Page 30 of Married to the Duke By Midnight

But every second of his day was filled. After their ride that morning, he had had to look over the final papers for the meeting this afternoon with the Duke of Camborne, Lord Winterbottom, Thornston, Xavier and several others to discuss the Simpson Divorce Act and the Bakewell Inclosure Act which they would be voting on for the final session of Parliament.

None of them wanted to trap two unwilling parties in marriage nor put people out of their livelihoods by enclosing their land, but they also realized that their votes could be used strategically and wanted to discuss it. It was crucial that he was there for his future political work.

He had thought he and Jo could have luncheon together, but when he had asked Robinson where Jo was, his butler had informed him that she had gone out several hours ago. It had felt strange that he did not know where she was and that she had not informed him. He had spent too much time trying to reason with himself that she had probably not wanted to disturb him or thought him indifferent to her whereabouts.

Which was the furthest from the truth. He had no wish to control where she went, merely to know where she was. It was normal when you were living together, was it not? She was his wife and his responsibility. It was natural for him to feel uneasy when he did not know where she was.

And to pay for her clothes. He did not fully understand their disagreement earlier – only that he felt Jo had relented because of his argument about her cousin, rather than because she too believed that Robert should pay. Which he should. The husband paid for his wife’s dresses. Even if he did not understand why she felt she needed them.

“What is happening between you and your new bride since you are hiding here?” Thornston asked when Robert joined him in the lounge and plunked into a high-backed leather chair beside him.

Thornston handed him a glass of whisky without a word. Robert took a large gulp of it, even though he knew he should not. He needed his wits about him to navigate the soiree – and the closeness to Jo in an evening gown – but could not refrain from the liquid comfort he was offered.

“Nothing,” Robert told Thornston and kept his gaze fixed on the unlit fireplace. “We had our first fight,” he mumbled after another sip.

“And she threw you out?” Thornston leaned forward and looked almost gleeful at the thought.

“No, I…” Robert rubbed his forehead. “We made amends before I left. It was why I was late.”

“Amends?” Thornston smirked and raised his eyebrows.

“Not like that,” Robert scoffed.

“So, what did you do?”

“I wanted to pay for her dresses,” Robert told him and took another sip of his whisky. The warmth was soothing and relaxing, although he could not allow himself to become too relaxed in Jo’s presence.

Thornston sat back in his chair with a stupefied expression on his face.

“Pay for her dresses?” he repeated slowly as if he could make sense of the words by repeating them. “But why would she expect anything else? Oh, well, she is a tad different…”

Robert turned his head sharply to glare at him.

“I meant that in a positive way,” Thornston hurriedly told him. “Most women would not have proposed to a man they had only seen across a ballroom. You must allow me as much. So, she wanted to use her inheritance on dresses?”

“Part of it,” Robert muttered and downed the last of the whisky. He had finished it too fast but there was nothing to be done about it. “She invests her own money. She has made 4,625 pounds since she came of age two years ago from a principal of 20,000.”

Thornston whistled, impressed.

“I should have her look at my finances.” Thornston grinned and poured more whisky into Robert’s glass. “She is certainly something else than Lady Egerton. And I mean that as a compliment,” Thornston hurriedly added before Robert had a chance to comment on it. “Did you hear she has started a kennel of pugs at her new husband’s estate?”

Robert shook his head as the new information landed with him. He had always liked Lucretia’s love of dogs. She had had several pugs during the time he had known her, and she doted on them as much as her two children she had had before they met. Robert had always liked the idea that his house would be full of dogs once they married. He had wanted a dog for himself but had waited since he was afraid it might not get along with Lucretia’s dogs once they moved in together.

He did not even know whether Jo liked dogs. Should a dog have been part of their contract?

His stepfather had always had dogs. Large bloodhounds that were excellent for hunting but also great family dogs. Xavier had kept up the tradition and at least three bloodhounds always roamed the hallways of Barforth Castle and the grounds beyond it. Robert knew that Xavier missed the dogs just as much as the solitude he found there.

“Should I not have told you?” Thornston asked cautiously.

Robert looked at his friend and remembered that Thornston had mentioned Lucretia and his thoughts had then veered off… in the direction of dogs.

“No, it’s fine,” Robert muttered, emptied his glass and held it out for Thornston to refill it.

He had not thought of Lucretia since standing in the Thistleworths’ ballroom he realized. He had been pining over her for eight years, been heartbroken for the past six months and then… three days of nothing. Because he had been too busy of course. Settling Jo into his world as well as all his other obligations meant he had no time to think of Lucretia or the life they could have built together.

When he had met Lucretia, he fell in love instantly. They had been at a house party, the first he had attended with his stepfather and mother. They had arrived a little late, he could not recall the reason, but the whole party had been gathered outside, soaking up the last of the warmth before autumn truly set in.

Lucretia had been standing among a group of women. She had thrown her head back and laughed when they had approached and it had shown off her long, slender neck and blonde curls around her face.