He led her out to an automobile as well-wishers threw rice at them. She giggled as they left the church, perfectly content with the man beside her. He seemed a little shy, but that was nothing she couldn’t handle.
On the short drive to his home, she held tightly to the seat, afraid the thing would throw her to the ground. They couldn’t speak as it was too loud, and she quickly realized she preferred a horse and carriage. He stopped the automobile in front of a large home with a perfectly manicured lawn.
“This is it!” he said. She gratefully took his hand to get down from the auto, thinking she hoped she never had to be in one again. They were impractical and very uncomfortable to her way of thinking. When they reached the door, he carried her over the threshold.
Inside, he immediately introduced her to his housekeeper, Mrs. Graves, and then to two of the maids. Joy had no idea how many servants he had, but she had a feeling there would be nothing left for her to do all day. What did a woman do when they had no work?
He gave her a tour of the large home, and she was surprised to see five bedrooms. Why, there was even an indoor water closet, something she’d only seen in her sister’s home.
“This house will take forever to clean!” she said, thinking about the work of simply mopping it. Her sister Elizabeth’s home was the largest she’d ever been in, but this one dwarfed it.
He laughed, shaking his head. “That’s why there are so many servants working for me.” He paused for a moment. “For us.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to get used to having servants. What does a woman do if she’s not cooking, cleaning, and gardening all day?”
He chuckled. “I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out quickly.”
Joy wasn’t so certain. “It’s a beautiful home,” she said softly, feeling more than a little overwhelmed.
“I’m glad you like it. I had the cook prepare a special meal for our supper tonight, hoping to make the occasion just a bit more memorable for you. I do hope you’ll like it!”
“I’m certain I will.”
He led her to the dining room and pulled out a chair at the foot of the table for her before walking to the head of the table to sit. She frowned. “Why are you sitting so far from me? How will we talk?”
He frowned. “This is how people sit when they eat.”
She stood up, picking up her plate and piling the silverware on it before moving to the other end of the table to sit perpendicular to him. “There. Now we can get to know one another while we eat.”
“You can’t move when we have people over.”
“Of course not,” she said. “This is simply for when we have a meal with just the two of us.”
He thought about it for a moment before nodding. “All right. I think that’s fine.”
Their meal came in then and the maid serving it smiled when she saw that Joy had moved. She said nothing, but there was definite approval in her eyes.
Joy took her first bite and smiled, nodding. “I’m not sure what it is, but it’s delicious,” she said. She’d never been fussy about food, and the meat wrapped in some sort of pastry didn’t phase her even a little.
“It’s beef wellington,” he said. “My favorite dish.”
“I’ll keep in mind that it’s a favorite,” she said, thinking forward to the time when she’d have an opportunity to cook for him.
As they ate they talked about everything and nothing at all. She was thrilled with how easygoing he seemed to be and how natural it was to talk to him.
After the meal, they retired to a parlor, and he sat on the sofa, patting the seat beside him. She sat down happily and looked at him, wondering why they were wasting their time in the parlor on their wedding night. Shouldn’t they be ripping one another’s clothes off? She’d never been married, but many of her friends were, and the way they talked, the wedding night was for one purpose only.
“The meal was delicious,” she said, trying to think of something to say to break the ice. It was as if he became a whole new person when they moved into a new room.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. How was your trip here?”
“Long,” she said, smiling. “I’d never been on a train, and I was sure the rattling was going to keep my backside tingling forever.”
His eyes widened at her mention of her backside, but he didn’t reprimand her for it. Surely, she knew that she couldn’t talk that way around his co-workers or clients. “Did you sit with someone kind?”
“I sat alone, but I really enjoyed watching the landscape pass by my window. In a way it felt like I was sitting still and all these things were flying past me. Of course, I know that’s not what happened, but it’s how it felt.”
While they sat there, she kicked her shoes off and sighed happily. “My feet will never learn to like shoes.”
