Adrian had never cared much about the back garden. Mostly, that was on account of the mayhem that came with it all. So chaotic, it required constant maintenance, and even when it was tended to and cared after, there was still a sense of disorder to be found because flowers and hedges and trees did not stagnate but insisted on growth and change in ways he never much liked.
Also, the colors made him uncomfortable. When people walked into a garden, they gushed and gaped and smiled, they laughed and turned to joy as their natural reaction. Happiness was what one found in a garden, and happiness was the exact opposite of what Adrian sought.
However, as he looked around the newly planted garden, he felt… something. It stirred deep within. It rose without permission. It spread across him, through his heart, capturing his soul, forcing a smile that he did not mean for but could not resist.
“Ophelia…” He turned on the spot, taking in the colors of the flowerbeds, the layout of the hedges, the order of it all, the precision. Verdant and brimming with life. Not chaotic, but precise and purposeful. It was transcendent and dare he say perfect.
“You like it?” she asked hopefully.
“Does it matter what I think?” he said simply.
“It does,” she said, meaning it. “I want you to like it – but only if you do,” she hurried. “Do not lie to me just because you think that you should.”
He tore his eyes from the garden and focused his attention on her fully. He saw the trepidation, the worry that he might not like what she had done. He also saw the hope, a sense that this was about more than just the garden, that if he accepted herchanges here, if he encouraged them, that it might be a step forward for both of them.
“It is beautiful,” he said. “Better than I could have expected, but also exactly as I should have known.” A smile then, one that was not forced. “I am very proud of you.”
She shied away, and her cheeks colored. “You are just saying that.”
“I am not.” A sudden urge came over him to take her hands. He resisted that urge, only too aware of what it meant, but it was hard to do. “You have done so well. In fact…” That time, he allowed a smirk of his own.
“What?” she asked him. “What?”
“Well, now that you have proven that you can be trusted, I do wonder how you might turn your eye to some of the rooms inside.”
“Really?” She blinked in shock.
“They are in desperate need of redecorating, and I surely do not have the time. So, if you are looking for another project…” He raised a questioning eyebrow at her.
This was about more than just redecorating some musty old rooms. It was a sign given that Adrian was willing to embrace the changes that were starting to come with their marriage. Hewas, at his core, a man who hated change, but if it would make Ophelia happy, as it would make her feel welcome as he wanted her to be, then perhaps a little change was not such a bad thing?
What was more, she understood this, perhaps even better than he did.
“I promise I will not do anything without first asking,” she said, her eyes shining as she was already surely thinking of the changes she wanted to make. “And nothing too grand or egregious. I won’t change too much.”
“You will,” he said firmly. “What is more, I want you to. I want you to feel at home here, Ophelia. I want…” His stomach twisted, a warning, but he fought it back. “I want you to be happy here.”
“You do…?”
“I do,” he said. “I really do.”
CHAPTER 24
Tonight felt different from the last time.
The first social outing that Ophelia and Adrian had attended, while it carried a weight of intention in how important it was for their relationship, but that weight was underscored by expectation and knowing that such things had to be done, regardless of intent. Ophelia and Adrian had only just married; if they did not appear in public, people would wonder why and begin to question such absences… even starting rumors about the reason.
When Adrian had asked Ophelia to that ball, she had sensed that his true reason was more than what he claimed it to be. But he was worried about seeming too eager, so he leaned heavily on the need to avoid a scandal. It was not something he wanted to do, but that which he had to do.
And Ophelia had gone along with it, herself not too sure what she wanted or what she expected from their marriage. It hadbeen a test in that way, a means to feel the other out so that steps might be taken in the right direction, down a path that led to happier days.
A lot had changed since that evening. Some for the worst, some for the best. Steps taken backwards, stagnation felt, moments when Ophelia lamented the end of her marriage before it even had a chance to begin. And finally, light found in the darkness that guided them back onto the right path… one that she and Adrian now walked together.
So much has changed and tonight… I pray it solidifies those changes, that it proves to Adrian once and for all that such changes should be encouraged.
So it was that Ophelia stood in front of the full-length mirror in her room, checking her gown for the final time before she joined Adrian in the foyer. After which, they would journey into London together for a night at the theater, nothing too grand or ostentatious, and yet its true meaning, its true significance, could not be denied.
Her gown was dark green, a color chosen specifically to contrast with her auburn hair. Its trim was golden. The filigree pattern that wove up its dress silver with wisps of lighter green. However, her jewelry was worn to match the brooch that she wore pinned to her chest; a ruby so red and so bright that one might mistake it for her beating heart.
