Page 20 of A Duchess to Unravel (The Devil’s Masquerade #3)

CHAPTER TWELVE

TWO WEEKS LATER

“ A nd I thought Dominic’s and my estate was large,” Amelia murmured, looking around at the largess of Theo’s personal sitting room. “It is lovely though.”

Theo’s lips twitched toward a smile as she stroked her fingers along the sides of her teacup. She felt pride for how far the vast castle had come. All because of her.

“I am glad you waited to pay your visit,” she replied, “It was in such a sorry state when I arrived, you would not believe.”

“You must have been working night and day,” Amelia remarked, finally settling her gaze back on her friend.

She had indeed. And it had involved far more people than Theo had originally predicted.

After gaining blanket approval for anything regarding the castle, she had hired forty additional new staff instead of twenty.

Every surface of the stone giant had been scrubbed.

Old torches replaced with modern lamps. Rugs had been rolled out and tapestries had been hung.

The mirrors, as she had predicted, reflected the sun from the large windows, filling the dark space with light during the day, and the many massive hearths were lit at night. It was finally starting to look like a home.

“The masons are still finishing up their work, but the roof is thatched, the carpentry work is done, and new glass has been installed in the windows,” Theo explained.

Amelia shook her head in wonder.

“No wonder I have not heard from you,” she said, setting her teacup down. “The others and I have missed you, Theo. So please, now that we have discussed what you have been doing, tell me how you have been doing.”

Theo did her best to hide her blush behind her teacup. Amelia had told her many scintillating things about her relationship with Dominic, but she was not sure she could do the same. Her mind and body were reeling from what had happened in Alistair’s office.

Being given commands like that was something she never would have expected herself to enjoy, but the way he’d spoken to and led her had held her in an erotic daze.

“I am fine,” she replied at last, then sipped at her tea. “My work keeps me busy.”

Amelia leaned closer, giving Theo an introspective look that made her want to look away.

“What are you not telling me?” Amelia asked.

“Is it Alistair? Is he not being kind to you?”

Theo let out a laugh.

“I have not seen him,” she replied.

“What!” Amelia exclaimed.

“Well, once, a couple of weeks ago, when I first wanted to hire more people. But not since then.”

“Alistair did not even tell you that Everett, Dominic, and I were coming?” Amelia asked, “He is the one that sent for us!”

“He had a servant deliver a message to me this morning that you would be visiting,” Theo replied with a shrug.

Amelia’s brows furrowed with worry.

“That sounds so … lonely,” she said. “I thought Alistair was a better man than that. He seemed so polite with me anytime we spoke.”

Theo pondered. It was not so much loneliness she was feeling.

She actually quite liked the freedom of having her days without worry of offending someone.

Longing, though, was perhaps the better word.

It had started a couple days after her visit to Alistair’s office and grown a little every night since.

He had told her that she could come to him any time for another lesson, and there had been several times that she found herself walking to his office. Yet something always stopped her, and she could not figure out what it was.

“It is not that Alistair is not polite,” Theo said at last, choosing to ignore Amelia’s words about loneliness. “He is simply busy. Apparently, Seraphina’s late father had left the Caldermere accounts a mess.”

“Yes,” Amelia sighed, “Dominic told me that was why we came here. Something is wrong. Dominic and Everett are worried.”

She paused, as if considering something for a moment, then asked, “You will see him tonight though? We are all dining together, are we not?”

Theo nodded, the idea of such filling her with anxious excitement. It would be the first meal to be shared between Alistair and her, and she was not at all sure how her husband was going to act.

“Mm, speaking of such,” Theo said, noting the time. “We should get dressed. I suspect one of the maids will be coming to fetch us within the hour.”

As their maids readied them, Theo asked Amelia about life in London. Most importantly, about her brother and the gossip papers. She had not heard or seen a thing of her stalker since she and Alistair had left London, but she knew better than to believe that such a person would just disappear.

“Your brother, Dominic tells me, is more agitated than usual,” Amelia told her. “It is almost as if he is angry about being one of Alistair’s new partners. Though I suspect that has much to do with you.”

Theo felt a sliver of guilt. Tristan had seemed to like Alistair until he’d shown interest in her.

But perhaps, as Alistair had told her, her brother was just good at keeping secrets.

She had written to him twice now thanking him for the gifts and inquiring on his wellbeing. There was yet any response, though.

“As for the papers,” Amelia went on with an exhausted sigh, “It seems the scandal of the Devil’s Masquerade has died down. There has been no other articles on it.”

Theo squirmed in her chair. She wanted to feel relieved about the news but could not. Not until Alistair brought her the news that her stalker had been dealt with.

And how was he to discover the man if he is always working on accounts?

“Anything else to report?” Theo asked, needling for any news on strange behavior.

“Only that despite his constant state of business, Dominic is making me quite happy,” Amelia replied. She looked in the mirror to meet Theo’s eyes, and both of them giggled.

“What of you?” Amelia asked. “Is your new husband making you … happy?”

Theo blushed.

“Some,” she admitted. “I am still getting used to our arrangement.”

She then looked toward Bridget and Norma, who were just putting the finishing touches on their hair.

“Thank you, girls. You may go,” Theo dismissed them. “If our husbands are already in the dining room, please let them know that we shall be joining them shortly.”

The maids bowed, and Theo waited for them to leave. The moment the door closed, Amelia turned eagerly toward Theo.

“He makes me ask him for things,” Theo whispered.

Amelia’s smile bloomed as her eyes widened.

“Fascinating. Do you enjoy what he does to you?” She asked.

“Well, yes,” Theo replied, “Very much, actually. But he never comes to me! What does that mean?”

Amelia’s eyes glittered with amusement as she stood up and pulled Theo from her chair.

“Do you know what I learned while being with Dominic?” Amelia asked.

“Oh, just tell me already, Amelia,” Theo urged.

“That if you have a question for your husband, it is best you ask it of him. Even if it makes you uncomfortable,” Amelia replied.

Theo’s shoulders dropped as she gave Amelia an exasperated look, and her friend laughed.

“Come! You are bold! You take charge! You are a bluestocking! You fear no man’s rebuttal.” Amelia said, looping her arm through Theo’s.

As the two of them walked downstairs to the dining room, Theo thought of Amelia’s words. Those things might have been true of her at one time, but with Alistair? She realized she wanted him to take the lead.

Theo’s nerves were frazzled by the time she and Amelia made it to the dining room, and they became even more so at Alistair’s greeting.

His handsome smile was wide and sincere as she and Amelia joined him and Dominic.

His blue eyes raked down her body in obvious appreciation, making her happy that she’d chosen one of her more decorative gowns for the occasion.

However, it was not her husband that came to her first, but Everett.

“Goodness, are you not a sight for sore eyes,” he exclaimed, stepping in front of Alistair.

He grabbed her hand and gave her a twirl.

“Your brother will be happy to know you look so well.”

Theo giggled, happy to see another familiar face.

“I am glad you think so. It is good to see you too, Lord Harriden,” she replied.

Theo turned to Alistair and could have sworn she saw a glimmer of possessiveness in his eyes.

“Darling wife, my do ye look exquisite this evening,” he praised, walking up to her to take her hand.

“You both do,” Dominic said, reaching for Amelia’s.

Theo had to stop her mouth from dropping open at her husband’s comment. After two weeks of not speaking, he was praising her? She had to wonder if it was because of Everett’s words. Did Alistair even care that much to be jealous?

“Flatterers,” Amelia teased.

When Theo still said nothing, she felt her friend nudge her in the ribs.

“Thank you,” she blurted out.

Alistair chuckled, and leaned down to kiss the top of her head as if they were that familiar.

“I believe my wife is mad at me,” he stated, gesturing them all to sit at the table.

“Too many long hours in your office?” Dominic asked, giving him rueful grin.

“Indeed,” Alistair replied, “And in town. Meetings with the merchants and farmers, trying to get this mess my predecessor left sorted.”

“Coming to the ball I am hosting next week will remedy that,” Everett stated, “You both could use a break from your tasks, I am sure.”

Theo’s brows rose in surprise. She had no idea Alistair had even left the castle. It cooled her frustration, but only a little.

“ You are having a ball?” She goaded Everett. “You never host!”

“Yes,” Everett sighed, taking his seat. “Well, change is in the air. And you are coming.”

Theo opened her mouth, ready to decline, but Alistair spoke first.

“Yes, we are,” he said, eyeing her up.

Theo snapped her mouth shut, enraged that he had spoken for the both of them. Still, she remembered that such liberties were part of their deal, and she kept her discontent to herself. Instead, she turned her focus back to Alistair.

“Do tell us of the progress you have made,” she urged as the others began to eat.

Alistair, who was seated at the head of the table and to her right, turned his gaze to her.

“We were hoping to have a small reprieve from our business discussions,” he replied.

“Oh, are we going to repeat Tristan’s dinner party?” Theo shot back, her temper flaring. “Are our poor, delicate, womanly ears too sensitive for the subject?”

Fire danced in Alistair’s eyes as he remained silent a moment. His steady, unfaltering gaze caused the longing she’d been struggling to tamper to radiate through her entire body, even into her palms and feet.

Alistair’s slow smirk bid nothing well as he kept his eyes on her and started to cut through his mutton. It was only when he picked up a piece with his utensils and placed it on her plate, that she took her eyes off him and stared down at it in confusion.

“Tell me, Amelia,” Alistair said calmly to their guest, “Did my wife eat today?”

What!

Theo’s eyes shot to her friend, silently pleading her not to answer. Too late.

“In fact, she did not,” Amelia replied, “I am glad that I am not the only one that noticed her eating habits. She has not had much since her mother’s passing and that was months ago.”

Theo glowered at her friend, feeling betrayed. In truth, her issues with food had started long before that, but she had thought she had hidden herself well.

“My eating habits are no one’s concern,” Theo stammered, picking up her fork to stab a green bean. “I am fine.”

“And I am worried.” Amelia replied quickly, giving Theo a hard look.

“She looks fine,” Everett stated, turning his attention to her plate. “If she does not want the extra mutton, I will happily take it.”

As he said so, he reached with his fork toward the meat Alistair had just placed. Before it could land, Alistair’s fork stabbed back into the mutton, clashing against incoming utensil.

The conversation stopped as Theo looked from Everett to Alistair. A hard, dominant look had settled into his eyes as he stared unblinkingly at Everett.

“We have plenty of mutton to offer from the serving plate,” Alistair stated, his tone laced with warning. “You will take it from that if you wish for more.”

Everett, as only just noticing that his playful nature had verged into disrespect, pulled his fork away and muttered something about apologies and being too drunk.

Theo watched Alistair as he continued to stare in a predatory fashion toward Everett, her cheeks flushing.

Then, to displeasure, that gaze turned to her. She shivered at the intensity of it.

“Tell me, darling,” he murmured to Theo, “Did you eat the last time I bid you to?”

Theo’s cheeks flushed scarlet as she remembered the command he’d given her before sending her from his office. She was told to get a bath and eat. She had done both. And it had been her first and last full meal several weeks before or since.

“Answer me,” he purred, only loud enough for her to hear.

“Yes,” she hissed, feeling as if her cheeks were about to burst into flame.

A pleased look took over Alistair’s face, and he sliced off another bit of mutton and popped it into his mouth.

“A wager then, darling,” Alistair said, louder this time for all to hear. “You finish your plate, including what I’ve given you, and Dominic, Everett, and I shall tell you all you want to know.”

“Ah, Dominic,” Amelia sighed, she and her husband reaching for another’s hands, “Do you remember when we first started making our little deals?”

“Indeed I do,” Dominic answered, a knowing smirk on his face as he kissed his wife’s hand. “You were so stubborn, I could not get you to do anything I said otherwise.”

To Theo’s surprise Amelia laughed and nodded.

“We are stubborn,” Amelia agreed, meeting Theo’s eyes with a knowing look. “Even when we do not need to be.”

She said the last pointedly and looked to Theo’s plate, then moved them back up to Theo’s, as if bidding her to eat. Anger surged through whatever longing Theo had left, eating it away until there was nothing left but rage and embarrassment.

Theo looked back to Alistair, her gaze hard. She stabbed the slice of mutton he’d left on her plate, and without breaking eye contact, shoved the entire thing rather barbarically into her mouth.