“I have no intention of moving your mother anywhere, Sarah. Nor in disturbing her one whit. On the contrary, whatever she needs, you have but to ask, and I’ll ensure it’s done.”
She nodded, unable to speak.
Finally, she turned, taking up her post beside the bed again. She would not cry. Not now. Not in front of him.Not in her mother’s room. But it took moments for her to regain a semblance of composure.
“When I think of my childhood, I don’t think of my father,” she said softly, remembering the comment he’d made in the carriage. “I think of my mother, instead. Whatever I learned from my governess, she augmented. She had a wonderful imagination. She and I took long, fantastic trips to Istanbul, Russia, China, and America, even though we never left Chavensworth. I learned to speak French, so that when we imagined Paris, I could converse along with her. There was no happier child than I was. Nor spoiled, perhaps.”
“I doubt you were spoiled,” he said.
He didn’t look at her but continued to study her mother. Finally, he turned to leave the room, glancing back at her. “My name is Douglas,” he said. “What shall I call you? Lady Sarah? Even though you’ve lost your title on marrying me?”
“I haven’t,” she said. From the look on his face, she’d surprised him. “I’ve merely changed it. I’m Lady Sarah Eston now.”
“A duke’s daughter.”
“Yes. An accident of birth, if you will, Mr. Eston. Am I to deny it?”
“I wouldn’t ask it of you,” he said.
She was grateful for his smile. It tripped her annoyance and kept her from tears.
“Call me whatever you wish.”
He looked as if he would like to say something but changed his mind. She allowed him the privacy of his thoughts. She would not pull and push as he’d done to her. She didn’t want to know what he was thinking.
She looked beyond him to where Thomas still stood.He and Hester were certainly getting an earful. Thank heavens neither was the type to gossip.
“Please prepare the Red Room, for Mr. Eston,” she said to Thomas. There, far enough away from her own chamber that he would not be a bother. If she tried, she could even ignore the fact that her husband was living under the same roof.
Eston merely smiled, but instead of correcting her, turned to Thomas. “Ready the Duke’s Suite for me. I presume Chavensworth has one?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And move my wife’s things into it as well.”
The fact that she was in her mother’s sickroom kept her mute, but nothing could push back her anger or the fear following on its heels.
“I told you I would not come to your chamber.”
“And I told you I would not come to yours,” he said, still smiling. “Fate has decreed that we have a chamber large enough to share. Or are you telling me that what I imagine is not true? Is the Duke’s Suite a cramped closet?”
Hardly, since it occupied nearly half of the second floor. She remained silent, however, not divulging any information.
“Besides, I have always believed in beginning a task with the outlook in mind.”
“The outlook?”
“Being a married couple. Acting as man and wife.”
She hadn’t actually thought beyond getting home. Perhaps she’d believed that once she was inside Chavensworth, the situation would magically rearrange itself, and he would disappear. Perhaps she’d thought that her mother would be well and would banish him with her tinkling smile and a look that dared him tocomplain. Perhaps she even thought that he would see the error of his ways and feel only shame for having taken advantage of the situation.
Instead, he was saying things like acting as man and wife.
“Are you insane?”
He didn’t look mad. In fact, he looked positively pleased. Dear heavens, what on earth did she do now?
He didn’t respond to her goad, and she wondered what he would do if she simply stood and walked from the room. Would he demand her return? Worse, would he make a scene in front of the servants?
