Matthew just shook his head, and John laughed.
“I am here to see your father,” Mathew instructed and John shook his head.
“And what would you wish to do that for?”
“We have business to attend to.”
“Immediately after your wedding?”
“Business does not wait for anything,” Mathew replied and again John shook his head.
“This way then,” John told him, leading the way to the study. John’s father, Stuart Branson, Marquess of Kadenscroft was hard at work, though he looked up when the door opened. “Father, it is your favorite protégé, fresh from his wedding.”
“Matthew, excellent, we have matters to discuss.”
John shook his head at the both of them. “Ah, the fact that the two of you can talk of business the day after Mathew has been wed astounds me.”
The Marquess also looked confused by John’s comment but after a quick look both of them turned away from him and for several long minutes they pored over the papers on the desk, before John interrupted.
“That’s all beside the point. What about your new wife?”
“What about her?” Matthew asked, glancing up, distracted.
“We know nothing about her. Just her name. And your new wife’s name does not tell me what she is like.”
“I cannot tell you that which I do not know myself. And I can assure you that I do not know what she is like any more than you,” Matthew replied.
“I’m sure your new wife is getting used to the changes that have occurred. It will take time. Give her all the space that she needs to adjust to her new life,” his uncle said.
“I have given her space. And I shall continue to do so,” Matthew agreed.
He had no real use for getting too close to his new wife, and having his uncle affirm his intentions made it seem even better.
“Not at all,” John cut in. “If you give her too much space, she’s just going to end up creating a life completely outside of yours. You need to talk to her. Get to know her. You two are married now, so make a true relationship of it.”
“Your cousin has good intentions, Matthew,” The Marquess spoke up again, “but I am the one who has experience with marriage. Women lose a great deal when they marry. They join their husbands’ families, and they give up their own. Your new wife has a great deal to learn and a great deal to accept. Trying to force her to talk to you or to get close to her is only going to make her feel pressured into something that she certainly isn’t ready for.”
“Isn’t it best to help her get used to all of those new things? Rather than simply throw her into the household and expect her to make do on her own, you can help her to understand the way your household is run, the way things are done…” John continued.
The Marquess was shaking his head and about to speak, but Matthew was tired of this conversation.
“Have you two nothing better to do than comment on my relationship? We have business to attend to.” Matthew turned back toward the desk and studied the papers strewn across it. “The lands at the edges of the town are available, and I, for one, would like to bring those into our fold.”
He ignored the glances the two shared and instead pored over the map until both joined him, and the conversation easily fell back to the work that was yet to be done.
And if his thoughts occasionally drifted to Diana and what he should be doing with her… well, he drew them quickly back to the subject at hand.
His uncle was correct. It was best to leave her to her own devices for a period of time. And then… well, at some point, he would have to speak with her further, and he would be able to learn what he needed about her.
But they had already agreed that they would be married in name only. She could not possibly be expecting much of him, could she?
Chapter Nine
The bright sunlight was certainly unexpected, and Diana turned sharply to the side.
“Arabella, it is much too early for that,” she mumbled, trying to hide her face.
But the voice that responded was not Arabella’s.
