Mrs. Stratford nodded amiably and followed Victoria’s lead. The women filled their lungs with the heady summer air, and Victoria resolved to clear whatever it was that lay between them. “Our husbands are quite close, and have been for most of their lives, have they not?”
“That is correct,” Mrs. Stratford replied with a nod. Intelligence flashed in her blue eyes, letting Victoria know there was more to the woman than a pretty face.
“Then I would like for you and me to have the same opportunity, since I suspect we will see one another often. I hope I have done nothing to offend you, and, if I have, please accept my apologies—”
“Oh, it is nothing like that at all!” she rushed to reassure Victoria. Her eyes averted as if she were weighing her next words.
“Then please tell me what you wish to say. Today is a day of new beginnings, and I do not want there to be any shadows lying in wait.”
Mrs. Stratford nibbled her plump lower lip for another moment before she met Victoria’s gaze once more. “I have always found you quite likable, Lady Blackwood,” she admitted. “You are charming and intelligent—Lady Morton feels the same.”
“I thank you for the compliment, but I cannot help but wonder how this is concerning?”
“The viscount, well…please forgive me for speaking plainly.”
“I would not have it any other way between friends.”
This seemed to reassure the other woman, because a fleeting smile of appreciation crossed her lips. “Then I will say that Lord Blackwell has not always presented the most favorable side of himself to me.” Victoria’s eyes widened, and she was suddenly unsure if she wished to hear more. “You are aware that he has a bit of a reputation that follows him around?” Victoria nodded once. “My, but you’ve gone quite ashen!” Mrs. Stratford reached out and took Victoria’s hand. “I promise it is not as bad as whatever you have in your mind right now. He simply had a relationship with an old friend of mine, and it did not end on the best of terms. He wasn’t cruel,” she hurried to add when she sawthe question begin to form in Victoria’s eyes. “He merely bruised her heart. We women from the theater stick together to protect one another. I admit that I am holding onto the grudge a bit longer than is perhaps seemly, but…” She lifted her shoulder in a Gallic gesture.
“You are standing beside your friend,” Victoria supplied.
“Yes.” Mrs. Stratford deflated a little in relief. “I am glad you understand.”
“I do.” Victoria squeezed her fingers. “As long as you don’t hold my husband’s past against me, then all will be well.”
“Certainly not! And I vow, in the name of this blossoming friendship, that I will do my best to forgive him his sins.”
“Well, now…let us not be too generous.”
The women giggled together and regained their composure before returning to the wedding breakfast.
Chapter Seven
“Thank you, Fran,”Victoria murmured as her maid bobbed a curtsey and quit the room.
The unfamiliar room.
The room in an opulent hotel where she would reside until she and her new husband boarded a ship for their honeymoon trip.
Her husband…
And she was now Lady Victoria Hart, Viscountess Blackwell. It wasn’t the first time that day the realization had crossed her mind, but it was setting in a little bit more on each occasion. She wondered when it would stop being a novelty and simply become her reality. She nearly reprimanded herself for her silliness, then decided to give herself some grace. She’d been married less than twelve hours; she could hardly be expected to change her entire perception of herself in that amount of time!
And there were a great many things with which she now must come to terms…like how much she enjoyed looking at her new husband.
Just as she’d explained to Luke, Victoria had long ago accepted the fact that the man she married might not love her—and that was her current situation, since the viscount had never so much as hinted at the word—but what would happen to her if she were to give in to the way Blackwood made her feel? How could she handle herself for the rest of her life when faced withthe persistent flutter in her chest whenever he smiled at her? Or her incessant desire to have him hold her and touch her?
It was damned difficult to maintain her composure when faced with his charm; it was even more difficult now that they’d spent the last couple of months getting to know one another. She’d learned the shape of his smile, the difference in his laughter when it was just the two of them as opposed to when there was more of a crowd, and that there was substance behind his lighthearted demeanor—there had to be if he’d won over her father.
Could she allow herself to explore her attraction to the man she’d married?
Would she?
None of Society’s constraints applied any longer; they’d been freed from them as soon as the ink had dried on the register. But the idea of admitting to her growing attraction felt a bit like handing over too much control. She’d spent so long keeping her emotions in check and disguising her feelings from the vipers and harpies who would feast upon her weakness that it caused her no small discomfort to think of doing otherwise.
If she couldn’t do this with Blackwood, then with whom could she? He was her husband, after all.
Victoria had still been contemplating that much when they arrived at their suite of rooms from the lavish wedding breakfast, as the maid had helped her slip from her elegant wedding gown and into the gauzy ivory nightdress trimmed in sapphire blue ribbon, and she waited in silence thick with anticipation.
