He didn’t know what to do with himself. This woman…their connection was so unexpected. His initial thoughts had been to marry Victoria, and in doing so, ensure her silence about what she might have seen that night. But every moment he spent with her, he found more reasons to want to keep her by his side.
A less stubborn man might have admitted the truth by now, that he was falling for her. Robert foolishly clung to his ways. To the notion that this was just a passing flight of fancy, brought on by the early lust filled days of marriage, and it would soon pass.
The only thing he didn’t try to fool himself about was what would happen if those feelings continued to grow. If they did, he was going to find himself facing a world of trouble.
Inside the greenhouse, Victoria was as giddy as a child on Christmas morning. She let go of Robert’s hand and skipped along the stone path which wound its way between the flowerbeds.
“Look at all these herbs.” She bent and put her nose against some basil growing in a small pot. When she breathed in deep and then sighed, he wanted to drop to his knees and offer her the world.
Robert selected a ripe strawberry and trailed after her. When he reached her, Victoria was studying a miniature pear tree. An expression of unbridled fascination sat on her face.
“Here, try this,” he said, handing her the bright red berry.
She took it and bit into the soft flesh of the fruit. “Mmm.”
Her hum of pleasure went straight to his cock. Victoria was nothing like most women he’d met amongst the elite of London society. She didn’t make any effort to hide her enjoyment of food and life. He was fast losing the battle to keep his emotional distance from her.
And would that be such a bad thing? To care for my wife.
That thought pulled him up sharp. He was running a dangerous and illegal spice smuggling business—he couldn’t afford to get emotionally involved with her.
Victoria finished her strawberry. Robert’s gaze settled on the small spot of red on her lips. Before he could stop himself, he’d reached out and brushed it away with his thumb, which he then licked.
“Would.” He stopped and cleared his throat. “Would you like to see the crocus flowers?” The only thing croaky in the greenhouse was his voice.
She beamed at him. “I heard from a reliable source that the threads are worth more than their weight in gold.”
Victoria had remembered his words from that night when he’d taken her prisoner.
She had snuck into his garden and stolen more than just a handful of herbs.
“Your Grace?”
Robert turned. A familiar figure stood in the doorway of the greenhouse and waved at them. He beckoned the man over.
“Victoria, may I introduce my estate steward, Jasper. Jasper, this is Victoria, the Duchess of Saffron Walden. My wife.”
He loved how that sounded.My wife.
Jasper dipped his head. “Your Grace, welcome to Tolley Manor. If there is anything you need, you only have to ask. The head butler has the household servants assembled and awaiting your inspection at your leisure.”
He gave a quick glance in Robert’s direction. The message clear: the sooner they got the new lady of the house in the hands of the staff, the quicker he and his employer could talk.
When Victoria didn’t make a move to immediately depart, Jasper cleared his throat, and said, “Your Grace, the wagon with the timbers from the lower woods has arrived. I have asked the hands to move the wood to the driest part of the main barn.”
“Excellent, thank you. Is that the last of the timber?”
“Yes, Your Grace. Though you may need to come and inspect the cut of the wood a little later.”
“Very good.”
Robert offered Victoria his arm. “Would you like to go up to the manor house and meet the servants? After the long journey of the past two days, I’m sure you’d love to get some things unpacked and settled in.”
She softly smiled up at him and nodded. “Yes, that would be lovely.”
Jasper followed them out of the greenhouse. Robert glanced back over his shoulder at his estate steward. There wasn’t any timber from the lower wood. Jasper had used code to explain that the last of the smuggled spices had arrived at the estate, and later tonight they would commence transferring all of it from the East India Company crates and barrels to their own. By week’s end they would have all the evidence either burned or hidden, after which Robert and some of the workers would take the new Tolley Estate spices to Cambridge market and sell them for a tidy profit.
Things were coming together nicely. He had a pretty and intelligent new duchess in his bed. Hidden within his secret storage cellar was thousands of pounds worth of stolen spices which the Honorable East India didn’t appear to be losing any sleep over recovering. All in all, the Duke of Spice had it made.
