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Edward hung his head slightly. “Unfortunately, I do not believe any of them will be able to make it.”

The air, again, was riddled with unease. Arabella had the sneaking suspicion that the invitations were never sent out. That would be something that she would ask him about the next time they were alone.

“That is a shame. No matter, I’m sure Arabella would love to introduce you to our family,” Leonard said, with a soft smile directed at his sister.

“Everyone except Marley,” Madeline piped up with a false sneer.

At the mention of Marley, Arabella and the rest of her siblings groaned.

Edward let out one of the most boisterous laughs she had ever heard from him and asked, “Who is this Marley, and what is wrong with them?”

“She is our dearest cousin. But like Madeline, she has a knack for getting into trouble,” Arabella explained.

“Yes, but unlike me, she’s not the best at getting away with it.” Madeline giggled, before lifting another spoonful of pea soup to her mouth.

The air felt a lot lighter now, and when dinner was finally over, everybody felt satiated and ready for bed. The house servants cleaned the dinner table, and Leonard, Sarah, and Richard excused themselves to retire to their chambers for the evening.

“Your Grace, would you mind promenading with me in the hedge garden? I have some things I would like to discuss with you,” Arabella asked.

Edward nodded. He wiped his mouth with his napkin one last time before throwing the cloth on his dirty plate.

The two walked in relative silence on the way out and at the entrance of the garden. Herbert was in his usual spot, about ten meters away from the two, and stayed quiet.

When they were partially hidden by one of the hedges, Edward turned to her.

“What did you want to discuss?” he asked, his gaze soft and his words even softer. It made what Arabella was about to confront him with even harder to be mad at.

“Why have you not helped with any of the wedding preparation?” she asked, averting her gaze. Her voice was even, but she could feel the unwavering anger quickly threatening to take over.

“Oh,” he grumbled, his hand reaching up and scratching at the back of his neck. “Yes, about that?—”

“Because I understand that this is not a predicament either one of us wanted to be in, but I don’t think I should be the one to oversee all of the preparations,” she interrupted, her anger starting to fizzle out. “Because if this is a sneak peek into what our married life will be like, I think I would rather risk the ton’s judgment than go through with this.”

She looked up at him when she said that and was met with his hardened gaze and brooding stature. His eyebrows knitted in what looked like anger, and his lips were pressed into a fine line.

He licked his lips. “I did not expect you to be the only one who oversaw the preparations.”

“Well, you may not have expected it, but that is what happened,” she said, standing her ground. “Just because you say that does not erase the fact that that is how it played out.”

“I figured my efforts would be best put into how our home and our estate would be ran once we are married, but I am sorry I did not help pick out which desserts would be served at our wedding breakfast,” he snarled.

Ara felt her cheeks burning up at this point. She was livid. They weren’t even married yet, and they were already having their first fight.

“If that is what you reduce my input to, then do not ever ask for my help,” she replied through gritted teeth.

“That is not what I was saying, Ara.” He sighed, putting his hand on his hip.

“That is what it sounded like,” she huffed, not even noticing that he used her nickname. “Can I ask, though. Are you mad at me?”

This question seemed to surprise Edward. He gave her an incredulous look and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Why do you think I’m mad at you?”

“Well, it is partially because you did not help with the preparations,” she started, squinting up at him. “But it is also because you have appeared to have been ignoring me these last couple of days. I can understand why you may be upset, but I would have loved more than just a fleeting conversation with you.”

Edward bit his bottom lip fiercely and nearly belted out, “I am not mad at you, Arabella.”

“Then why have you been ignoring me?”