“Imust say, Sebastian, until I saw it with my own eyes, I was hesitant to believe it.”
Lord Giles Ashford’s smile was all teeth, his blue eyes sparkled, and he had a look about him that made it seem that he was always on the verge of laughter.
“Did you think I was lying?” Sebastian asked with an eyeroll. “That I somehow managed to trick the entire ton into believing that I was married?”
“Knowing you and what you are capable of, I would not put it past you,” Lord Ashford scoffed. “But no, that’s not what I meant at all.”
He did not elaborate, his smile growing.
Sebastian sighed. “Oh, please do tell me what your meaning is. I am on the edge of my seat.”
“This marriage,” Lord Ashford continued. “As ashamed as I am to admit it, when I first heard of it, I assumed that it was some sort of ruse. A lie. A trick. That there was no way on God’s green earth the Duke of Hawthorne had fallen in love and then married said love.” He laughed and shook his head. “I would have believed first that the sky had started to fall.”
“And now?”
Lord Ashford narrowed his eyes as if to consider the question. He looked between Sebastian and Helena, assessing them closely, searching for the lie.
As he did, Sebastian kept his hand wrapped around Helena’s. A soft squeeze, but nothing exaggerated. And Helena, feeling more comfortable than she had all week, was happy to return the gesture, pairing it with a smile for her husband that she hoped was loving.
“I was wrong,” Lord Ashford said finally. “And I am a big enough man to admit it.”
“Possibly the first time you have ever done such a thing,” Sebastian joked.
Lord Ashford shrugged and took a sip of his tea. “I am nothing if not capable of change. And clearly, so are you. My, oh my. How far we have come.”
“I have,” Sebastian said with a laugh. “You still have some ways to go.”
It was a sunny afternoon. The weather was warm but not uncomfortable, a light breeze blew across the grounds, and there was just the right amount of clouds in the sky to shelter the three as they sat around a table in the back garden and enjoyed a pot of tea and some sweetmeats.
Lord Ashford arrived later than expected, not able to eat lunch, but still wishing to have refreshments before he continued on the final leg of his journey.
He was sitting across from Helena and Sebastian, as if he wanted to be able to watch them and see how they would behave.
Helena was seated beside Sebastian. In fact, she was the one who had taken the seat, figuring it would do to be close to him. And when he took her hand as soon as they sat down, smiling at her, keeping it in his lap, she did not try to pull away. Nor did she wonder at its meaning.
I know the meaning now. I know exactly what is on my husband’s mind. And dammit if it doesn’t make this whole charade that much less confusing. And it’s about time!
Truly, since their conversation yesterday, Helena had noticed a most obvious change in the way Sebastian was treating her. A most welcome one, as it managed to clear up that which had been bothering her.
Before, he had treated her like a tool, caring not about what she wanted or what she was thinking, happy to parade her about and lavish her in praise and adoration because he assumed that was what he needed to do.
And now, he was treating her like a real person, and Helena could not have been happier about the change. It was much needed, in her opinion.
“So, tell me about yourself, Your Grace,” Lord Ashford started, apparently content with his assessment of their relationship.
“What would you like to know?”
“First of all, what is wrong with you?” he said casually as he sipped his tea.
“Excuse me?”
Sebastian scoffed. “Ignore him. Giles has… some might call it a scathing sense of humor, but that would require him to be funny.”
“Says you.” Lord Ashford grinned. “You’ve always hated that most people we know think me the funny one.”
“And me the handsome one,” Sebastian shot back.
“See if that changes, come a few more months of marriage,” Lord Ashford continued with a wicked smirk. “Now that I am the single one, I dare say that soon I will be both the funny one and the handsome one to boot. I only wonder what I will do with all this power.”
