Page 113 of The Duke's Inconvenient Bride
Although now she was wondering whether she might entice him into inviting her to stay here.
“Very well.” He smoothed his hand up her chest to the curve of her neck. “May I call on you tomorrow?”
Breakfast at Carlisle Housewas exactly as it used to be.
In fact, Emma slipped into the routine so seamlessly that she had to stop to ponder whether the past weeks had happened at all or if they’d been a mad dream.
Lord Carlisle sat at the head of the table with a newspaper in front of him, buttering toast while Lady Carlisle picked at her eggs and warned Sophie that she ought to drink more water if she wanted to improve her complexion.
Emma watched them with barely concealed amusement, grateful for the reminder that no matter the upheaval in her personal life, some things never changed.
“Do tell Mother that drinking ten cups of water per day will not magically clear my skin,” Sophie said plaintively.
Emma made a face. She’d never suffered from the unpleasant breakouts that aggravated some of her peers, so she had no experience in the matter.
“I can’t imagine it will do anything other than give you an incessant need to use the privy,” she said. “One can never be sure, though.”
Sophie pouted. “You’re no help. What good is being a duchess if you don’t use it to save your youngest sister from the perils of overconsumption of water?”
“I’m sure there are a host of other benefits,” Lady Carlisle said loftily. “Perhaps you will win a duke of your own if you drink enough water.”
Sophie seemed baffled by this. Honestly, Emma didn’t understand either, but nor did she feel the need to. She wasn’t subject to her mother’s whims anymore.
“Tell us, Emma. How do you find life as the Duchess of Ashford?” Lady Carlisle asked.
Lord Carlisle glanced up from his newspaper, clearly listening.
“It is… good,” Emma said.
“Just good?” Her mother sounded disappointed.
“What did you expect given she married a man she doesn’t love?” Sophie asked.
Lady Carlisle shot her a quelling look. “Not everything is about love. Lord knows it caused enough problems for Violet.”
No one could argue with that.
Lord Carlisle cleared his throat. “Are you happy, dear?”
Emma looked down at her toast, which was rapidly going cold. “I am not unhappy,” she said. “The duke is a good man, and I believe he cares for me.”
She still could not get the words he spoke yesterday out of her mind. But she wasn’t certain what he intended. As such, she’d hardly slept and was all befuddled now.
“What is his country home like?” Lady Carlisle asked.
“It’s lovely. The house itself is easily twice the size of ours in Surrey, and the grounds are extensive. Everyone has been most welcoming.”
“Good.” Was it Emma’s imagination, or did her mother seem relieved? Perhaps she’d harbored some guilt over pressuring Emma into marrying the duke. Not that they’d forced her to. She’d made her own decision.
After breakfast, Emma went to her room to find a book. As she was searching through her bag, there was a knock on the door, and Sophie entered. She hovered in the doorway, her hair gleaming bronze in the sunlight.
“How is everything really?” Sophie asked. “I feel like there is a lot you didn’t tell Mother and Father.”
Emma withdrew the book and placed it on her writing table, then sat on the chaise and gestured for Sophie to join her.
“I think I love the duke,” Emma said quietly. “Or if I don’t yet, then I certainly could love him.”
Sophie brightened. “That’s wonderful.”
