Page 32 of The Duke's Spinster Bride
He nodded, chewing on his bottom lip as he turned away from her. He would have believed that she was doing this as another way to simply irritate him, but to thank him? Yet perhaps it was a little of both.
He shook his head, deciding that trying to puzzle out the riddle that was his new wife would only give him a headache. He ran a hand along the bookshelves. They were no longer a haphazard assortment of mismatched titles, but lined up in neat, perfect rows.
“How long did this take you?” he asked.
“A few hours.” She shifted from foot to foot.
He let a breath whistle through his teeth. “You did all of this completely unaided, in a few hours?”
He could feel Andrea’s gaze on the back of his neck as he turned in a slow circle around the room. He ran a hand through his hair, his tongue pressed against his teeth. Everywhere he looked, there was something new to notice.
“Not a single servant helped?” He realised his jaw was practically on the floor and snapped it shut.
“I acted alone.” There was an edge to her voice, and he glanced at her, noticing the tension in her shoulders.
“You have managed to reorganise my entire collection of books, file away my papers and –” his eyes widened as he caught sight of the new paintings on the walls. “You have even redecorated.”
“I thought the previous decorations were a little drab for a space that seems so bright and airy.” She gestured to the sunlight streaming through his study window.
He nodded. “I can see what you mean, though this room did not seem quite so bright before you moved the desk. Such a small thing, and yet it makes such a big difference. And you even managed not to scratch the floor!”
“I put some cloth under it, I would not have been able to slide it by myself without it.” Andrea was twisting the fabric of her dress in one of her hands, and Frederick could see an intensity in her gaze as she watched him walk around the room. “Though if you would prefer, I am sure it would not take long to return it to the chaos it was in before.”
“The chaos?” Frederick arched an eyebrow at her, noting the slight tilt of her chin and flash of defiance in her eyes. The jade green of them was dazzling in the sunlight. “It was not that bad.”
Andrea snorted. “No, I suppose it could have been worse. You could have piled your books on the floor rather than throwing them haphazardly on the bookshelves.”
He laughed. “Indeed. Or I suppose I could have simply done away with bookshelves entirely. Though that may have upset the maids. I actually knew a baron down in Waltham who did that, he claimed that books liked it better on the floor.”
“He sounds like an interesting character.” Andrea was watching him intently, and though she had a smile on her face, he could see the tightness in her jaw, the hard set of her shoulders.
It made him feel as if he were a wild animal, something she was afraid would pounce at her with only a moment’s notice. His heart twisted, he turned from her.
“You do not need to keep it like this, I can see that you hate it-” Andrea began, and he heard a catch in her voice.
He turned to face her, his brow furrowed. “Hate it? You have done what I have been putting off for years in a matter of hours. This is truly impressive work.”
“It – what?” Andrea blinked at him, her eyes narrowed. “You mean to say you like what I have done?”
“You need not sound so surprised.” He laughed and then ran a hand along the nearest bookshelf. “How have you arranged the books?”
“Alphabetically by subject, if I had had a little more time I would have further arranged them by author surname, but I wanted to get to the rest of the study.”
“Just think what you could have accomplished with the full day.” He gestured around them. “Are you planning on doing this with any of the other rooms? My grandmother is forever complaining about the state of the drawing room.”
“I can see why. The way the furniture is arranged leaves far too much dead space. And the rug is a travesty.” Andrea was watching his face, as though waiting for some spark of violence.
Frederick swallowed, doing his best to look as non-threatening as possible. He made sure his shoulders were relaxed, kept a smile on his face and leaned back against the desk. It’s new position meant that he got the full force of the noon sun against the back of his neck. He felt it relax the last of the tension from his muscles.
“You should work the same magic you did in my study then. No doubt it would be just as exemplary as your work here.” His eyes fell upon the easel and canvas that were by the door. “Though I do have one thing I would like to change.”
“You do?”
“When you have finished that painting, I would like to hang it on the wall. I shall take down the portrait of my great grandfather. You glare at me enough without my needing his glaring face as well.” He grinned at her. “As it is my study, people will only take it as my admiration of your work.”
Andrea’s jaw tightened and she opened her mouth and closed it several times before she shook her head. Frederick noticed a blush spread across her cheeks. The way the light caught her hair made it look as though it were spun from the finest gold silk.
Stop ogling her.His heart sped up and he gestured around them, rubbing the back of his neck with a free hand. “It will no doubt take me some time to get to grips with all your changes. My files, I assume you have placed them somewhere – ah, there they are!”
