“Let us just say that I am not used to it,” he said quickly.
“What about Lord Kingsley? Do you not speak to him forthrightly about the innermost workings of your heart?”
Winston chuckled softly. “He knows me well but not like my sister did. And to have another woman in the house, one I must also express myself to… It is difficult. I am sorry I have not been very good at it. I will be better from now on. I promise.”
She was quiet for a moment then he felt her turn over on her side to face him. He turned over as well so that they were facing one another.
“You do not have to tell me everything,” she said. “I know that we do not know each other very well yet. But I would like to get to know you better so that our marriage might feel like real companionship. That does require you to spend more time with me. Do you think… do you think you can do?”
He nodded then realized she might not be able to see. “Yes,” he said, and there it was, that strange feeling again, like the sheet of ice around his heart was melting. “I can do that.”
Even in the darkness, he thought he saw her smile. The sight warmed his heart even more, and when he turned back over on his back and closed his eyes to sleep, he was shocked to realize he was smiling as well.
He was even more shocked when he woke the next morning and found himself cuddled up against his wife. She was sleeping with her back to him, curled in the fetal position, and he was curled around her, his arm over her, holding her against him.
For a moment, he allowed himself to cuddle closer. She smelled so wonderful, like fresh wildflowers, and her body was so warm and soft.
And then it hit. He was cuddling his wife!
For a moment, he froze. If she was awake and realized, then she would be mortified. Very slowly, he lifted his arm from around her then, as carefully as possible, slowly detached himself from her, moving away across the mattress.
She stirred, and he froze again. Then she turned over to face him.
“Good morning,” she said, her smile shy and a little mischievous. “I think it is about time we return to Thornfield Castle, don’t you?”
Winston forced himself to smile back and not reveal the embarrassment currently wiggling its way through his stomach.
“Yes,” he said. “Let us return home.”And to whatever new reality awaits us there as husband and wife.Because if there was one thing he knew for sure, it was this: something had shifted between him and the Duchess of Thornfield.
Chapter Seventeen
“Your Grace, a letter has come for you,” Winston’s valet, George said, as he came into the study. From the concerned look on George’s face, Winston suspected the worst, and he immediately felt himself stiffen.
“Who is it from?” he asked at once, holding out a hand for the letter.
“I am not sure, but the postal address is in London.”
“Kingsley?” Winston asked.
“Or the Bow Street Runners,” George suggested as he handed him the letter.
Winston tore open the letter and scanned it quickly. A strange mixture of emotions settled over him as he saw who it was from. Dread pooled in the pit of his stomach, yes, but also another feeling. Was it excitement? If it was, then he truly was a villain.For who would feel excitement at their summoning to Bow Street to be interviewed by several constables of those men who were charged with keeping the peace in London.
He looked up at George. “Yes, it is our old friends, the Bow Street Runners,” he said. “It seems they would like to question me about my whereabouts on the night of Lord Tallow’s attack.”
George swallowed. “Will you speak to them?”
“Of course, I will,” Winston said, smiling. “It is my civic duty, after all.”
“But, Your Grace?—”
“Do not worry, George. There is no proof that I was involved with that. And the public will never believe a duke capable of such things.”
“Your staff will all swear you were here, Your Grace,” George said.
“No,” Winston replied swiftly. “No one will lie for me. You will say that you were asleep, as you were, and that you do not know one way or another.”
“But—”
