Page 47 of His Unwanted Duchess

The mattress was firmer than the one back home, too, and there were too many pillows.

Not back home,she reminded herself.This is home, now.

Blinking, Beatrice swallowed back tears.

I’ll get used to it. I suppose I’ll have to.

She left the candle burning on her bedside table, and in the bouncing, flickering light, her discarded dress almost seemed like a person’s crumpled form, lying on the floor.

You’re being silly. This is perfectly normal. You knew what you were getting into before you even signed that list of rules. You don’t wanthim here, do you?

She didn’t. Of course, she didn’t. He didn’t want to be here.

Despite her tiredness, an hour or two ticked by, while the candle burned down and Beatrice stared at the ceiling.

Stephen did not come back.

CHAPTER 14

Six Months Later

“They’re talking about Stephen in the gossip columns again,” Anna remarked, tossing a fresh newspaper on the breakfast table. “He arrived home from France last week, apparently, and has been carousing and making his presence known ever since.”

Beatrice pressed her lips together, concentrating on her meal. She had a pounding headache, doubtless brought on by imbibing too much champagne the previous night. It was, after all, her birthday. She was entitled to enjoy herself a little.

Lately, she had been surprised to discover that there were other people in Society who enjoyed reading and studying, as well as drinking champagne.

One could enjoy a raucous party and a good book, as it turned out.

Breakfast was a simple affair, since she had given most of the servants the day off. It seemed only fair, considering what they’d had to put up with during the birthday party last night. It was amazing how small gestures and tokens of appreciation—gifts, a polite manner, and occasional days off—could improve the morale of one’s household.

Really, Beatrice was rather impressed by how easily she was learning to run the household, with the patient help of Mouse and Mrs. Jenkins, the housekeeper. And, of course, as a married woman, her place in Society had changed overnight.

Marriage truly did change a woman’s life, regardless of her husband.

It seemed truly amazing that her new husband had not returned home once in six months. It was impossible to hide such a thing from Society, of course, and Beatrice did not doubt that her marriage was well-discussed amongst the ton.

If it could be even called a marriage, of course.

He probably couldn’t bear the idea of being married to a bluestocking and took himself off to pretend he was still a bachelor.

Why did he marry me at all? To keep away Society mamas and their daughters? That can’t be the reason.

He’s a wretch, but I can hardly complain. After all, he made it clear what our marriage was to be. That is to say, nothing.

And yet I’ve dreamt about that kiss every wretched night.

Beatrice was careful not to let any of this show on her face, since Anna was watching.

“Oh?” she said as disinterestedly as she could. “His mother will be glad to hear that he is back in the country. You know how Theodosia worries. What are you snickering at, Anna?”

Anna only chuckled, shaking her head. “Nothing, nothing. It’s quite remarkable how well you get on with the Dowager Duchess, you know. Most ladies dislike their mothers-in-law.”

“I am not most ladies, am I? She was so happy to see her son married, I didn’t have the heart to make it clear that Stephen and I are barely acquaintances.”

Because that was the way of it, wasn’t it? They were barely acquaintances. So far, it seemed as though they hadn’t even spent one night under the same roof. Stephen spent his days carousing and getting up to goodness only knew what, while Beatrice filled her time with friends, family, her charities and her studies, and finding a suitable college for John without her parents’ interference.

Speaking of which, she was aware that her parents would be visiting her later that day, to give their birthday wishes. Perhapsshe ought to have invited them to the party, but it was so much simpler to keep the guest list to friends only.

---