Page 40 of The Duke's Second Bride
How was it that this woman, this near stranger, now his wife, was able to sweep into their lives and immediately know what Luke needed?
CHAPTER 14
Life at the country estate quickly settled into a peaceful routine.
Christian watched from afar as Luke began to spend more time with Ava and Pudding, seeking out their company nearly constantly when he wasn’t otherwise occupied with his tutors and lessons.
Today, she was helping him with a small garden. The boy had expressed a desire to learn how to tend to flowers, in addition to the fruits and berries they had in the orchards.
Ava, despite having only been here a few days and not having many dresses that were suitable for the task, seemed to have no hesitation in rolling up her sleeves and getting her elbows deep in the mulch.
Christian watched through a nearby window as the two gardened. Luke pointed at a smudge of dirt on her forehead,cackling. She wiped it away with the back of her hand, which only left another smudge on that perfectly arched nose, which made the boy laugh even harder.
She matched his laughter, all but collapsing in the mud. As Christian watched, he could not help but mark the way her wrists were so pale and so delicate beneath the mud. The bright sun danced off her golden curls and her hazel eyes, and her teeth when she smiled brilliantly. Her bosom pressed against the neckline of her dress as she breathed heavily from the exertion.
He could practically hear the musical chime of her laugh through the window.
Something moved at his feet, and he nearly leapt away. Looking down, he realized it was Pudding.
He scowled.
“How did you get in here?” he asked crossly. “Weren’t you just outside?”
Pudding let out a displeased sound, arching his back, and Christian sighed.
“No,” he said, “I suppose you are too prim and proper to risk getting your fur muddy, isn’t that right? You aren’t even the useful kind of cat, who would catch rats and things. Leave it to Ava to bring an unexpected beast into my house that won’t even get out of the way by going outside.”
Surprisingly, in response to these uncharitable words, the cat only pressed itself more intently against Christian’s legs, winding around and scratching its own head against him.
“How long has she had you? A year? You’re still a kitten, really, aren’t you?”
He looked back out the window. Pudding tried to scratch his leg; he waved the cat away.
“Go on. Shoo.”
Ava and Luke had gotten back to their task in earnest, though every so often one of them let out an unprompted laugh.
Christian pushed aside the feeling of being left out. He wasn’t a gardener. And Ava was only doing what he had told her to do: help Luke. Helping to care for Luke. That was her job.
That was the only reason she was here, and that was the only thing Christian wanted or needed from her.
But as he watched, he could not help but doubt his own ability to make it through an entire lifetime with Ava without wanting more.
Life at the country manor brought Ava a more confusing mix of emotions than she had ever known, or could have predicted.
In her youth, she had always loved animals. Her parents had been pleased by this at first, glad that she was strong and healthy after their firstborn daughter had passed away from sickness as an infant. But as Ava reached young womanhood, her parents began to express concern that her affinity for the outdoors was unladylike.
Combined with her already strong temper and forceful personality, how would she ever find a husband?
And so, she had been all but banished from the country estate, sent to London to be finished as a proper lady. By the time she married William at nineteen, she was thoroughly trained in how to be a good and obedient wife to him.
Luke kept his promise, and he and his nurse did indeed give Ava a thorough tour of the grounds.
With every passing day, Ava fell deeper and deeper in love with her new role as duchess. The grounds of Christian’s country estate were vast and varied, with the orchard, a lake, hunting grounds, and gardens, now including the small herb garden she had planted with Luke.
In so many ways, getting to care for Luke made Ava feel as though she were giving herself the childhood she had longed for but never had. As though she was starting to look at a younger version of herself, one allowed to enjoy the outdoors and animals that had been denied her in her youth.
His shyness, she soon found, really was just a facade brought on by nerves. When he was safe and comfortable, it fell immediately, as often his stutter did. And even his stutter did not diminish the intelligence of the ideas and thoughts that he expressed.
