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T he day following the ball passed unremarkably.

Too unremarkably.

Arabella had fully expected a conversation with William, one in which he would explain his odd behavior from the night before, but no conversation came.

She spent the late morning and early afternoon roaming the halls of the manor and waiting to come across him before deciding that it was a hopeless cause.

She would see him at dinner, and that would have to do.

But when dinner came, he wasn’t there either. She found herself alone at the table with only one place setting. It took her ages to convince herself to pick up her knife and fork, to settle down to the unexpected task of eating dinner on her own.

She hardly tasted it. Putting the food in her mouth, chewing it, was mechanical, not a source of pleasure as it usually was. This was a chore.

What was wrong? Hadn’t he promised that they would always take their dinner together?

It was one of very few things she had insisted upon in this marriage, and he had agreed to grant it.

And now she was eating alone. If she hadn’t known better, she would have guessed that she had done something wrong—something to offend him.

It was the only explanation that made sense.

But she hadn’t done anything.

She wracked her memory, trying to figure it out.

She’d gone to the ball, just as he had asked, wearing the gown he had chosen for her.

Was he angry that she hadn’t accepted the emerald pendant he’d tried to give her?

He hadn’t seemed angry at the time when she’d first given it back to him.

She had been relieved at how easy it had been.

But maybe she’d read him incorrectly. Maybe he was angry about it.

Well, she thought in consternation, there was nothing to be gained by avoiding one another, was there? If he had some complaint with her, the proper thing to do was to come and speak to her about it, not to act as if she didn’t exist!

She got up from the table, no longer interested in her meal and determined to put an end to what William was doing. He would be easy enough to locate, she knew, once she put her mind to it.

And he was. She found the door to his study closed, but she could see a bit of candlelight flickering beneath it. So this was where he had been all day.

Would he answer if she knocked? Would he admit her?

It was too risky, and she wasn’t willing to take a chance on his refusing to see her. She didn’t knock. Instead, she threw the door open.

He was sitting at his desk with a book open in front of him, but his gaze jerked upward as she entered the room. “What’s the meaning of this?” he demanded.

Arabella folded her arms across her chest. “You didn’t come to dinner.”

“I wasn’t hungry.”

“Well, that wasn’t the agreement.” She felt shaky and frightened, confronting him like this.

She wasn’t accustomed to this sort of thing between the two of them.

It was only occurring to her now just how easy their marriage had been.

Unconventional, to be sure, but never frightening or difficult.

He had always given her plenty of space to herself.

He had always been kind. She had never been distressed the way she was now.

But she couldn’t deny that she was. There was something in the way he was looking at her that told her he was displeased.

She squared her shoulders. She had come this far, and she was determined to have this conversation with him, no matter how difficult he made it for her.

“You said that we would always have dinner together,” she told him. “It was the one thing I asked you for.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Do you truly believe that you’ve asked me for only one thing? You can’t possibly think that’s true.”

“Well, I haven’t asked for much,” she amended, willing to cede the point. “But I did ask for this, and I don’t think it was an overly large request.”

“I was working.”

“No, you weren’t.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re not working,” she said. “You’re just sitting there staring at a book. I don’t think you were even reading the book.”

“You’re accusing me of lying?”

“I’m saying you chose not to come to dinner with me for some reason, and I don’t know why. And I want you to tell me.”

William sighed. “Leave me in peace, Arabella.”

“No, I won’t,” she snapped, amazed at her own daring.

“Do you think I’ve had any peace all day?

Do you think you should be the one to decide who has peace and who does not?

You can walk away from things that trouble you, but I must stay in the trouble until you decide to relieve it?

No. You’re going to have to deal with me, William.

Regardless of how you may feel about me right now, I am still your wife. ”

He rose to his feet abruptly, eyes blazing. “My wife?”

Arabella was transfixed. What had she said to bring about this sudden change in his demeanor?

And why was she so incapable of looking away?

He was like a thunderstorm, full of power, unpredictable. And just as she had always enjoyed watching storms from her windows, she found herself captivated by him now.

But her husband was no storm. She wasn’t watching him through a pane of glass. He was up close, moving toward her. And now, she was really frightened. She stepped back quickly, but she forced herself not to flee the room.

“That’s right,” she told him, quietly but firmly. “I’m your wife. You should treat me as such.”

“You should act as such,” he countered.

She hadn’t anticipated that, and a flutter of shock and indignation spun within her. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that you danced with Lord Marbury last night,” William snapped.

“He asked me.” Arabella was confused. “It was a ball. He seemed kind enough. Is this why you’re angry with me? Because I danced with him?”

“You shouldn’t have done it. You ought to have known better. But you’re so naive. You think everyone means only the best. You can’t recognize when someone has impure intentions.”

“You think that Lord Marbury had impure intentions?” This was difficult to believe.

“He was a perfect gentleman. He was kind to me, curious about our marriage, and when you came over, he stepped back at once. There was nothing untrustworthy about him or his motives, William. Why are you saying these things?”

“I want you to stay away from other gentlemen when the two of us are out together,” he told her.

She laughed. “If you want that, perhaps you ought to stay beside me, and not leave me on my own in the middle of the ballroom,” she suggested.

“What did you expect me to do? Stand there and speak to no one while I waited for you to return? That’s ridiculous, and you must know it.

Of course, I was going to speak to someone who actually took the time to talk to me instead of leaving me to fend for myself. Anyone would have done the same thing.”

William looked at her for a long moment.

Arabella wondered if he was still angry. If he was going to order her away again. She wondered, if he did, whether she would give up and go. It all felt so tentative right now.

But then William burst out laughing.

Arabella stared. Was he laughing at her?

No. He was shaking his head, he was smiling.

“You’re right,” he said. “You’re perfectly right.

Of course, you are. I don’t know what I thought was going to happen, leaving you on your own like that.

Of course, someone would approach you, beautiful as you were.

Everyone was looking at you, and I knew it.

And of course, I can’t expect you to turn up your nose at everyone who greets you. I wouldn’t ask you to do that.”

“Isn’t that what you’re asking me to do?” She was confused by this turn of events.

“Oh, but I shouldn’t,” he said. “You’re right. If I don’t like the way things have been going, I know the solution. I’ve simply got to stay with you at all times.”

“Well… yes, that’s right,” she agreed. “The next time we go to a ball, remain by my side, and then you can ensure that I won’t speak to anyone you wouldn’t want me to talk to. If you think I’m too naive to make those decisions for myself, you stay and make them for me.”

“Very well, then, I shall.” He smirked at her. “You won’t have a moment’s rest from me, I fear. You will wish you had left me alone instead of coming to find me when I missed one dinner.”

“I won’t wish that.”

“You won’t be able to escape me.” He moved closer to her now, but there was no longer anything fearsome about him.

He was like a lion—she could see the power in his frame, the way he could pounce on her if he chose.

But he wouldn’t do that. She knew he wouldn’t.

She felt oddly, unaccountably safe with him.

“You’ll have me looking over your shoulder all the time,” he murmured now, leaning over her. His hand came up as if to touch her, but he hesitated and lowered it.

Arabella’s breath caught in her throat. This had accelerated quickly, had turned into something she hadn’t expected.

In her mind, there had been two possible outcomes to this conversation—either he would become angry with her or he would be contrite.

She hadn’t expected this—that he would take it with good humor and that he would turn it around on her, warning her of a future in which she got exactly what she was asking for only to realize that she might not know what to do with it.

Would he really do as he was saying? Would he be with her every moment?

Surely not. Surely, he was only teasing, only trying to make her see that she was being impractical, that she was asking too much of him.

She took a deep breath, trying her best to steady herself, unable to do so.

And to her utter shock, William didn’t look steady in the least. He looked as if he might start trembling. His eyes searched her face as if there were answers there to some question he hadn’t asked.

She couldn’t take it. She stepped backward and turned away from him.

“I shouldn’t have come here,” she murmured.

“You’re welcome here,” he said. His voice was soft. “I shouldn’t have scolded you for coming to find me.”

“No. It was… this is your place. I should go. I should rest before…” Before what? She didn’t have anything coming up that required resting up for. “I should rest,” she finished lamely.

He didn’t question that. “All right,” he agreed. “Let me know if I can do anything for you. And I’m sorry I didn’t come to dinner.”

“You’ll make it up to me.”

“Will I?”

“Come to breakfast,” she told him. “Join me for breakfast, and all will be forgotten.”

“All right,” he agreed. “I’ll do that.”

She nodded and started away.

“And Arabella?”

She looked back over her shoulder.

“I meant what I said.” His eyes sparkled. “I really do mean to keep both eyes on you from now on. I’ve learned my lesson about leaving you alone. You’re mine.”

Her heart hammered in her chest.

She didn’t know what to say, so she turned and fled the room before he could ask anything more of her.