Victoria cocked a disbelieving brow at him.
“They are not to my taste.” The words came out flippant, but it was clear they had spurred some possibilities and curiosity behind his wife’s eyes.
“And what are those?” she eventually asked. “Your tastes?”
Rafe pretended to give this thoughtful consideration when the answer was already on the tip of his tongue. “Bold,” he answered in a sensual rumble. “Elegant. Confident.” He paused and cocked a brow at Victoria. “Each of my paramours was those things, if you wish to have the bald truth…but now my wife is all of those things at once.” The statement finished with such sincerity that he shocked even himself.
Victoria scoffed lightly, and he recognized in the angle of her slim shoulders that she was preparing to leave him behind. Acting quickly, Rafe cupped her elbow to prevent her from doing so. “I can tell you do not believe me, but I speak with all honesty.” He leaned in until his breath stirred a loose curl near the delicate shell of her ear. “You are very different, Victoria. And, for all the money in the world, I would not have married you if you’d been one of those three women across the shop.” He didn’t think he imagined the minute shiver that traveled the length of her body when his thumb pressed against the pulse on the inside of her arm. “Please believe that I am sorry for wounding you with my comment last evening; I only meant to lay bare the truth.”
“This is neither the time nor the place,” she hissed tremulously, her eyes scanning their surroundings.
A master of private assignations in public places, he’d already judged how far they were from the shopkeeper and anyother customers, and he knew the risks of an eavesdropper were very low. While a few glances were being cast their way, the ladies across the space had finally read Rafe’s disinterest and moved on.
“Neither was last night for what I said, but I thought I would keep the trend.” This was, by far, one of the least titillating conversations he’d had with a woman, but it was one of the most important. It could not wait if there was any hope for their future.
Victoria nibbled her lower lip in indecision. “I do not understand how you can be so certain that you will never feel more than…a physical attraction in this marriage.” Every bit of skin from her hairline to the top of her throat above the embroidered neckline of her spencer turned pink. “You are adamant that you have never and will never feel love; help me understand why that is.”
Rafe braced himself for the truth. “Some people are built for deep emotions; I am not one of them.” Her brow furrowed, and he turned his body to block her from the rest of the shop. “My entire life, Alice has been the closest I’ve come to love. In offering you this truth, I saw it as a way we might move forward with proper expectations. I did not mean to insult you by underscoring the fact that ours was not a marriage of love, but I wanted you to be aware that my inability to love was not due to any shortcoming on your part. I never want you to feel as if it is your fault.”
“So, it was meant to be a kindness?”
“It was meant to be realistic.” His words were flat, but not cruel. He was merely reciting a fact. “You may never have love with me, your husband, but you might eventually find it elsewhere. And I will be happy for you if and when that happens.”
Something flickered in her captivating eyes, and it made him pause, his resolve in the rightness of his convictions stuttering ever so slightly. He watched the column of her throat tighten and opened his mouth to speak, but the shopkeeper chose that moment to return with Victoria’s receipts. By the time Rafe turned back to his wife, she was already headed out the door and back into the street.
Chapter Fourteen
Victoria and Rafereceived their first visitors after tea that day in the form of Mr. Simon Stratford and his wife, Odette.
“I was sorry to hear your honeymoon trip had been cancelled,” said Mrs. Stratford. “We have not had the opportunity to travel further abroad than Edinburough; a holiday on the Continent would be such an adventure.”
“I am certain we will find time to plan another someday,” Victoria replied with a smile that was less genuine than she hoped. Though she’d tried, she hadn’t been able to shake Rafe’s earlier words—his admission that love was not something he could feel or even desired to experience—had shaken her. He’d effectively destroyed any hope she might have held that they might one day develop a depth of feeling for one another; she did not know if it was better or worse that he believed it was a kindness to speak so bluntly to her. It was, she supposed, some consolation that he’d made it clear that it was nothing againsther; it was just how he was. She gave herself a little shake and did her best to focus on their guests rather than the state of her fledgling marriage that had already been tested far too many times. “Besides, you would have to leave your little one behind for far too long. How old did you say Alexandra was?”
“We celebrated her first birthday last month,” Mrs. Stratford beamed from the opportunity to discuss her daughter, and thenshe positively glowed when she turned toward her husband. “It would be rather difficult to leave her, wouldn’t it?”
Mr. Stratford made a thoughtful sound of agreement before looking back at Rafe. “Why was your trip cancelled?” he asked bluntly.
Rafe brushed crumbs from his fingertips and set aside the plate Victoria had prepared for him. “Business.”
The answer was so far from the truth that Victoria’s head whipped around to face him. Could Mr. and Mrs. Stratford be unaware of the children’s existence, or did Rafe simply not wish to admit that the reason they’d canceled their trip was due to May’s illness?
“Business?” Mrs. Stratford asked; one of her brows lifted in skepticism. “I’ve never known you to handle business of such import that it would hinder your more enjoyable plans.” The words were spoken in a sweet tone, but there was an edge to them. Victoria bit the inside of her cheek and watched the interaction play out.
“Well, dearest Odette, I am a changed man.” Rafe sprawled backward negligently, gesturing to the barely suitable room around them. “I am no longer the ne’er-do-well you’ve come to know and love, but a man who is both a husband and a responsible lord.”
Mrs. Stratford gave a little disbelieving shake of her head before she took another sip of her tea. She set it aside and said, “I am certain thetonare breathing a collective sigh of relief. After all, you’ve left a string of broken hearts in your wake—many of them my friends.”
“Do you really think it is appropriate to bring this up in front of my wife?” Rafe asked.
This seemed to chasten Mrs. Stratford some, but the blue spark in her eyes did not dim. “Apologies, Lady Blackwood. I am sure this is not the visit you were anticipating. And Ididpromise to try to set aside my differences with the viscount, so this was not particularly sporting of me.” She had the good grace to appear abashed.
“Pardon?” Rafe interjected with a small frown. “When did you have that conversation?” His question went unanswered.
“By all means, I am the last one who will support a man who is in the wrong—whether or not I happen to be married to him.” She shifted her eyes toward Rafe. “I am under no misconception that he was quite the scoundrel before we were wed.”And it seemed that she was not the only woman who’d been optimistic in her future with him.She swallowed past the lump in her throat. It was one thing to hear the rumors about Rafe; it was another to be confronted with their fallout.
Mrs. Stratford tapped her fingers on the arm of the chaise. “Very well,” she huffed. “I hope that both of you will be able to join us at the theater for the closing performance of ‘The Folly of Dreams’.” She looked at Rafe. “But know that I am doing so because I quite like your wife and I believe she will be the only woman unwilling to tolerate your antics.”
Victoria and Rafefollowed the Stratfords to their private box at The Mask & Lyre in the West End. Victoria had been to the location before with her father and brother, but this time was vastly different because it was her first outing with Rafe as husband and wife. She was now the subject of interested stares for a new reason: She was the woman who had brought one of London’s most notorious rakes to the altar.
