Page 38 of An Arranged Marriage with a Mad Marquess
The older woman, Thomasin, got to her feet. She was even more beautiful than Patrina remembered from the church, although perhaps a little older in person. Her gown was magnificent, putting Patrina’s pearls and velvet to shame. Her eyes were cooler than her son’s, and her smile little more than a curl of the lips. She extended her hand – it was cold – and shook Patrina’s in a dutiful manner, then returned to her seat.
There was a painful moment of silence.
Lady Emma cleared her throat. “Patrina, dear, why don’t you invite the gentlemen to sit?”
Patrina blinked, baffled, before she remembered her duties as the lady of the house and gestured awkwardly for Neil and Clayton to sit back down again. She selected a stool for herself,and realized just a moment too late that she should probably have sat beside her husband.
An uncomfortable silence spread over the party. Patrina shifted, glancing from face to face. Something was going on here, something she had not been told. There was an undercurrent of animosity, written clearly in the faces of the haughty Thomasin, stiff Lady Emma, and poor Cynthia, huddled miserably in the corner. Neil’s face was unreadable, and Clayton was all charm.
He broke the silence first.
“Let me congratulate you on your nuptials, my dear cousin-in-law,” he said, throwing a jovial smile at Patrina. “Rather a hurried affair, was it not? I was out of the county, you see, on business, and could not return quickly enough to attend the wedding. My mother did, and so I was forced to hear it second hand. A great pity. I was just asking my cousin about it. As you can imagine, I was most disappointed. Why the rush, my dear? May I call you Patrina?”
“I think Lady Morendale might be more proper,” Neil answered stiffly, but Clayton only raised his eyebrows questioningly, waiting for Patrina’s reply.
She cleared her throat, feeling uncomfortable. “Patrina will do, I think. Since we’re family, and all.”
Clayton beamed. He had a very handsome smile, and despite not being attracted to him in the least, Patrina felt the strangest desire to make him smileagain, to please him, to oblige him. She dreaded to think how his uncanny charisma and charm would work on a silly young woman who found him handsome.
“That’s the spirit!”
“As to the wedding,” Patrina continued, growing in confidence, “There simply seemed no point in waiting. I didn’t much want a large wedding, so…”
“Really? My mother mentioned that the church was quite full.”
Patrina paused, missing a beat. Clayton was still smiling at her, but there was something unfriendly in his eyes now.
He doesn’t like me,Patrina realised with a start.But why? What did I do? Have I said something, or missed out something? Have I offended him by omission? If so, why would he not simply tell me? He can’t know me well enough to dislike me.
The look in his eyes was gone a second later, and Patrina almost thought that she might have imagined it.
She had not imagined it, though.
“The church was full,” she conceded, “But few of them had been invited by us. I’m sure you know that there wasn’t even a wedding breakfast. We came straight here.”
Clayton waited a second or two, as if trying to lure her into saying more. Patrina kept silent, however, lips pressed together in an uncomfortable smile, and at last he gave up.
“Forgive my brusqueness,” he said at last, waving a hand. “I was disappointed to miss my cousin’s wedding, as I said. Still, it hardly matters now. I am glad Neil is married. We all here know about his delicate state of health, and…” he paused, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. “You were aware, were you not, Patrina? Oh, Aunt Emma, do tell me she wasn’t…”
“Of course she knows,” Lady Emma interrupted shortly. “We were very clear on Neil’s health, before the betrothal was decided upon. Patrina knows what she is doing and intends to love Neil regardless.”
Love, of course, had not been mentioned at all, but Patrina understood why her mother-in-law would not like to bring this up in front of the cold, unfriendly eyes of her sister-in-law and nephew.
Before the silence could get too uncomfortable, the door opened and the butler entered.
“Ah, Smith,” Neil said, barely concealing his relief. “Can I assume that breakfast is ready?”
“Yes, your lordship. In the dining room, with extra places laid.”
“Very good,” Neil glanced over at Patrina, catching her eye. “Shall we go through, my dear?”
Patrina missed a beat before she understood. As Lady Morendale, as Neil’s wife and the lady of the house, she outranked every other woman present. She would lead the way to and from the rooms in the house, hand in hand with Neil.
A shiver went through her.
I’ll get used to it.
They all rose to their feet, and Neil held out a hand. Patrina hesitated only a moment before taking it, but she was sure that Clayton and Thomasin’s sharp eyes would have picked up the pause.
