“What way?” Leah asked eagerly.
“Protective,” Vivian clarified, although this still left much unanswered. “He was scared for your wellbeing, and now that you are his wife, your wellbeing is his responsibility.”
“But is that all it is?” Leah asked, disappointment landing like lead in her stomach. “Just concern for my safety? And a feeling that he would be responsible if something were to happen to me?”
“Those are not bad things,” Vivian pointed out.
“I suppose not,” Leah said. He gives me what I need, but not what I want.
What do I want?
Vivian put a hand on her arm, and Leah suddenly remembered how it had felt for the Duke to seize her by the arms. His strength, his power, the feeling that nothing bad could happen to her when he was holding her… Her throat went dry. She didn’t know what it meant exactly, but she knew she wanted more of that feeling.
“Perhaps he did not act in the most rational way,” Vivian said after a moment, “but he is new to this. Being a husband, I mean; caring for another human being. Be patient with him. He will become more lenient.”
“If we really are to spend the rest of our lives together, then I cannot ask his permission every time I want to go swimming,” Leah said crossly. “Honestly, I had never seen such an overreaction to something so harmless!”
“Perhaps you should talk to him about it,” Vivian suggested. “Maybe there is a safer place where you might swim that he can show you. Or…” Another mischievous look passed over Vivian’s face, and Leah felt her heart begin to beat more quickly. “Or you could ask him to join you next time.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Leah gaped at her friend. “He would not go swimming with me! That is… so intimate. So scandalous.”
“You are married,” Vivian pointed out. “On your own private estate. There is nothing scandalous about it.”
Leah’s mouth was very, very dry now. She remembered how he had looked, with his shirt sticking to him, the flickering flames of the fire turning his skin golden.
“No, there is no way he would accept,” she said, shaking her head.
Vivian only smiled. “You never know.” Another moment passed, during which Leah felt herself growing red, but then her friend mercifully changed the subject. “By the way, do you know when you shall be returning to London? I know the Season is almost over, but you cannot plan to hide away here just the two of you all autumn, can you?”
“I’m not sure,” Leah said, her thoughts wrenching away from an afternoon spent swimming with the Duke. “I would like to return to London and see my sisters.”
“You must at least come for Lord Bellmond and my end of the Season ball. It will be in a few weeks’ time. Do you think you can convince the Duke to attend with you? I know thetonwill be dying to see the couple who married so quickly and mysteriously.”
“I will speak to him about it,” Leah said, blushing even more furiously. “Is that what the gossip columns are saying? That we married in a mysterious way?”
“Of course, my dear,” Vivian said with a small smile. “How else could they interpret what is accurate? Fortunately, they have mostly come to the conclusion that it must have been a love match.”
“Oh…”
“That is good,” Vivian said reprovingly. “Anything else that involved Lord Dubois would only bring scandal to your family.”
The mention of Lord Dubois immediately made Leah’s stomach lurch. “And what of him?” she asked. “Have you heard anything of his reaction to our wedding?”
“I have heard nothing,” Vivian said, patting her reassuringly on the shoulder. “He must know that you are now unreachable.”
“Yes,” Leah said, her throat tightening. She swallowed. “You’re right. I should not think about him.”
“No, do not think about him,” Vivian said. “Think about my upcoming ball! And your husband in his shirtsleeves, swimming…”
They had soon descended into peels of laughter— which, Leah realized only after her friend had left, she had been sorely missing.
“May I come in?” Leah asked, as she knocked on the half-open door of the Duke’s study. It was dim inside--only a few candles were lit--but when he looked up at her, she immediately could make out all the details of his face.
To her surprise, he looked ragged, as if he had been working himself to the bone. And indeed, as she glanced around the study, she saw that it was filled with mountains of papers. He seemed to be buried in work. She’d had no idea.
“Of course,” the Duke said, motioning for her to enter. “What’s on your mind?”
He sounded considerably more friendly since the last time they’d spoken, and her heart leapt with hope. The last thing she wanted was another argument.
