Lord Theodore made a long, unwieldy speech about how proud he was of his only niece having married at last. Then he welcomed Ewan into the family. Ewan did his best to be gracious, while wishing the older man would simply take his leave.
Immediately after the door closed behind the group, Thea turned to Ewan with a stonelike look on her face and said, “I should greatly like to take a nap.”
“Of course. It’s been a long morning,” Ewan replied with an equal lack of emotion. He had no objection to her plan. How could he? He was trapped somewhere between wanting to take a nap himself and wanting to join Bell in the study to drink. After Thea had disappeared up the staircase, Ewan opted for the latter.
THE MOMENTEWANentered the study, Bell held up a glass. The marquess was already sitting in front of Ewan’s desk with two brandy glasses filled. “Congratulations, Clayton! I know I speak for Kendall and Worth as well when I say, we’d never have thoughtyou’dbe the first to tie the parson’s noose around your neck.”
Ewan readily took the glass from his friend and walked around his desk to sit. “Really? Who did you think would be first?”
“I suppose I always thought it would be Kendall,” Bell replied. “He’ll need a countess sooner or later, now that he’s an earl.”
Ewan nodded slowly. Their group of friends all knew that Kendall, who’d been a second son at the time, had been tossed over by a young woman who had received an offer of marriage from a baron. It had greatly affected Kendall. The man hadn’t attempted to court another lady since. But now that his brother had died and he was the earl, Kendall wouldn’t have the luxury of remaining a bachelor. “I suppose you’re right,” Ewan agreed. He tugged at his cravat to loosen the thing. He was convinced it had been about to choke him all morning.
“But there’s plenty of time for all of that,” Bell continued, raising his glass in the air for a toast. “Here’s to you and your new viscountess. May you have decades of happiness together.”
Ewan dutifully raised his glass and drank, but he highly doubted he and Thea would have decades of happiness. Not given the way their marriage had begun.
Ewan spent the next several hours trying to drink away the memory of the unhappy look on Thea’s face as she’d marched down the aisle toward him this morning. He’d ruined her life today. She’d called him an ass the day they’d met. She was bloody well right.
BY THE TIMEEwan took his leave from Bell that evening, he was not nearly inebriated enough. Oh, he’d drunk enough. Plenty. But he still had his wits about him. The only thing that could make him more of an ass on his wedding night would be being adrunkenass. And he had no intention of making Thea’s day any worse.
To that end, he’d waited long enough. He’d remained in the study with Bell for hours. It was well past dinner time. He’d hidden from his new wife long enough. No matter what happened between them tonight, it was time for the reckoning.
“Good night, old chap,” he said, standing, walking around his desk, and clapping Bell on the shoulder.
“Good night,” Bell replied, lifting the last sip of his brandy in the air. “I do believe I’ll go to bed myself. But first I’ll stop in the library and get something to read.”
As Ewan climbed the stairs to his bedchamber, he found himself envying his friend for his ability to simply climb into his bed and read tonight. Ewan, however, had to go have what was certain to be an awkward conversation with his new wife about how they intended to spend their wedding night.
Ewan entered his bedchamber and quietly closed the door behind him. His gaze immediately fell on the door that joined his room to Thea’s. She had to be in the adjoining bedchamber. Was she expecting him to come to her or did she want nothing to do with him? He ripped his cravat from around his neck and scrubbed a hand through his hair. He wasn’t just an ass. He was also a fool. A man should go to his wife on their wedding night. Instead, he was hemming and hawing in his room like an untried school lad.
First, he divested himself of his coat. Then he spent an inordinate amount of time pulling off his boots and stockings, then he crossed his arms behind his neck and pulled off his shirt.
Wearing only his breeches, he paced toward her door. He paced away. He cursed himself for a fool a half dozen times.
The faintest knock sounded on the door between their bedchambers. “Come in,” he called, the breath catching in his throat.
The door opened slowly, and Thea stood there in a filmy concoction of white lace that made her look positively delectable. Her long, dark hair was down around her shoulders and the nightrail she was wearing was nearly see-through. Ewan’s throat went dry. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He gulped.
She walked barefooted into his bedchamber with tentative steps and tossed her hair across her shoulders before looking directly at him and saying, “Should we get this over with?”
CHAPTER FORTY
Thea felt like an idiot. She was wearing the most ridiculous frothy ensemble of lace and gossamer she’d ever seen. And of course it waswhiteof all embarrassing colors. Days ago, Maggie had attempted to involve her in the choice of her wedding night attire, but Thea’s only response had been a glare. She’d left the details to Maggie, who, of course had neverhada wedding night, and so it was Thea’s own fault that she was now dressed like a confection, standing in front of Ewan looking like a powdered puff pastry.
She might not know much about marriage, but she knew enough to know that married people were supposed to spend their wedding night together. In bed. She’d spent the last few hours with a litany of questions scrolling through her mind: Would Ewan even want to bed her? Or was he still angry with her for ruining his plans with hisfiancée? Whowashisfiancée? Did Thea even want to know? Probably not. Knowing the identity of the woman Ewan truly wanted was certain to only make the thought of it that much more excruciating. No doubt his formerfiancéewas an accomplished debutante. A darling of theton. Not a stubborn aged spinster who lived in Devon, was obsessed with a horse, and wore clothing such as this ridiculous puffy nightrail.
It took a few moments before Thea realized that Ewan was standing in the glow of the candles wearing only his breeches. The firelight flickered over his bare chest. She allowed her gaze to travel from his slightly mussed hair, across his wide, square shoulders, down the thick muscles of his arms, to the flat plane of his abdomen. She swallowed, hard. The man was even better looking with no shirt on.Hmm.She hadn’t expected that.
Ewan’s blue gaze narrowed upon her. “Did you just ask me if we should ‘get this over with’?”
Thea winced. She’d been doing her best not to wring her hands since she’d stepped inside the room. She was not a handwringer, and she refused to become one, even over something as excruciating as this. Handwringing was Maggie’sforte. “Yes?” she finally offered. “That’s what I said.”
Ewan’s response was to burst into laughter. Oh,thatmade her feel better. She was supposed to be seductive, instead she was laughable. For an interminable moment, she considered turning and fleeing, but that would be the coward’s way out. And she had no intention of being a coward tonight or any night. She sucked a deep breath into her lungs and straightened her shoulders.
“I suppose it is funny,” she allowed, glancing down at her attire, “especially this nightrail.”
“No.” Ewan shook his head. He strode to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. The warmth from his touch sent a shudder down her back. “You look absolutely gorgeous, Thea. I was laughing at your words, not at you.”
