He’s growing up. He’s taking responsibility and doing what needs to be done even if it is uncomfortable or difficult.
This, at least, heartened Lucien, and he forced himself to speak, if at least to put his brother out of his misery. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention.”
Henry glanced at him, and his face and shoulders relaxed slightly as he took in Lucien’s expression, which he was working hard to keep calm and reassuring. He kept repeating to himself, What would Emery do? And Emery would surely try to make this situation less awkward for all of them, instead of becoming cold and cruel, which was Lucien’s instinct. “I will take your advice into consideration.”
“Thank you,” Henry said, and he bowed. “I think I’ll go say hello to our sisters.”
He left the room, and Lucien finished the rest of his drink in one gulp. The burn of the drink warmed him, and also seemed to take away some of the dread he was feeling. He went to the window, which looked out over the drive. His sisters had gone inside, but Emery was still out by the carriages, supervising the footmen as they carried the trunks up the steps and into thehouse. She looked as if she were in her element; as if she were a commander directing her troops on the battlefield.
If I thought that was hard, it’s nothing to the conversation I’m about to have,Lucien thought gloomily.Because now I have to tell my wife that she will be sharing my bedroom until Leah is married.
Chapter Nineteen
“Surely there has been a mistake.”
Lucien had been anticipating these words all evening, ever since he’d retired early after dinner and gone up to his bedchamber to await his wife. He’d even anticipated the look of horror and anger on Emery’s face. But it didn’t make it any easier when, at last, the knock came on the door of his bedchamber, and it swung open to reveal his wife, staring at him with a strange mixture of puzzlement and even fear.
“This has to be a mistake,” she repeated, moving slowly into the room. The footman who had brought her bowed to Lucien and then closed the door with a click. Before it was all the way closed, however, Lucien was sure he saw a look of intrigue on the boy’s face.
Good. The rumors will begin to spread, then.
Emery, meanwhile, was speaking, and he turned his attention back to her. “I asked the footman to bring me to the Duchess’s bedchamber, but he brought me…” Emery glanced around the room. “...here.”
Lucien licked his lips. He’d been sitting in an armchair in the corner of the room, trying to read, but mostly watching the grandfather clock and wondering when Emery would be appearing. Now, he stood, and set the book on the end table where the candle was flickering.
“I’m sorry about this,” he said, clearing his throat. “But there has been no mistake. This is where you will be sleeping during the duration of our visit to London.”
“Why?” she demanded. “Is there no separate Duchess chamber in the townhouse?”
“No, there is.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Then why am I here?”
Lucien tried to speak, but no words came out. For a moment, Emery continued to stare at him, then her expression clouded, and she crossed her arms across her chest.
“We discussed this,” she said in a low, angry voice. “We agreed that we would not have a traditional marriage. I told you that I was unwilling to--”
“I know,” Lucien interrupted. “You have made your opinion on this subject very clear.”
Was it just his imagination, or did she flinch when he said that? And was it his imagination, or had there been a touch of hurt and bitterness in his voice? He swallowed and tried again, trying to imbue it with more reassurance and tenderness.
“Nothing has changed,” he said. “You and I are still not to live as man and wife. The reason for this is entirely strategic. When I spoke to Henry earlier today he said that the rumors he tried to spread our marital felicitousness have not taken root. Part of that is because of his own mistake. He mentioned an attachment to another lady and now thetonbelieves he may have proposed to, or even tried to elope with, someone other than you, thus violating your engagement contract.”
Emery’s face had gone from angry to confused at these words.
“What lady could Henry possibly have formed an--”
But he interrupted her, determined to get this out. “However, another reason thetondoes not buy our story is because rumors have reached them that we do not share a bedchamber. And while that might be normal practice for dukes and duchesses who have been married for many years, it is certainly not normal behavior for newlyweds on their honeymoon who are supposed to be very much in love.”
Emery, he was unsurprised to see, looked as embarrassed as if he’d walked in on her in her undergarments. Her face turnedpink, and she had to look away for a moment and take a deep breath, as if collecting herself. When she looked back at him, the corners of her mouth were twitching upward, as if trying to force herself not to laugh.
She’s right to laugh. It really is an absurd situation in which we find ourselves.
“How is it possible that such a rumor reached theton?” she whispered, her voice choked. “How would anyone know about that?”
“I don’t know,” Lucien said, shaking his head. “It’s possible that one of our servants told someone. In fact, that seems the only way that it would have spread so quickly.”
“But… you trust your servants, do you not?”
