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Grace felt more brutally confused than ever to think that her broken marriage had something common with the loving ones of her friends.
"Alex spanked you?" Irene asked looking horrified. She shook her head, her voice dropping to a mere murmur as her green eyes unfocused, as if she was looking at something only she could see. "I didn't really think he would... not even after..."
"After what?" Grace asked, both curious as to what Irene was referring and eager to turn the conversation away from herself.
Blinking, Irene looked almost surprised that she'd spoken out loud. For all the blushing that the ladies had been doing over tea, none of them rivaled the bright pink color that Irene's face turned now. It clashed horribly with her hair. Her eyes darted around to the other two ladies, but both of them were just as curious as Grace was.
"Hugh showed Alex how to spank me," Irene whispered, her face turning nearly scarlet as a tomato. Grace's jaw dropped, Eleanor groaned and Cynthia looked enthralled. “Several weeks ago.”
“He would,” Eleanor muttered. She looked at Grace apologetically. “After our father taught him, I can only imagine that Hugh would take up the mantle of an instructor.”
“In his defense, I had accused him of beating me, in front of Alex,” Irene admitted. She sighed and looked a bit guiltily at Eleanor. “That was before I really knew the difference between a spanking and a beating. I thought he was a monster, but as he was instructing Alex, I realized how careful he was being with me. He was only proving to Alex that I wasn’t being abused.”
“Apparently Alex soaked it up,” Grace said. Strangely, it hadn’t even occurred to her to think that he’d actually beaten her. Of course, she’d actually been hit by her own father before, and not on her bottom. Her father had never cuddled her afterwards either. It was fascinating to know all the different reactions that the women had to being disciplined by their husbands.
Eleanor was the only one who had grown up being spanked, obviously. She had been resistant at first, to having such discipline continue in her marriage, but she’d also found that it was very different being spanked by her husband. There were aspects that she certainly enjoyed. Sheltered Irene had been horrified and frightened by her first experience, and it had taken her some time to realize that Hugh had actually not brutalized her when he’d disciplined her. Now she knew, and her and Hugh’s relationship was better than ever. She’d never actively court punishment, however, like Cynthia was. Cynthia’s enjoyment went far beyond anything Eleanor expressed. And then there was Grace herself, who was confused by her reactions and wondering what it all meant to Alex.
Should she be worried that he’d watched Irene being spanked? She considered the brief stab of jealousy she felt for just a moment before dismissing it. There was no way Hugh would be willing to share any significant part of his wife. Grace had known him for too long to think that Alex had seen anything worth her being jealous over. Cringing, she remembered that she didn’t want to be jealous over anything to do with him anymore, she shouldn’t care what he had done or seen with anyone. Not when she still wasn’t sure of his motives.
After behaving the way he wanted and following his lead for the past few days, which had been the easiest route when she’d been trapped in a carriage with him, she was feeling much more rebellious. So he wanted to reconcile? Perhaps he thought she would just fall in line, as she had so far, but now they were no longer traveling and she had some allies here. If they were going to reconcile, they were going to do so on her terms.
She refused to have a marriage that was based on nothing more than his business agreement with her father and his need for a legitimate heir. If he wanted to reconcile only to show London that he had control over his wife, then he was going to be sorely disappointed. Perhaps he thought disciplining her would keep her in line and that’s when he decided to reconcile, but a spanking or even a birching wasn’t going to keep her from behaving exactly as she wanted if he wasn’t willing to give her what she needed from their marriage as well.
As if her thoughts had conjured the devil, the door to Eleanor's drawing room opened, and he was standing there, next to Lord Hyde. Even beside Hyde's dramatic dark looks, her eyes were still immediately drawn to Alex. His gaze skipped over the ladies in the room, landing only briefly on Irene, but without the usual broad smile he reserved for her. Something in Grace's chest unclenched and she realized how tense seeing the two of them looking at each other still made her. But for once, Alex was behaving the way she’d always wanted him to; his attention didn't immediately go to Irene, instead it passed over her after only a moment to land and fix upon his wife. Now she truly did believe Alex's apology, and Irene's. She'd appreciated both, but deep down, some part of her had still doubted.
"Ladies," Lord Hyde said, with a charming smile that encompassed the entire room. A practiced rake's smile, but the glow in his eyes was for Eleanor alone. The look he gave her was the way Grace had always wished Alex would look at her. "I just stopped in to inform you that you're all invited for dinner, along with your husbands - and future husband," he amended slightly as he glanced at Cynthia. She beamed happily at him and he smiled back before returning his gaze to Eleanor. "I've already told Cook and Mrs. Hester to prepare dinner for eight."
"Thank you," Eleanor murmured, smoothing her hands over her skirt in an almost nervous gesture. She nodded her head at Alex. "Lord Brooke. Have you met Miss Bryant?" Gracefully she gestured at Cynthia, who was staring at Alex with fascination. Most likely because of the information Grace had just revealed about his spanking tendencies. If Irene had been gazing at him in such a manner, Grace would have bristled, but from Cynthia it didn't feel threatening at all.
"Lord Brooke," she said, very prettily, standing and dropping into a brief curtsy, proving that she could behave when she wanted to.
Alex studied her in that somber, serious way of his, before giving her a slight bow in return, from the doorway. "Miss Bryant, a pleasure." His eyes returned to Grace before he backed slightly out of the room, giving Edwin space to reach for the door again.
"We'll be in the library till dinner,” Edwin said to his wife, giving her a last, soft smile before closing the door behind him.
With the door safely shut between herself and her husband, Grace began to breathe again.
"Wonderful!" trilled Cynthia as she returned to her seat. "A whole meal without having to talk about the wedding!" She rolled her eyes. "The Countess is relentless."
******
Gathered in the billiards room, Wesley quickly claimed Alex as a partner, while Hugh and Edwin paired up. Neither of them had played with Alex back in London, so they didn’t realize what a smashing player he was. Wesley and Alex trounced them for the first game, as Wesley had always been a keen billiards player as well, and Hugh and Edwin had demanded a change of partners for the second game. Both of them were reasonably good players, but Wesley and Alex excelled at the trickiest shots and angles.
Conversation, which had been mostly about the game itself, began to turn round to the ladies down the hall. Alex had enjoyed seeing Grace with the other women, smiling and laughing as if she was one of them in more ways than just friendship. The others were all happy wives and he wanted her to be one too. Perhaps their influence was just what she needed.
“I’m glad you and Grace could make it in for the wedding,” said Wesley, coming to stand beside him while Edwin took a shot. His slightly raised brows also indicated his surprise that he’d gotten Grace to accompany him at all. “I was surprised you came together.”
“It took some convincing on my part,” he said. Hugh tilted his head, watching them from across the table and obviously listening in. Only Edwin seemed to be focusing on the billiards table, finding the perfect angle for his shot. “But she seems to be coming round.” He hesitated for only a moment before continuing. Part of him didn’t want to share too much of his marital life with Grace, but another part recognized that these men all had much more experience in administering discipline to their wives and so far that was where he felt he’d made the most progress in regards to Grace. “I ah… disciplined her on the trip.”
The balls on the billiards table clicked, one of them sinking into the far pocket as Edwin straightened, raising his dark brows at Alex. “Not to force her compliance I hope?”
Although the question was mild, there was an undercurrent of danger there if Alex answered incorrectly. None of these men would take it kindly if Alex was spanking Grace for anything other than deserved punishments. From someone else he might have taken offense, but he knew that Edwin and the others only had Grace’s best interests at heart and he couldn’t be upset about that.
“For cursing at me and insulting me,” he answered. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hugh nod his approval. “I won’t tolerate that, even if she’s still angry at me. Which she is, but I would never punish her for her feelings, only for the way she expresses them if she becomes disrespectful or rude.” He felt the need to explain that. Even thoug
h Edwin, Hugh and Wesley were all his friends, they hadn’t known him as long as they’d known each other, and he wanted them to completely understand where he was coming from.
“That’s good,” said Hugh, giving him a sympathetic smile. “She’s probably going to be holding a grudge against you for a while. You could wear your hand out and still not make a dent in her emotions.”
