“You wish Lilian to come and live here at Greyhaven Park?” Nathaniel queried, rather surprised at this request. “Really?”
It was a little before noon, and he had to admit that when his new wife insisted on speaking to him alone as soon as he came downstairs, he had hoped for a rather different conversation.
In a green summer dress with golden-brown ringlets pinned at the nape of her neck, Cecily looked neat and pretty this morning. Only those dark, flashing eyes revealed the fiery passion he longed to unleash.
How easily he could release her hair from its pins and slide her dress down her shoulders as he fed her kisses and words of desire he knew would arouse her. Looking around and seeing no one about, it even crossed his mind to sweep her off her feet and carry her upstairs right then, if she appeared receptive to such a gesture.
In this mood, her request to move Lilian to the main house caught him completely off guard, and thoughts of bedroom games were immediately and entirely pushed from his mind.
“Of course, I do,” she said. “I am Lilian’s stepmother now and should oversee her upbringing. I cannot do that while she is living somewhere else, can I?” Her voice was calm and firm, her deep brown eyes determined.
After considering her request with a raised eyebrow, Nathaniel nodded and shrugged. He could not quite imagine what it would be like to live with Lilian every day, who seemed to shriek, shout, and hit out more than other children. How long until he was driven back to London?
“You must do as you think best,” he told Cecily. “As you say, you are her stepmother now, and I will trust your judgment.”
“Thank you. I shall go and arrange the move with Mrs. Barnes. I dare say we can have Lilian here by tomorrow morning. Now, how will you tell her?”
“I thought you said that you would arrange matters with Mrs. Barnes,” Nathaniel reminded her with a frown. “Do you not wish to tell her yourself?”
“I was referring to Lilian, not Mrs. Barnes,” Cecily clarified, with an expression of consternation. “It is a big change, and she ought to hear it from her father. It might be a lot for a child to take in, and she may become overexcited…”
Nathaniel considered that too, blowing out a long breath as he shook his head.
“Lilian is always so… upset around me. You have seen how she is. If we don’t want her overexcited, then Mrs. Barnes or Miss Osborne ought to speak to her.”
“But you are her father,” Cecily said slowly, as though he was drunk or slow of understanding. “She becomes overexcited around you because she does not feel she has enough of your company or attention.”
“I do not think that is true. Sometimes I don’t think she even likes me,” Nathaniel mused. “Why would she wish to be around me at all?”
“Because you are her father,” Cecily replied. “She loves you, even when she’s angry. Do you really not see it?”
He did not, and only regarded her with silent bemusement.
“Very well then, I will talk to Lilian with Mrs. Barnes, since she can handle her better than I do. Can you at least be at the door to greet her when she arrives? It’s important that she feels comfortable and cared for.”
“Yes,” he agreed, wondering what kind of scene they might all expect when Lilian arrived. “I will be there.”
As Cecily made for the door, Nathaniel’s eyes followed her with a hint of regret over his thwarted desire.
What a conversation for their first day of marriage! Had she not thought about him at all last night? They were only just married, for God’s sake, and he could have sworn that the blood ran as hot in her veins as his.
“Nathaniel?”
At the door, Cecily had stopped and turned back to him, her face now softer as she spoke his name.
“I wanted to thank you for yesterday, for everything really,” she said. “I slept very well, thanks to you.”
“You… are my wife,” he returned simply, unable to think of any other response. “I trust you will not find me a hard man to live with or toplease.”
At that, Cecily flushed most becomingly, her eyes meeting his for a moment in instinctive appeal before she turned again and hurried away.
* * *
“But where is His Grace?” Mary asked as she stood beside Cecily on the top step of Greyhaven Park at nine o’clock the following morning. “You did tell him that Lady Lilian was arriving at nine?”
“You heard me telling him at dinner last night,” Cecily answered with frustration. “There was no room for misunderstanding. We all talked about being here at the front door together to welcome her at nine—the Duke and me, Mrs. Barnes, you, and Patrick.”
“Him!” Mary huffed moodily, rolling her eyes at the handsome young man standing a few feet away who nonchalantly pretended not to see her. “I don’t see whyheis needed.”
