Page 32 of The Duke's Improper Bride
The beautiful woman that he had been in love with for weeks now.
He was in far too deep.
* * *
“You finally found her, hmm?”Bly Ravensdale entered the front hall of Ainsley House with the same commandeering stride that saw him nicknamed “The Devil.” He shook Isaac’s hand, then slapped him on the back, laughing.
“Yes, well, it was unexpected.”
Bly glanced to Nora as she slowly came down the staircase, her head bowed. “Was it?” he whispered.
“No,” Isaac said with a laugh. “Perhaps not.”
It might have been happenstance that they had found one another in that faraway place in Scotland, but it was hard to resist falling in love with Nora. Isaac no longer knew what it meant not to love her, and it had only been two months since their vows.
Whispers around London were rampant, and letters had arrived from his mother, but Isaac and Nora had done their best to keep to themselves. They weren’t ready for the outside world yet.
Bly’s visit was the first they had even considered. Well, Isaac had entertained the idea. Nora had insisted she wasn’t ready to welcome anyone as the new duchess. The compromise had been a small dinner, just the three of them.
Isaac’s chest inflate with pride as she approached—his duchess. The odds had been stacked against them, and while they were an unlikely pair, he couldn’t think of anyone else he would rather escort into dinner, and then entertain every evening. And if he were being perfectly honest, it was much more than that. It was having Nora by his side throughout the day, watching as she brushed her hair before bed every evening while humming to herself, or how she grinned as he tugged her into his arms before they drifted off to sleep. And how, in the morning, she was the first person he saw.
He was no longer a lonely man, and she had come to mean the world to him.
Bly held out his hand as Isaac introduced the pair. To Bly’s credit, he looked only slightly intimidating with the warm smile spread across his face. Still, Nora retreated into herself. Her smile faltered, her voice shook as she said, “Hello,” and then she clutched Isaac’s arm, holding on as if he were a life raft.
It was just nerves. Nora would grow accustomed to company. It wasn’t as if she had expected they would always keep to themselves. They were no longer in the highlands, after all. It was the start of the London social season. There were calls to pay, operas to attend to, not to mention the endless parties and dinners.
“Shall we have dinner?” Isaac asked Bly, hoping to quell any chance of small talk. Otherwise, he feared Nora would find an excuse to miss dinner. He glanced over to his new bride, his heart sinking at her pallor.
Bly, for once, had the good manners to agree without further comment. Clara had been good for him in more ways than one, it seemed. But secretly, Isaac missed the rough and tumble Bly. This almost-polished for town Bly was far too uncanny.
As they walked into the dining room, Isaac leaned down to Nora and whispered, “Are you feeling well?”
She sharply turned her head to glare at him, her eyes full of resentment. But instead of answering, Nora quirked her eyebrow daring Isaac to press further. He didn’t. Nora returned her attention to the lovely table that had been set before them.
Isaac pulled out her chair and she sat, smiling once at Bly who sat opposite her. Isaac headed the table and nervously grabbed at his wine glass.
“Hold on,” Bly interjected, raising his glass. “I believe a toast is necessary. Here’s to the happy couple.” He smiled at Nora and Isaac. The three took a drink, then silence fell upon them.
Soup was laid out, and it wasn’t until Isaac had had several bites that he chanced a look at Nora, who stared down at her bowl. Scarlet tinged her cheeks and creeped up her neck. Heaven above, he felt as if he were a monster forcing her to sit at dinner. But if she were to be his duchess, then dinner parties and social outings would be a part of her life. Surely, she knew this when agreeing to marry him.
The remainder of dinner lost its chill once Isaac and Bly began catching up on life and the latest news. Nora remained quiet, then excused herself at the end of the third course, simply thanking Bly for visiting before fleeing upstairs.
Isaac lingered at the foot of the stairs, watching the back of his retreating wife with a deep frown.
Once out of view, Bly glanced to Isaac, then slapped him on the back. “Cigars?”
At least he had the sense not to comment on what a total disaster dinner had been.
Isaac walked to his office with Bly, shutting the door none too quietly. “I—well, thank you for coming for dinner.”
“She’s shy?”
“Nora had an accident as a girl and as consequence has a severe stutter. She prefers not to speak when around new people. Or anyone, really…”
Bly strode to the fireplace and drew a cigar from his coat pocket. He had stopped drinking after marrying Clara and given up chasing the dragon, but cigars were a vice he was unlikely to part with. Isaac didn’t care for them.
“You told her about your title? That she’ll be a duchess? London will eat her up if she keeps to herself.”
