Alex watched as Violet fled into the house from the front courtyard, and he couldn’t fault her for it, not after what he’d done to her. Alex didn’t even think about what he was doing. He just grabbed her, as if that could somehow keep a curse from taking her away. The next thing he knew he was looking at wide, warm brown eyes still stunned by his outburst, and saw how red her mouth was after he kissed her. His first instinct was to kiss her again, softly, to make up for the first, but he knew it would do no good. His wife feared him, and it was entirely his fault.
Thus, when he returned to the house himself, his mood was as dark as most rumors suggested. The first people he encountered, unfortunately, were the Peakes. Alex saw them arguing in low tones as they stood in the small ground floor library. Irritation welled up in him. If they had been more honest with Violet, none of this would be happening. Mrs Peake had angled hard for the marriage, stressing Violet’s noble lineage, her biddability, and Alex’s own desperation. She’d used the rumors to wring out several concessions that would have no place in a typical marriage agreement. And yet she kept Violet in the dark for her own convenience.
Alex took a deeper breath, then strode into the room.
Mrs Peake saw him and immediately gave a little curtsey. “Why, good afternoon, your grace.”
Her bleary-eyed husband looked as if he might not be sober enough to bow without falling over, but Alex ignored him. Mrs Peake was the one who held the reins in their relationship.
“Get out,” he told her.
“What?” Mrs Peake asked, blinking in confusion. “Do you require the room?”
“Not the room. The house. I want you gone in one hour.”
She gasped indignantly. “We’re not prepared to leave.”
“I suggest you remedy that, because in one hour you’ll both be seated in a coach leaving the estate, prepared or not.”
“You truly expect us to go home so soon?” she asked.
“You can go anywhere you like,” said Alex. “I can’t begin to describe how little I care where you end up, so long as it isn’t here. Fetch what you need. I’ll direct the servants to pack up the remainder and send it via another coach. You now have less than an hour.”
“Your grace, I don’t think you understand—”
“I will give you one hundred pounds when you enter the coach,” he said coolly, watching Mrs Peake’s expression change. Mr Peake gave a strange snort that might have been a laugh.
Without further comment, Mrs Peake hauled her husband from where he was standing and left the room.
Alex was true to his word. He issued instructions to the majordomo, and the Peakes were helped efficiently and enthusiastically by several of the household staff.
They were ushered into a waiting coach precisely fifty-five minutes after Alex’s pronouncement. He handed Mrs Peake several folded notes. “Safe travels,” he said shortly. “You may expect the other coach with your items to arrive one day after you do.”
He shut the door before either Peake could reply. The coachman drove off with commendable speed, and Alex watched with no small satisfaction as the vehicle disappeared down the lane.
It was as if a plague was lifted from the house. At least that was one problem solved. With luck, he would never have to see that couple again. He glanced up at the brooding façade of the Abbey, wondering if he should have notified Violet so she could bid her family goodbye. Then he remembered last night’s dinner and shrugged. Violet might feel a duty to see them off, but he didn’t like the idea of her even interacting with the Peakes any longer. If she was upset about it, he’d simply add it to the ever-lengthening list of things he needed to apologize for.
Alex didn’t seek Violet out again until dinner. It took that long to get all his emotions under control. He paced in his study, hearing her accusation over and over. Do you only care that the ton will start gossiping about your curse again…? Those were her words, and the worst of it was that it was partly true. He couldn’t stand the idea of the gossips giving his name yet another round. But more than that, he knew how dangerous Violet’s ride had been. The woods of the Abbey were unpredictable after heavy rains. The rocky soil along the gullies could collapse without warning, carrying a horse and rider into a stream, or down a slope, knocking a person unconscious. She couldn’t know that, but one wrong step… He shuddered at the image of Violet lying broken on the ground. How could he bury yet another wife?
After a time, he regained his customary calm. He dressed for dinner and sought out Violet, after learning from a maid that she was in the library. He found her deep in a book, although she had changed into her evening gown before she started reading. The dark blue of the outfit emphasized her porcelain skin, and the very modern cut of the bodice definitely got his attention. It was perfectly ladylike, but still alluring. All that skin… Again, he regretted his thoughtless kiss from that afternoon.
“Good evening, Violet. May I take you in to dinner?” he asked formally, striving to forget his heated words from earlier that day.
Violet also seemed eager to forget, since she smiled at him when she raised her head from the book, laying it carefully aside. “Why, yes, your grace.” She rose gracefully and took his arm.
“I want to apologize,” he said before they started for the dining room. “I scared you this afternoon. That wasn’t my intention.”
Violet nodded, saying, “I know. It was most irresponsible of me to ride in an unfamiliar place, especially alone. I’m very sorry to have worried you.”
Had she just turned the tables and apologized to him? Arguing with Violet might be a challenge. He liked a challenge.
He said, “I’ll take you on a tour. It’s your home now. You should know it.”
“Thank you. I look forward to it.”
He frowned. This reconciliation was going too easily. He was also distracted by her outfit. Lovely as it was, something was wrong about it. But what?
“I am intrigued by that ruin on the other side of the lake,” she went on. “I saw it up close today, but the door was locked.”
“The folly. Yes. It’s not a ruin—it’s just designed to look that way. There’s a room on the upper floor.”
“Oh, is there?” she asked, interest in her voice.
“Yes. You can see quite a distance from it.” He looked at her. “That’s really the purpose of the folly. The view.”
“I would very much like to see it for myself,” Violet said.
“Easily done. I’ll take you there on the tour. Tomorrow.”
“That would be wonderful.” She smiled fully at him now, making him realize her earlier greeting was forced.
All the same, he found himself smiling back. Violet appeared to have forgiven him. Perhaps he could start over.
They arrived in the dining room, and Alex led Violet to her seat, determined to behave as properly as possible to make up for his beastly behavior that day. As he looked at his wife across the table, something niggling detail caught him again. What was wrong with her appearance?
Millie and Herbert were seated as well, and Alex signaled the butler to begin serving.
“Shouldn’t we wait for the Peakes?” Herbert asked.
“They left this afternoon,” Alex said shortly.
Violet looked up. “They did? I thought Aunt Judith would never—” She broke off.
Alex gave her a brief, slightly bitter smile. “Nevertheless, they left today.”
“What good news,” said Millie bluntly. “I suppose I’m too young for champagne.”
“You’re almost too young to sit at this table for dinner,” Alex warned. “Particularly if you speak like that about houseguests.”
“However hideous they may be,” Violet added with surprising candor. She nodded to Alex. “Whatever you did, thank you.”
That dinner was the first time Alex noticed something like natural grace from Violet. She spoke of little things, such as potential visits to and from neighbors, and asked about his plans for the estate. After her comment about her aunt, everything about her was calm and exceedingly polite. Was the removal of her family all it took? Alex could have simply paid a hundred pounds weeks ago and had Violet shipped over. He laughed to himself over the absurd thought. But all through dinner, something still bothered Alex about Violet’s appearance. What was it?
After the meal, the family moved to the parlor. Herbert said he would teach Millie the intricacies of a few card games to ready her for such events when she joined society. It was plain he wanted Alex and Violet to remain apart, so they could talk and get to know each other better.
Violet refused an offer of wine, saying she’d have tea instead.
“Because of your uncle?” Alex asked, not wishing to circle around the subject.
“Partly,” Violet admitted, her eyes downcast. “But I also find that wine doesn’t agree with me at all.”
“So no champagne toasts for you,” he said.
She looked him shrewdly. “You paid her, didn’t you? To leave the house.”
“I did. A bargain at one hundred pounds.”
Violet sighed. “Dear Lord.”
“I suggest not thinking of it again,” Alex said.
“I shall heed your advice, your grace,” she said with a sad little smile.
Alex liked that she was honest enough to discuss it, and willing to put it aside. In fact, he liked her quite a lot more than he did only a day ago. If things kept progressing at this pace, he’d fall in love with her before the week was out.
And that was something Alex had no intention of doing. He’d treat her well, and he wouldn’t mind her companionship. But whenever Alex fell in love, death tended to follow.
Not that he’d tell Violet that, of course. He kept chatting with her, trying to keep the conversation safe. But he was also now close enough to her to smell hints of soap and lavender off her skin, which was a little distracting. All that skin. All that bare skin above the edge of the gown.
Then he knew what was missing. “You’re incomplete,” he said, enlightened.
“Excuse me?” Violet’s eyes widened over her teacup.
“You’re not wearing any jewelry.”
“Well, I don’t have much,” Violet said, putting the cup back down.
“What do you mean?” How could it be possible for his duchess to have no jewels? “You mean nothing you had suited?”
“Not for this gown. I do have pearls, but I didn’t like the look of them with this. I have my locket, and a few rings, mostly from my mother.” Embarrassed, she gave a little laugh. “As you may have guessed, what money Aunt Judith controls is only spent on necessities…as she defines them.”
“That will not do. Come with me.” Alex rose, catching the attention of Herbert and Millie. “I’m going to show Violet something, and then we’ll be back. Millie, why not tune your harp in the meantime?”
Alex led the way to his study, the same room where he first spoke to Violet privately. It was also where he kept the family heirlooms in a safe. Violet trailed along behind him, her curiosity evident.
He opened the safe with his own key, and removed a large box from it. “There should be something in here that will suffice until I can get you get your own jewels. Try this.” He handed her a necklace.
Violet took it with considerably more care than he displayed. Diamonds lay in a glittering strand, accented by a large sapphire every two inches. Fastening it carefully around her neck, she walked to the mirror hanging on the side wall. The sapphires echoed the blue in the dress perfectly.
“They’re beautiful,” she said.
“They’ll do,” he agreed, secretly well pleased with the result. Violet would be a picture perfect duchess, if only she’d learn to stand up for herself.
“Is it too much?” she asked, plucking at the necklace.
Moving toward her, he reached out to adjust the stones lying on her breastbone, touching her skin, which felt exactly as soft as he imagined it would.
“Too much is not a term you’ll be using as my duchess,” he said.
“As you say, your grace.” Violet lowered her eyes and looked away.
Alex lowered his hand to take hers, but he immediately noticed how tense her whole body was. Over the whole evening, she’d been projecting an aura of calm she didn’t feel.
He stepped back, wondering if his nearness was making her even more nervous than usual. Cursed, he thought, unable to block the word from his brain.
Violet noticed the change in mood. “Shall we go back down?” she asked in a whisper.
“Yes. Follow me,” he said, his grim mood returning.
“Should I not…” She choked on the words, but her hands flew up to the necklace.
“Keep it on. I gave it to you to wear, Violet. What the hell am I going to do with it?”
They rejoined Herbert and Millie in the parlor, but Alex felt cold the whole time. Violet sat by him, and most people would have said she seemed at ease. But she kept touching the necklace nervously, and smoothing down the skirt of her dress. She didn’t want to be near him at all.
She excused herself after Millie finished her last song, and cast an uncertain look at Alex before she left.
He went to his study for a little while, and then after the rest of the house was quiet, he went up to his room, though he wasn’t sleepy in the least.
Despite the late hour, he again saw the light in Violet’s room from under the connecting door.
He knocked lightly. As soon as he did, he wished he hadn’t. Perhaps she’d simply fallen asleep while a lamp remained on. Perhaps he was the last person she wished to see.
But then the door opened. Violet stood there, now in a dressing gown, with her hair down and merely tied back with a ribbon. He instantly wanted to touch it.
“Oh. I didn’t expect you,” she said.
“Who else?” he responded.
“Well, nobody, considering the hour…and the door.” A little smile pulled at the corner of her mouth after she said it.
“I saw the light on,” he explained. “You’re obviously awake. You were up late last night as well. Is something wrong?”
She shook her head quickly. “No. I’m just, ah, acclimating, I suppose. It’s quite different from where I used to live.”
“You’re sure? You’re not ill?” Alex didn’t like the tension wrapping around his chest. “If you’re unwell…”
“It’s not a cause for concern,” she said. “I just have a different schedule.”
“Will you be too out of sorts to ride tomorrow?”
Her expression brightened. “No, no. I want to see the estate. Truly.”
“All right,” he said, uncomfortably aware that he was hovering at his wife’s door. “Get some sleep.”
“You do the same,” she said. “I wasn’t the only person awake last night, or this one.”
She smiled sweetly at him as she closed the door. So she’d noticed. Alex wasn’t sure if he was pleased or not.