He was huge. Not just tall and certainly not fat. He was just… huge. Thick blond hair curled atop his head, hanging practically into his eyes and onto his neck. He looked as though he hadn’t been shaved in a week.
He looked like no duke Lila had ever known.
And yet, there was no mistaking his noble birth. It clung to him, despite his worn clothing and rough exterior. Something in the cool blue of his eyes and his chiseled features.
The top of her head did not even reach his shoulders, and she would guess he weighed over fifteen stones.
Dear God, this giant of a man was her husband. The thought both chilled and heated her blood at the same time.
“Fran will be coming as well.” This was not a question on her part. “My maid. I cannot be without my maid.” She lifted her chin and met his eyes for the first time as his wife. Lila would not be blindly submissive, as her mother had been. And it was important she begin as she intended to go forth. Gritting her teeth, she prepared herself to fight him on this point.
“But of course,” he agreed without batting an eyelash, taking the wind out of her sails in an instant. “In fact, she can ride in the luggage coach as soon as she’s packed all of your belongings. It won’t be necessary for her to rush.”
How dare he be so agreeable?
Nuncheon passed much as any other meal Lila had ever taken with her father. He did most of the talking, boasting to the duke of other noble acquaintances as well as travels he’d undertaken in his youth. Lila would have liked to learn something about her husband—her thoughts faltered at the word—but the man was not much of a talker.
He nodded and gave mostly monosyllabic answers. By the time they’d finished eating, she knew little more of him than she had when she had presented herself for their wedding.
Except that he was a hearty eater and didn’t seem much impressed by anything her father had to say.
Which, she grudgingly admitted to herself, boded well for him.
She took no part in the conversation, nor did her mother.
At the conclusion of the meal, he placed his napkin on the plate in front of him and rose. “Your Grace.” It took a moment for Lila to realize he addressed her. “I’ll have my coach brought around for you. Clouds in the west.”
Lila glanced down at her gown. “Do you mind if I change… into more appropriate traveling clothes?” She’d fooled no one with her defiant choice of garment that morning. For the journey to her new home, she’d prefer to wear something less… weathered. She also needed to find Arianna. She could not leave without saying goodbye, without promising to send for her at her first opportunity.
She’d need to reassure her sister that everything was going to be fine.
“Be quick about it,” he responded.
And as much as she’d have liked to challenge him on the command, she was intimidated by his gruff manner and massive size. All the while, in the back of her mind was the knowledge that she would lie with him, perhaps as soon as tonight.
She nodded and made haste as she ascended the stairway to where the nursery had been reconfigured into a classroom.
Would he expect her to perform her wifely obligations in a hastily made up chamber at some inn along the road?
She could claim to be having her monthlies.
He was a giant of a man. If he so chose, she’d have no hope of stopping him.
But that was not part of her plan.
Her heart raced as she arrived at the landing, and she could not attribute it wholly to her exertions.
She knew something of what a man and a woman did to make a baby. She wasn’t a girl, after all. And yet… far too many gaps existed in her education.
She would not think of it now. Perhaps she could befriend him first. Now that she was stuck with him, she had no wish to give him cause to dislike her.
He was just… such a very large man!
Lila opened the door to where she knew she’d find her sister, and at the interruption, Arianna’s governess, Mrs. Betts, glanced up and closed her book.
Arianna sprang out of her desk, looking more like she was barely twelve than her actual age of six and ten. “Did he go ahead with it?”
Biting her lip, Lila nodded. She needed to change her gown, and she hadn’t much time to spare. “I’m leaving now. I’ve come to say goodbye but as soon as I am settled, I’m going to write to you.”
“You’re leaving already?” Arianna’s eyes filled up with tears. “But that isn’t fair at all! Please, Lila, take me with you!”
Lila grasped Arianna by the shoulders, insisting that her younger sister meet her gaze solemnly. “I do not know him, Ari. I need to make sure he’s… a better man than father.” She didn’t want to scare her, but it would be no good to bring her sister away from their father if her husband was no better.
Or worse.
She didn’t want Arianna to worry about her. She’d have enough to cope with here. “But I promise, as soon as I know, I will send for you.” The two sisters had always been there for one another. This could not be goodbye. She’d find a way to be with her sister again.
She’d make certain of it.
Tears fell from Arianna’s eyes, but she nodded. Unfortunately, they both comprehended, all too well, the weaknesses of men.
“If you have need of me, contact Fran’s sister. Fran will write to her so that she knows my location.” Lila took a piece of paper from Arianna’s desk and proceeded to write down the instruction. She could not trust her father to facilitate any sort of communications between them in the future.
With one last glance at her sister’s scowl, she added, “I need to go now. Stay out of trouble. Keep writing your stories, and we’ll see one another soon.”
In her sister’s eyes, she saw the same fear Lila felt deep inside.
With a father like Quimbly, nothing was ever certain.
Lila could only hope her husband was not the same.
When Lila was finally ready, she’d already taken at least ten minutes longer than he’d allotted, perhaps closer to twenty, she burst out the front door. Her husband glanced down at her from atop a giant mare and then tucked a pocket watch back into his jacket. He looked fit to be tied.
“I’m sorry!” she gushed as she made her way carefully down to the carriage. Warmth suffused her neck and cheeks, and she knew her eyes must be red. “I had to say goodbye to my sister.” She’d also had Fran pin her hair up again and wore one of her favorite straw bonnets and an indigo-colored wool coat. She’d donned a traveling gown made of a pale blue muslin while Fran packed her a small valise. With one last glance around her chamber, she’d scooped up a book she had been reading and tucked it under her arm.
But he was on a horse. “You are riding outside?”
Her husband gestured toward the coach, horses and driver waiting patiently. “You’ll have your privacy.”
So she would not be given an opportunity to know him better before nightfall.
“But I—” She bit her lip. “I’d hoped we could familiarize ourselves…” Her eyes dropped.
His eyes narrowed and his jaw ticked, as though he was grinding his teeth. “We’ll stop before dark.”
Sitting atop the horse, he had her imagining him as some sort of Nordic God, but then just as quickly dismissed such a foolish notion.
“But I—”
“I expect you’ll come to know me well enough.” And then he jerked his chin, indicating for her to climb into the carriage while he turned to ride ahead.
Not the beginning she had in mind. Although after her appearance earlier that day, what did she expect? He likely already regretted taking on such an unfashionable wife.
One more glance behind him and then he urged his horse into a run.
Married less than three hours and already he was running away from her.
Married…
As the driver steered them off of her father’s property, Lila might as well have been driving into another world. She was a wife now. She opened her book but for all the jostling could hardly focus on the pages.
The carriage hit one bump, and then another, and she nearly lurched off the bench onto the floor.
This ride already promised to be an unpleasant one.