Page 35 of Romanced By the Orc

“I only hope we might remain friends should either of us decide it is time to part ways. In the amicable Orcan fashion, of course.”

“You believe I am ready to flee at the earliest opportunity? Do I strike you as so weak?”

“I think nothing of the sort. We are friends? No matter what happens?”

“No matter what. You are entering into this marriage to protect yourself. To protect your sister. Are you not?”

Diana touched the velvet necklet again. Lillian had given it to her before she left so she would feel as though she were still right there with her.

“Yes. You know as much. But I’ve no desire for you to suffer for my sins.”

“I’ve an idea, then. Why don’t we see what happens and reassess at summer’s end? If you still harbor concerns, you canrepair to parts elsewhere. Like any other respectable married English couple, we shall go forth with our separate lives.” He leaned in close, whispering in her ear. “But I daresay I shall remember this conversation. And take it as a personal challenge to ensure you have no wish to leave.”

“That is reasonable,” she said, subtly catching her breath as he pulled away, chiding herself for supposing another kiss might happen here of all places.

He arched an eyebrow. “Reasonable”

“All right. Thrilling.” She swallowed down any further admission, commanding her heart to beat not quite so loudly. “No matter what happens I am glad we are friends. Truly.”

“I shall never neglect our friendship,” he told her. “And so long as we are married, you will have all the romance, all the fun, you desire.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

June 1818

“Gads!” Isabel let out a low whistle. “If I’d known we were heading somewhere this posh, I would have worn a smarter bonnet.”

“All the charming items before you are merely the result of his family’s good fortune in the mines of the Hidden Realm,” Diana said, fiddling with the gold band on her finger. The ring Albion had placed there not an hour earlier.

For the wedding ceremony that morning, Diana had donned a pearl-colored gown with delicate lace edging the bodice and wrists, a dress she deemed close enough to those displayed in the latest edition ofAckermann’s Repository. Isabel assisted with her hair, rolling locks around a wand to form curls to frame her face and placing the fabric circlet of embroidered daisies atop her head.

When she saw Albion, her breath had caught in her throat. She had the quiet, legal ceremony she wanted, but could not have asked for a more handsome bridegroom. He’d presentedher with a massive bouquet of daisies, thistle, and yellow spray roses, handing it to her straightaway with an almost sheepish grin.

Now, she stood in this imposing townhouse she could call her own. Waiting for her husband. Though grateful for Izzie’s company, she desperately missed Lillian and wished her sister was here. But Lillian was across the Channel, and Diana was here.

At least she had plenty to keep her occupied.

Albion had leased a manse in Brunswick, built in the Georgian fashion. It imparted wealth and style, from the Brussels woven carpet that stretched from wall to wall to the drawing rooms’ elegant chandeliers and long vertical windows with velvet draperies.

The mansion could not have differed more from her cozy townhouse in Bloomsbury, so much so that Diana took a moment to process that all this space was for her and Albie alone. The central foyer might have fit three of the parlors in her parents’ house. Some furnishings were cut large, as in Duncan’s place, to accommodate Albie’s proportions. Unlike his brother’s home, however, there were no portraits of stern Orcan ancestors in thick frames.

Diana and Izzie wandered into the tastefully appointed front drawing room, done up in tasteful gradients of blue and gray. Plaster ceiling roses clustered at the room’s corners. A marble hearth dominated the back wall. Freshly cut flowers spilled from crystal vases.

She glanced at her bridal bouquet of daisies and yellow spray roses. “We should put these in water.”

As she handed the bouquet to Izzie, her maid barely nodded, distracted by the bowls of great grapes and enormous pomegranates on the sideboard. Izzie looked perplexed, asthough she wasn’t sure whether she could pluck a grape from its stem. Diana was not certain either.

At last, Izzie reached for a grape with her free hand and quickly popped it in her mouth. The look on her face upon sampling it was one of unmitigated bliss.

“I’ll say this, miss. These orc fellows know how to live.”

She couldn’t disagree. And the part of her that remained a spoiled girl at heart reveled in the thought of what was in store for her. The small luxuries of jewelry, French pastries, and new gowns. The sort of things she had once taken for granted but which had grown rare once Tobias Stewart accepted the title of Lord Mercer and was left to deal with the chaotic financial affairs his brother had left behind.

But she didn’t want to appear shallow. “Yes, it is all meant to impress for the duration of our stay.”

“Have you a plan to move to an even grander manse, my lady?”

Diana swallowed hard, realizing she shouldn’t have made that comment. However, due to the practical nature of their arrangement, she had to assume her tenancy here would be temporary. She had to assume that Albion would realize the downsides of an alliance with her and they’d amicably part ways. She had to make plans for that eventuality.

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