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To make matters worse, she realized that several prominent members of thetonwere staring at her with the utmost scrutiny. She desperately wished she had told Andrew she was ill and not come. She had known their betrothal would attract some attention but had hoped it wouldn’t all be so hostile.
Andrew leaned close to her so that his lips brushed her ear.
“Ignore them, Rowena,” he said softly. “They’re not worth it.” He paused for a moment. “And they are probably miserable and jealous.”
Rowena found the notion of anyone being jealous of her so absurd, she couldn’t help giggling. Her blood was also heated from feeling his warm breath tickling her ear. When she looked up at him again, he winked at her, and she felt herself blushing again.
When they reached Andrew’s box, Andrew stepped back and let everyone else step inside first. He then followed suit, moving to the seat right next to Rowena. Rowena noticed two other people already in the box with the baroness. When everyone was inside, he made the introductions.
“This is my sister, Gemma Spencer, Countess of Spenshire” he said, smiling warmly at Rowena and her family. “And beside her is her husband, Edmund Spencer, the earl.”
Rowena tensed, fearful of more cold treatment from another member of Andrew’s family. But as everyone else exchanged greetings, Lady Spenshire smiled warmly at her.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Whitworth,” she said.
Rowena, grateful that her future sister-in-law seemed kind and friendly, curtseyed and blushed.
“The pleasure is all mine, my lady,” she said truthfully. “But please, call me Rowena.”
The countess nodded, taking her hand and squeezing it softly.
“Then call me Gemma,” she said, still smiling.
Rowena glanced at Andrew, who was watching the woman with a fond smile. It was clear he loved his sister, and that he was pleased the two of them were getting on so well. The dowager, however, glared at her as they all at last took their seats. She began to feel uneasy, and she looked away from Andrew’s mother. Was she upset because Rowena had such a scandal attached to her name?
Chapter Twenty-one
Andrew kept his gaze fixed toward the stage, but he wasn’t paying a bit of attention to what was happening there. The smell of Rowena’s perfume was intoxicating, and he could feel gooseflesh break out all over his skin. Thrills of awareness coursed through him, and he marveled at the reaction. She was to be his wife, that much was true. But he hadn’t expected her to have any such effect on him.
He wanted to take her hand and hold it throughout the performance. But with his mother sitting on his other side, he knew he must stick to the rules and expectations of propriety. Especially since her expression told him she was deeply unhappy with the entire situation. He suddenly wished he had invited just Rowena to the opera that night.
Just then, Rowena looked over at him. She held his gaze for a second, then gave him a big, sweet smile. Andrew’s heart stopped as he realized how it lit up her entire face. He had always been aware that Rowena was pretty. But only then, in that moment, as her smile shone out from her blue eyes, did he realize just how beautiful it really was. He couldn’t help smiling back at his fiancée.
He felt his mother turn in her seat to speak to Gemma and Edmund, who were sitting right behind them. With his mother momentarily distracted, Andrew leaned closer to Rowena. He pretended it was to speak to her so she could hear him. In truth, he just wanted to get another whiff of her perfume.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” he asked, fighting the urge to get as close to her as he could.
Rowena giggled and pointed to the stage.
“The opera has yet to begin,” she said sweetly.
Andrew looked. Sure enough, the curtain had not yet gone up. He flushed, giving Rowena a sheepish smile.
“Of course,” he said. “I suppose I am getting ahead of myself.”
Rowena giggled again, which sent shivers up his spine. How had he managed to miss how lovely she really was all this time?
Simultaneously, there was shifting behind the stage curtain and a reluctant hush settled over the rows of spectators, until the auditorium fell completely silent. Andrew knew it signaled the beginning of the performance, and he was saddened at having to take his attention from his soon-to-be bride. She, too, seemed hesitant as she turned away from him and looked to the stage.
He followed suit, turning his head so that he was facing the stage directly. But from the corner of his eye, he admired the ever-growing smile on his fiancée’s face. For the first time, he began to wonder if being married to Rowena might not be all bad. When the curtain finally rose, he forced himself to watch the actors, now in place for the beginning of the performance. But the smell of Rowena’s perfume lingered in his nostrils and once more, he felt butterflies in his stomach.
The opera started strongly, apparently, immediately capturing the attention of everyone in the box. Rowena herself appeared to be enthralled from the first. Andrew used her concentration as his chance to sneak furtive glances at his wife-to-be. He could see her eyes light up as a man with a rich bass voice rattled their seats, belting out the passionate Italian lyrics that floated effortlessly past his lips to fill the opera house.
Rowena’s delight grew by the minute and soon, her cheeks were flushed bright pink with excitement. Andrew smiled to himself as he continued to casually glance at her.
In less than a fortnight, she would be his wife. Just as he had finally realized how beautiful she was, he also decided he didn’t mind the thought of being married to her at all. She was the opposite of Lady Viola and women like her, in every way, and she couldn’t be more lovely. That she genuinely enjoyed the opera meant she was sophisticated and cultured in her tastes, and that there was far more to her than a pretty face and talk of dances and fashion.
However, his enthusiasm quickly died. He could see what a good woman Rowena was and how she possessed many of the qualities he sought in a wife. But with that, a new doubt surfaced in his mind which would not be easily resolved. Did Rowena deserve better than a loveless marriage of convenience with him? Could he really sentence her to a life to which she might, at best, grow used to?
