Page 32 of The Duke's Second Bride
It’s just because I’m new, she thought.
There were so many people that their names flew out of her head nearly as soon as they had been introduced. She resolved to learn their names within the week, and to perhaps learn some small detail about them each. Certainly, it was the responsibility of the lady of the house to inject some warmth into the ambience of the place.
Dinner was a brief and mostly silent affair. Knowing that the lord, lady, and heir of the house would be weary from travel, the kitchen staff—a whole other cohort of workers that Ava had yet to meet—had prepared a simple stew, which they could eat with bread, and which would not weigh too heavily on their stomachs when they went to sleep.
“We shall have a more elaborate dinner tomorrow to celebrate your recent nuptials,” Miss Grant said stiffly.
“Thank you, Miss Grant,” Ava said to the housekeeper, smiling at the woman, who nodded but did not return the smile. Ava tried not to let the lack of enthusiasm dull her own determination to get to know the woman and the rest of the staff with her. “This is perfect. It is so delicious. Is it not, Luke?”
Luke nodded, his mouth too full of stew to talk.
“Isn’t it, Christian?”
It was the first time she had used his first name in conversation, she realized. Christian must have been coming to the same realization, as he looked at her a moment longer than usual, with his normal stony expression. After a second, he swallowed.
“Yes,” he said softly. Then he cleared his throat, looked back at his bowl. “Delicious indeed, Miss Grant,” he said louder to their housekeeper. “Thank you very much.”
From across the table, Ava felt flushed even by the moment of eye contact. As dinner continued, and his behavior continued to be frosty, tense, and odd, she wondered why.
Was it that he was still angry at her from all their bygone bickering? Why would he want to start off their marriage on such a foot?
Or could it be he was behaving tensely for some other reason?
Once they had finished eating, Luke’s governess came to fetch him to help him get ready for bed.
“Goodnight, Ava,” he said, running to her chair to give her a hug.
She returned the hug gratefully, some of the nervous ice in her soul thawing at the sight of the little boy running away.
If nothing else, at least this union meant she would get to help raise him.
“Your luggage has been brought in from the carriage,” came Christian’s voice from across the table, shaking her from her earlier train of thought.
She looked up. “Sorry?”
“The trunks you had sent from your old estate,” he said. “The servants brought them up to your … to the duchess’s chambers. If, and whenever, you see fit to ready yourself for bed, your garments will be there waiting.”
It was the most he had spoken to her all evening.
Ava stared at him as his words sank in.
Whenever you see fit to ready yourself for bed.
Of course.
She was his wife, now, and of course, he would certainly want to exercise his husbandly rights on their wedding night. No matter how he might have protested, no matter how cold he had been to her before. She supposed William had never been much warmer, himself.
“Very well,” she said. She could think of nothing else to say. She marked how the duke’s eyes widened slightly as she rose from the table, neatly leaving her napkin on her chair. “I shall go prepare for bed. Thank you for dinner.”
She let one of the maids show her to her room.
The duchess’s chambers were sumptuous. Dark blue velvet curtains hung along the walls, with matching bed hangings. The maid she had come with, plus two more, all came to help her bathe and change into sleep clothing. The nightgown she wore was one of her own, though on the newer side, simple white with blue trim.
Part of her wondered if he would want something else. Should she have worn her wedding dress? Some men liked that, she knew—being the one to undress their wives.
William had, on their wedding night. He had never taken his time with it or taken his time with her. He would usually tear the dress off her impatiently, barely getting her undressed at all before consummating the marriage.
Though she recalled it had initially seemed to please him, seeing her in the dress. As though it indicated some kind of ownership he had over her.
