Edward’s blood was up, his arousal was peaked, and it took more self-control than he thought was possible to wait until he had her alone in his room, the door closed, nobody to disturb them until morning. But he waited, he resisted, and the night was all the better for it.
That night… the next… the one after that. A marriage he had not been sure of, now fully realized, and Edward dared to say that he was the happiest he had been in as long as he could remember. And it was all thanks to Celestine, his wife.
Chapter Twenty
“She is fine.” Celestine had her arm linked through Edward’s and she reached over and rested her other hand on his arm to help calm him. “You need to trust her.”
“I do trust her,” Edward said, not sounding at all like he meant it. “It is everyone else who I do not trust.”
“She knows what is expected,” Celestine assured him. “As she knows how hard you have worked. Allow her to enjoy herself, Edward. Remember what I told you at her debut?”
He clicked his tongue with frustration. “Vaguely.”
“The harder you push her, the harder she will pull away. Young women are funny like that. If she gets a sense that you are trying to control her, she will only work to frustrate you more.”
He did not answer, his gaze still fixed across the garden.
“Come on…” Gently, she pulled him. “I am thirsty and you have not even asked if I would like a drink yet. Shame on you.”
Edward hesitated for a moment, still focused across the garden. However, as Celestine gently pulled him, she felt him give in, just as she saw him force his stare back so that he finally looked at her.
“You are right, as much as I hate to admit it.”
“How hard that much have been for you,” she laughed.
He chuckled but without humor. “Just promise me you will look out for her, Celestine. If anything should happen…”
“Have I not been?” She raised a questioning eyebrow at him. “Now, come. Let us try and enjoy ourselves, if you are capable of such a thing.”
He shook his head but laughed. “Yes, yes, I suppose I can try.”
“You better do more than that.”
Celestine was sure to smile, wanting to show Edward how relaxed and uncaring she was. Although she respected his concern, even admired it, there came a point where he needed to learn to let go. And by her estimation, today was a perfect chance to do just that.
So, she kept her arm linked as she led him through the garden, pulling him in the opposite direction to where Millicent stood with her friends.
She is a good girl, and she will do the right thing. I know that she will.
Lord Ironvale’s garden party was typical and exactly what Celestine had grown used to since turning eighteen. She had been to dozens of them by that point, and rarely were they that different from one another. Strange, she always thought, as if the host was scared to step too far out of expectation, always toeing the line so that there would be no risk of courting judgement.
There were perhaps three score of guests in total. They were spread across the large garden, each enjoying the day the best that they could, while sure not to show too much joy because nobody wished to be the center of attention. It was all decorum and poise, controlled grace and manufactured elegance.
Not to mention being rather boring.
It was lucky that Celestine had Edward to keep her entertained. Even with how distracted he was by Millicent, she still enjoyed his company immensely. He was fun, was the reason, not so serious, and while he did care about what others thought, he did not let their expectations control him.
“Do you have any notion of who has caught Millicent’s attention?” he asked her as they found a waiter who carried atray of glasses filled with wine. He took two, handed her one, and swallowed half of his in one gulp.
“What makes you think that someone has?” she asked as she had a sip of wine.
He looked at her flatly. “Lies already, Celestine? And less than two weeks into our marriage. It does not bode well for the future.”
Her expression was sharp. “So, you were listening in the other night?”
“Not on purpose,” he defended. She cocked a questioning eyebrow. He grimaced. “I might have heard one or two things said. Nothing concrete, however. Just the suggestion that there was someone who she was trying to woo… or have woo her.”
“She did not give me a name,” Celestine said.
