on something else the moment Arabella took the first sip of her lemonade. He wished he could relax accordingly.
But unfortunately, many dangers lurked in this beautiful ballroom. He guided Arabella towards the corner that would give him a full view of the ballroom, close to the wall, making sure there was no room for surprises.
His eyes darted from one guest to the next, trying to read who might be the one his family had roped into their schemes. He felt as if trapped behind enemy lines, but he was not going to be an easy victim.
“I must say, Your Grace,” Arabella broke through the fog of alertness, “I am starting to see where your disdain for your family stems from.”
He looked at her, surprised, only to find her inspecting the sandwich she was holding.
“I wonder who ordered this criminal combination. It is rather unfortunate for an engagement party, don’t you think?”
He chuckled lowly. Leave it to Arabella to be publicly insulted, then defend herself, only to focus on a sandwich.
“And you haven’t even tried the canapés,” he said. “The duck liver ones are positively offensive.”
She looked up at him with a satisfied, encouraging look. She had promised to stay by his side, and she was doing far more than that. She was ready to reply with something that would definitely be intentionally hilarious when someone interrupted them.
