Page 33 of Her Lion of a Duke
“How on earth could I be?” Cecilia asked.
“I do not know, but I would love to know what spell you cast over him to make him fall for you. We all must marry, eventually, but dukes tend to prefer a certain caliber, and you…”
Leonard turned to the gentleman, who was pale as he listened to them.
“If you are going to insist on taming one’s wife,” he said coldly, “you ought to tame yours properly.”
The gentleman hurried to the ladies, took his wife’s arm, and pulled her aside.
A strange feeling settled over the picnic, and while Leonard pitied the hosts, he knew that he had done the right thing. He would not stand by and allow anyone to speak to his wife in such a manner, whether she was willing to let it happen or not.
After a moment, the couple pulled apart, and the gentleman returned to the group. Nobody spoke to him for a moment, and then he cleared his throat.
“She will not say anything further,” he said. “My apologies, Your Grace.”
“Ensure that is the case. I will not hear such things again.”
Unfortunately, it was not that simple. Mere minutes later, another lady began gossiping. Whispers of whether or not Cecilia had trapped Leonard into marriage, and that their match was born of scandal rather than any real emotion.
It was the third time that it had happened in front of him, and despite what his wife had told him, he could no longer control himself. He abandoned the group and marched toward those ladues. He watched as they paled, seeming almost afraid of him, and he faltered momentarily before taking Cecilia’s arm.
“You will not speak of my wife that way again,” he thundered, “unless you would all like to explain to your husbands why I have no intention of supporting their bills in Parliament.”
They all clammed up immediately. Leonard had assumed, correctly, that their husbands were politicians, and the threat alone was enough.
In truth, he never would have supported a bill simply because of who presented it, but they did not need to know that. All they needed to know was that he was a powerful man, and by angering him, they risked angering their husbands, too.
They walked away, arm in arm, and returned to their spot.
“You did not need to do that,” Cecilia said, smiling. “I was more than capable of telling them that?—”
“I did not do it because I think you are incapable. I did it because I wanted to. I meant what I said, Cecilia. Nobody will speak about you that way again.”
Her eyes widened. A gentle blush crept up her cheeks, and he softened at the sight of it.
“If you wish to leave, we can do so now,” he offered. “We need not stay where you do not feel welcome.”
“And let them feel as though they have won? I would never do that. No, we shall stay, and we shall enjoy ourselves. I will never do anything to cause a scene, not anymore.”
She settled in her place pointedly, taking a slice of cake and eating it. Leonard smiled, joining her.
After a while, the gentlemen joined them, and their conversation flowed easily, as though nothing had happened at all.
“Will you be hosting soon?” Lord Lumley asked.
Cecilia nodded once. “I believe so, before the year is through. I believe a ball would be ideal, though I am not against a longer event.”
“You certainly have that in common,” a gentleman noted.
Cecilia laughed warmly. “We have an awful lot in common,” she explained. “We have been friends for years. That is what many people misunderstand about us. It is not as though we were strangers when we got married; it was quite the opposite. I do not know very many people who know me better than my husband.”
The gentlemen liked Cecilia, Leonard could tell. They spoke to her as though she had been a long-time friend too. Leonard hoped that, when they attended future events, she would stay by his side and speak with gentlemen rather than her fellow ladies.
It was not that he did not trust her to respond appropriately when she was inevitably faced with more scorn, but because he did not want her to feel the need to.
He wanted to remain beside her, to protect her at any cost. That was what he had promised to do on their wedding day, and he had every intention of keeping his word.
They stayed at the picnic until the evening, when he could see her growing tired. When they climbed into the carriage, she slumped against him, her head on his shoulder, and mumbled quietly, “I enjoyed today.”
