Page 41 of Seducing a Stranger
Her mother curtsied to Morley and her father shook his hand, each of them maintaining the barest façade of civility.
Her husband’s manners remained impeccable and his expression impenetrable. His spine straight and tall as he looked each of them right in the eye.
They left with barely a word for Prudence.
She swallowed as a lump of hurt lodged above that of the ever-present dread aching in her throat.
Would it ever be comfortable to breathe again?
Morley stood between her and the door, his wide back expanding with deep breaths, as if he were bracing himself for something unpleasant.
Like turning to inspect his unwanted wife.
The short-cropped hair at his nape did little to hide a red flush on his neck and a trickle of sweat that ran into the collar of his evening suit. It was the only indication that he even suffered an emotion or two.
When she could no longer stand it, Pru asked, “What happened between you and Father? How on earth did you get him to agree—?”
He finally turned, and it was all she could do not to take a step back, so abrupt was the movement. Military in its precision.
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
“This is my future, of course I must worry about it.”
Rather than look at her, his stare remained fixed on a distant point down the hall. “It’s settled to both of our satisfactions…or neither. Now, follow me,” he said as he swept past her.
What about her satisfaction?she wanted to ask.Didn’t that matter at all anymore?
The old Pru would have said something. But fear lurked in the Prudence who’d spent the night in a jail cell. One that feared that if she displeased this new husband of hers, he’d toss her right back in the cuffs.
She trailed him as he led her through a long hall with stunning antique scroll paneling but devoid of portraiture or art.
“I’m glad you both agreed, I’m just bewildered is all,” she rambled. “My father is a stubborn man…not easily convinced of anything. And the very fact that he suffered through dinner without making a scene is nothing less than miraculous.”
“Suffered?” Morley’s disdainful sniff echoed in the empty hall. “I’m certain it causes him no end of suffering that his newest son-in-law is beneath him socially. Sitting at my lowly table must have been a torment for you all. I commend you for containing your disappointment.”
“No! Not at all,” she rushed, before ceding the falsehood. Her father, and especially her mother, were devastated more by the loss of Sutherland’s earldom than the man, himself. And to have him replaced with a man of the working class, even a knight, was little compensation. “What I mean to say is that we’re attempting something highly irregular. It’ll take a miracle for society not to discover that I married two days after my wedding to poor George was interrupted by his murder and that I gave birth not six or so months after—”
He paused, and she nearly ran into the back of him.
“I would take it as a kindness if we mentioned the former Earl of Sutherland as little as possible in this house.” His chin touched his shoulder, but he didn’t exactly look back at her. A chill had been added to his endlessly civil tenor. “Ifever.”
“Surely that’s impossible while I’m still under suspicion.” She stepped closer to him. Close enough to put her hand on his back if she wanted. “Is that how you convinced my father to be agreeable? By offering to protect me from—”
“Your father is being investigated by the Yard for smuggling illicit substances into the country through his many shipping companies. He is aware of your pregnancy, and he concedes that marriage to me is the thing that could very well save your life and his reputation. If you want the honest truth, I resorted to little better than blackmail to gain his word and his silence.” He paused. “Let’s not pretend I have his blessing.” He turned the corner at the end of the hall and began to conquer the stairway up to the second floor.
Pru stood there for a stunned moment. “Smuggling?” She roused herself and trotted after him, lifting her skirts to climb after him. “Are you the one conducting the investigation against him?”
“I cannot discuss it.”
“Not even with me?”
At the top of the stairs he finally looked back to level a droll look down his sharp nose. His eyes were like two silver ingots glowing from the shadows covering the rest of his features.
“Especiallywith you.”
He disappeared from the stairwell and Pru crested the steps to turn and chase him down the corridor.
“The green parlor downstairs is for your particular use.” He both spoke and walked in short clips. “But I will leave the running of the house to you. Decorate and arrange it how you like. I’ve a cook, a maid of all work, and a footman, but I’m certain you’ll require additional staff. Hire them at your leisure.”
