Alden wanted to reach out to touch Elinor, to comfort her, but he didn’t think she was ready for that. He just needed to be patient with her. He decided to settle on a safe question. “How are you faring?”
Elinor sighed. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I don’t feel any different now that I am married, but everything has changed.”
“That it has,” he agreed.
In a hesitant voice, Elinor asked, “Why did you do it?”
He took a step closer to her, unable to resist the urge to be near her. “I couldn’t stand by and let your uncle take you to an asylum.”
“I can’t believe he would do something so underhanded,” Elinor said, shaking her head in disbelief.
“Neither could I.”
Elinor lowered her gaze to the lapels of his jacket. “Well, you got precisely what you wanted. You will inherit the horse farm.”
“This is not how I wanted to go about it,” Alden said, his tone earnest. “You must know that.”
“I do,” she murmured.
Alden placed his finger under her chin and lifted her head until their eyes met. “I promise that I will be a good husband to you.”
Elinor’s eyes searched his, and he hoped she could see the sincerity in his promise. “I believe you.”
“Will you not promise to be a good wife to me?” he teased.
“I will, assuming you do not expect me to obey you,” Elinor said. “I do not respond well to being ordered about.”
His lips quirked into a small smile. “I do know that about you.”
She bit her lower lip, drawing his attention to her perfectly formed lips. “What of marital relations?”
“What of them?” he asked, his voice gentle.
In a hesitant voice, she inquired, “Am I expected to perform them?”
Alden knew there was a time and place to joke with his wife and this was not the time to do so. “Not if you are not willing,” he replied. “If you would prefer, this could be a marriage of convenience.”
“Do you not require an heir?” Elinor asked.
“I would like one, but not until you are comfortable in doing so,” Alden responded. “I won’t force you to do anything.”
The tension in Elinor’s shoulders eased just a fraction. “That is most kind of you.”
“Nothing has changed between us,” Alden said, dropping his finger from her chin. “We are still friends.”
Elinor’s eyes grew wide. “Everything has changed. We are married, and you are going to sell the horse farm.”
“About that,” Alden started, “I was thinking about keeping the horse farm, at least since it is profitable.”
A bright smile spread across Elinor’s face, her eyes sparkling with joy. “Are you in earnest?”
“I am,” Alden confirmed with a nod.
Elinor threw her arms around Alden, pulling him into a tight embrace. He could feel the warmth of gratitude and it filled him with a deep sense of satisfaction. “Thank you. That means more to me than you will ever know.”
Alden wrapped his arms around her, savoring the closeness. “I do hope you don’t mind continuing to run the horse farm.”
“I would prefer it, actually,” Elinor declared.
