He shook his head. “I can hardly bring myself to even blink inside a carriage, let alone sleep.”
Her mouth opened and closed. Though he braced himself for her to bring up the topic of his sister, she redirected them to his relief. “Very well. Then we need a distraction. I have a book if you’d like to read it?”
“Not if it’s another pirate,” he found himself saying.
That smirk reappeared on her lips as she pulled out the book. “Worse. It’s a dangerous duke accused of murder whilst courting the king’s daughter.”
“Don’t tell me. He did murder someone, but her love saves him?” Ronan asked her dryly.
She handed over the book before snugly settling back into her cushions. “I suppose you’ll have to read it to me to find out.”
“I could skip to the end, you know.”
“Don’t you dare!”
Offering the heaviest sigh he could muster, knowing it would make Isla giggle, Ronan glanced the book over before opening it. “Very well. Do mind yourself and stay awake this time since I’m not reading it over again.”
She muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, “Of course you would,” but offered an innocent smile when he raised an eyebrow at her. “Go on,” Isla said loudly.
And so Ronan read half the book to her on their journey to London, stopping only because she began to sleep. He forced himself not to skip ahead and look at the ending if only for his wife’s sake.
That evening, having arrived at their townhouse in London, Ronan joined Isla in the library for a late supper. He brought the book to finish it but instead she was busy sorting through their correspondence that had yet to come their way.
“These invitations we can set aside,” she noted while taking polite small bites of her supper. She moved the largest pile to one corner to his relief. “But this… If we are here for the next fortnight, Ronan, we really should attend these events.”
He eyed the seven envelopes. “That’s too much.”
Her lips twitched as she moved three closer to him. “These are the ones you should accompany me to; the others I can attend alone.”
“You’re just newly healed,” he started.
But Isla was shaking her head. “We cannot be so discourteous. We need to present ourselves and do right by society. If I wished to be proper, I’d not leave London and attend two or three affairs daily. Already I’ve told the staff we won’t be hosting any guests unless it’s my family or your friends,” she added before he could protest. “Surely that is enough. You cannot be a complete recluse now that you are married, but I can help in my way as your duchess.”
He closed his mouth. Giving her a considerate look, Ronan studied the determined set to her brow and the hopeful smile breaking through her lips. She wanted this, he realized. She wanted to be present as the duchess, to participate in society. She wanted to do something.
And how can I dream of denying her?
“Very well,” he told her at last. “Wherever are you sending us about London while we are here?”
This was how, the very next evening, Ronan found himself attending one of the season’s most prestigious balls. The sort people were willing to bribe someone else to take their ticket. Doors were closed to everyone else, and it would be the gossip of the ton through the entire summer no matter what might take place.
He guided Isla past the receiving room to the ballroom as she gazed about at the extravagance.
“Your mouth is open,” he murmured.
She let out a breathy sigh. “How is your mouth closed? I cannot fathom how lovely this is. I feel as though we are under water ourselves. Can you not feel the rushing water all around us?”
“More like the warm bodies threatening to drown us,” he said sardonically while squeezing her past a large party.
And then he ducked them over a wide swath of fabric that glistened like it was meant to be a wave. It truly was a dazzling sight. Blue and silver and gold shimmered everywhere. In front of the musical quartet set up in the middle of the room was a large treasure chest. The large dance floor set up all around the musicians was already taken up by many dancers enjoying a country dance.
“We were so late the receiving party has surely ended,” Isla muttered. “You cannot already be complaining.”
“Why not, when it is my one joy this evening?” He couldn’t resist teasing her.
She gave him a stern look but couldn’t deny the smile on her lips. A warm victory spread through him. He fixed his grip neatly on her, keeping her close. Isla was a dazzling lady this evening in a new green gown that matched her eyes. He had brought her sand dollars that her maid had somehow managed to sew into her pinned up hair. She sparkled and shined tonight.
Others could see it, too, see how lovely she was. Gentlemen and ladies glanced their way and lingered their eyes on her.
