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Page 30 of A Virgin for the Ton’s Wolf (Ton’s Wolves #4)

CHAPTER THIRTY

S carlett opened her eyes and stared unseeingly out the window. The morning sunlight was streaming in a little too harshly, and there were only a few scattered birds calling out to each other. She blinked her sleep-fogged brain to consciousness, her thoughts tangled with the last vestiges of a dream she could not quite remember.

She thought she had heard a knock at her door last night, but she had been too tired from the wedding to pay it any heed.

Wedding?

Her eyes flew open in alarm. Saints above, she was married! To Hudson Barrow, of all people!

And she had locked him out of her bedchamber in a fit of anger when she saw his paramour amongst their wedding guests.

She staggered out of bed and unlocked the door, ringing for her maid as she made her way to the vanity. It must have been sheer luck that he had not decided to come by that evening only to find that his new bride had barricaded her door. Had he known, she feared that he might have broken down the door in his fury.

“Good morning, My La—I mean, Your Grace,” her maid tittered, bringing in an armload of towels.

Scarlett raised her eyebrows. There were more towels than was necessary for her usual morning ablutions.

And then a few more servants walked in, carrying pitchers of steaming hot water all the way to the en suite.

Were they… drawing a bath? Whatever for?

“I gathered Your Grace would prefer a bath.” Ella giggled, her face red. “His Grace said that you were probably tired from… last night.”

Scarlett narrowed her eyes. Oh, really now?

She smiled pleasantly at her maid. “I was a little tired, but I have recovered now. Has His Grace broken his fast already?”

Ella bobbed her head enthusiastically. “He is currently with the Dowager Duchess in the breakfast room.”

Scarlett’s smile widened. “Then you must help me bathe, Ella, and quickly. I would not want to miss breakfast with my dear husband.”

Ella might have been unable to hide her excitement for her mistress, but the rest of the servants left quietly after they had completed their task. As Scarlett sank into the warm, perfumed water, she could not help but marvel at their efficiency.

But then she recalled their reaction when they saw her and Hudson in the kitchens. Was it truly discipline that made them so, or was it their fear of their master? She was willing to bet it was the latter.

After she had washed and changed, she descended to the breakfast room with a cold smile, her spine straight as she took measured steps.

If Hudson thought he could unsettle her by bringing his beautiful opera singer to their wedding, then he would have to be disappointed.

Dreadfully so.

“It was so kind of you to allow dear Scarlett to rest a little bit more,” his mother told him, eyeing him shrewdly as she buttered her toast. “So considerate . I had feared that you would make a dreadful husband. It seemed I worried for nothing.”

Hudson let out what he hoped sounded like a noncommittal grunt. Compared to his sire, most husbands could be considered attentive. If his father had found himself locked out of his bride’s bed, there would have been hell to pay. Shattered doors, flaunted mistresses. Even flying fists.

Perhaps he should not have been so offended to find that Scarlett had taken precautions to keep him from her bed. He had been the one to set the boundaries for their marriage in the first place. She was merely enforcing them.

Still, her rejection rankled.

“Ah! There she is!”

His ears immediately perked up when he heard his mother’s cheerful announcement. A brief look up from the morning paper and he wished he had never glanced at all.

Scarlett walked into the room like a fresh flower, blooming in the springtime of her youth. She had donned a peach-colored dress, a satin ribbon cinching her figure just under her breasts, giving her an elegant silhouette while subtly hinting at the curves underneath. Her hair, unadorned save for a jeweled comb, had been swept up into a soft chignon at the back of her neck.

She smiled at his mother and then hesitated for a brief moment. The only place that had been set out would have her seated to his immediate right.

“Hudson insisted on this particular arrangement,” his mother explained. “It seems he cannot bear to be apart from you, even during the meals.”

The curve of Scarlett’s lips had Hudson’s heart pounding equally in longing and apprehension.

“Did he now?” Her voice was low, almost like a sensual purr that glided along his nerves, setting his whole being on fire.

When she took her seat, he mentally recited the names of all the past monarchs that had ever sat on the English throne.

None of it worked. His cock sprang to attention like a dog greeting its master.

“Look at you both,” his mother sighed. “It warms my heart to see you so affectionate towards each other. Which reminds me.” She smiled brightly at them. “I have decided to move to Oakview next week.”

Hudson’s eyebrow rose in surprise. “The dower house?”

She nodded happily. “Now that there is a proper Duchess of Wolverton, I can happily retire and enjoy the rest of my golden years in peace and quiet.”

Hudson doubted his mother could stay away that long, particularly when the subject of heirs arose and she eventually found their marriage unable to bear fruit after a few years.

“Oh, but you cannot leave!” Scarlett exclaimed.

Hudson’s gaze swiveled to his wife. Was she so horrified at the prospect of being left alone with him in Wolverton Estate?

“Wolverton Estate is so huge?—”

The entire manor had sixty rooms—they could easily avoid each other with all that space. Besides, she could simply lock her rooms and bar him from entering her bedchamber. Again.

“—I am certain I’ll make a mess of everything!”

His roiling thoughts calmed down for a moment. So, she was not anxious about being left with him, after all. She was more concerned with running the estate on her own.

“You will do just wonderfully as the Duchess, my dear,” his mother reassured her with a gentle pat on her hands. “Besides, I am not leaving right at this moment. Probably in three days.”

“That is still not enough time for me to learn everything.”

Hudson watched the scene before him with great interest. The two ladies seemed completely oblivious to his existence. The picture they painted was one of such maternal love and filial piety that it seemed more like a newly married daughter bidding her mother goodbye, rather than her mother-in-law.

“Oh, you will learn to appreciate my departure.” His mother laughed. “After all, newlyweds like yourselves would want to have their privacy, no?”

His mother was woefully incorrect on that account. Fortunately, Scarlett did not move to correct her.

“Oakview is quite near,” she continued. “And you can call on me anytime you wish. My residence will always be open for my children—and grandchildren,” she added with a pointed look at Hudson, who chose to ignore her comment.

Scarlett, however, turned as red as the blooming roses in the vase.

Sadly, Hudson would have to disappoint his mother in that aspect. There would be no children for him and Scarlett.

The thought sent a pang of bitterness through his chest, but he knew better—he made for a poor husband already. He would only make an even worse father.

Scarlett closed the last of the books and looked up to find the twinkling brown eyes of the Dowager Duchess—no, Diana . The older woman—her mother-in-law—smiled proudly at her.

“That is the last of it,” she said, biting her lower lip. “I am not certain I did a good enough job of it, though?—”

She was cut off with a light finger to her lips.

“Hush, child. You have done exceptionally well—far better than I did when I first became Duchess, I assure you. Your mama has taught you well. You should both be proud of yourselves.”

Yes, Scarlett was certain that her mama was quite proud of her for marrying a duke, and now her mama was no doubt putting all her efforts into getting Alexander settled down. Scarlett smiled a little at that. Perhaps her brother should get a taste of his own medicine after he tried to meddle with her betrothal.

“Mama has always said that I was abysmal at numbers,” she confided. “That my talents perhaps lay… elsewhere.”

Wherever that elsewhere was, her mama had long since given up on finding it. Perhaps it was one of the reasons she agreed to her betrothal to Lord Colton—she had given up that anyone would ever take Scarlett seriously and marry her.

“Well, perhaps I should be pleased that whatever those talents your dear mother presumed to be, they have all led you here.” Diana smiled brightly. “Wolverton has needed someone like you for so long.”

Wolverton the estate or the man? Scarlett dared not hazard a guess.

“Now that my work here is accomplished, I shall set off for Oakview tomorrow,” the older woman continued. She reached for Scarlett’s hand and patted it affectionately. “No need to look so glum, my dear. My son has assured me that your mother and your friends are welcome to visit at any time, and if he ever gives you any trouble—” She gave Scarlett a warning look. “Oakview is not too far.”

Scarlett laughed and threw her arms around her mother-in-law. “Thank you so much, Yo—Diana,” she amended. “I do not know what I would have done without you.”

“Oh, it has been my greatest pleasure, my dear!” The Dowager Duchess returned her hug. She pulled back and smiled at Scarlett. “I have always wanted a daughter, you see, but I was blessed with two sons, and after Hudson…” she trailed off sadly. “Thankfully, he has managed to give me a daughter by marrying you.”

Scarlett smiled softly at the older lady. She was young, but she remembered the whole ton speaking about the tragic riding accident that took Hudson’s brother’s life for days. But why couldn’t Diana have a daughter as well?

She shook her head. Despite her words, Scarlett could see the love shining in those bright brown eyes whenever the woman spoke of her son.

Hudson was very fortunate in that regard.

“I shall make sure he keeps that in mind.” Scarlett winked at her mother-in-law.

As for how she was going to accomplish that, she had absolutely no idea.

The past three days, it seemed that Hudson had taken great pains to avoid her. He had even changed the locks in the door to his tower, and whenever she inquired after him, she was always met with just one answer.

“I am busy, Scarlett.”

Hogwash, she would call it. A busy man was simply one who was avoiding something, and for Hudson, that something was his wife .

One of these days, he would need to talk to her—whether it was because he found the pot roast much too salty or the coffee not to his liking. She would wait for him until then.

Or just until her patience wore out. Scarlett had never claimed to be a paragon of that particular virtue.