Page 18 of His Unexpected Duchess (Hearts of Whitmores #2)

CHAPTER 18

N icholas gave Joanna a day to recover from their short conversation in the hall. He wondered why it struck her so, the fact that he would protect her.

But he meant it.

If she preferred to toss herself into what he believed could very well be a lion’s den, then he would be there with her.

I suppose I should talk more with Joanna than Eleanor. But Joanna has been avoiding me, and Eleanor seems insistent on making our marriage into something more.

Considering his wife and the obligations stemming from their union, Nicholas knew he needed to try harder. He wanted a functional marriage. There was a way for them to both be happy. Clearly, it was already working well in his sister’s favor. When she finally had her Season, Joanna would be there to present her.

First, however, Joanna needed to establish her standing in Society.

Nicholas wanted to rethink his original strategy to ensure that everything would go well for them. For her. Her family’s ball would be immensely proper. It was the perfect chance for them to appear together. They’d attend arm in arm, he’d ask her to dance a set, and he’d introduce her to everyone he knew.

Joanna would be set up for success.

It was still days away, however, and he found himself eager to spend more time with her. He supposed he should give her some space. And yet…

She needs to know I’m not the man she thinks I am. The rake. The blackguard. I am not that man anymore, and when we dance, I want her to understand who I truly am. The way I understand her.

Nicholas took the rest of the day—and some advice from his butler—before he was comfortable with another plan. He needed to show himself in a better light. He needed her to think highly of him.

There was no explaining that gnawing need, but it haunted him at night. He needed her to understand. To know him.

“I must admit I am surprised,” she murmured to him a few days later when he offered her his arm. “When you said we had a morning appointment, I assumed it was something to do with the house or servants. But there is a carriage waiting for us. What is it? Is there something wrong with the carriage?”

“Would you be dressed so nicely if we were inspecting a carriage?” Nicholas asked, eyeing her new gown.

Joanna hesitated before she said in an apologetic tone, “I don’t know. I’ve never had such a nice day dress before, and I’ve never inspected a carriage.” She put her hand on his for a moment. “You didn’t need to buy me a new wardrobe, Your Grace. It was too much.”

“Nonsense. You are a duchess,” Nicholas reminded her, winking so she would smile. “And more than that, we are not inspecting a carriage.”

His sister rounded the corner. “Is something wrong with the carriage?”

“The top is missing,” Joanna noted.

“It is our old carriage, refurbished and updated, and brought from the country house,” Nicholas corrected.

Eleanor tilted her head curiously. She knew the carriage. They’d grown up bouncing around in it. It was one of the many things they’d left behind when they came to the city.

“Isn’t it a pleasant day? I thought we could take it with us.”

“Then we are leaving the house?” Joanna asked.

Nicholas tutted. “So many questions.” He suppressed a smile when she flushed. “I’m glad to hear of your interest. When I sent you the invitation yesterday, I half feared you would deny me your time.”

I did not mean to confess that aloud.

“We are married. I have no right to deny you anything,” Joanna murmured.

“And yet I like your honesty,” he reassured her at once. Then, he offered an arm to his sister as well. “Come along, Eleanor. We must be on our way. We have to collect our friends and go to our appointment.”

“Where are we going? You have been very secretive about the entire affair,” Joanna noted, a slight edge to her voice. She sounded almost exasperated. “I will ask you again”—after she’d inquired at least four times during supper last night—“where are we going this afternoon?”

Eleanor wrinkled her nose. “Perhaps he is mocking us. We could simply be going out for a ride. All we wear are day clothes, after all. Nothing particularly fancy.”

“I think we all look rather splendid,” Nicholas argued.

He was wearing a new waistcoat, his wife was in a new dress, and even Eleanor had a new pair of gloves on that she wore up to her elbows.

“But not enough for a ball. Perhaps not even Vauxhall Gardens,” Eleanor noted as they made their way out the side door to the open carriage. “Perhaps a smaller garden.”

Joanna eagerly dove into the guessing game. “He said last night that it was not a place I had been to before—which certainly isn’t very much. But I did explore many a garden. Nor is it Bond Street.”

“The hour is too early for the opera.”

“Perhaps a luncheon?”

“You’re attending a garden party soon. Perhaps there is another one. Or perhaps a picnic! Maybe he means a corner of a place you have been to before, but a private location like in Hyde Park.”

Nicholas rolled his eyes but couldn’t help feeling amused by their guessing game. He seated his wife at his side, while Eleanor sat across from them. The two of them chattered away with great enthusiasm as their reasonable guesses grew outlandish.

Still, he remained silent. He didn’t want to miss a minute of it. Eleanor was beginning to come out of her grief, and Joanna was growing more comfortable with him. Their thighs touched, but she said nothing. He didn’t move, enjoying the warmth radiating from her. Every minute they spent together felt more natural. He didn’t understand it, only that he enjoyed the sensation and didn’t want it to go away.

“Charlotte!” the women gushed as his cousin joined them along with her husband. “We must all sit together.”

“Certainly not,” Nicholas retorted before he could stop himself.

Even Charlotte shot him a look, and Adrian raised an eyebrow at him.

Attempting to redeem himself, Nicholas hastily explained, “We will not fit. There is one more stop we need to make, and I’m afraid Adrian is too fat.”

“I could duel you for that,” Adrian scoffed.

Charlotte laughed as she sat beside Eleanor. “You very well could, and both of you would do very well. It’s your shoulders, dear. They’re too wide to fit beside Nicky. We’ll keep Eleanor company, and you can argue with my cousin all you like.”

“Thanks,” Adrian responded dryly before shooting Nicholas a mocking glare.

Nicholas’s lips curled into a sheepish smile. “You know you’re only as fat as I am.”

Adrian patted his flat stomach. “It is married life, you know. One can’t help but eat more when everything tastes so perfect.”

Blushing, Charlotte elbowed him in the ribs. “Adrian, really. Do control yourself. We have no walls to keep prying ears away, and when we get to––” Nicholas cleared his throat, and she rolled her eyes. “When we arrive at our destination, we will need to be mindful of our words.”

Adrian was so helplessly in love with his wife that he made mooncalf eyes at her. “You are such a clever duchess, my dear.”

“You trained me well,” she teased back.

Pulling a face, Eleanor pressed herself into the corner of her seat, putting some space between them. “Public displays of affection make me itch.”

“You’ll change your mind someday,” Charlotte reassured her.

Nicholas turned his attention to his wife to see her reaction. They both knew they had not married for love. Not even affection. There had been little physical contact—intentional, at least—since their wedding. He glanced down at their thighs, pressed together. She could have moved away, but she didn’t.

“Your Grace?” she murmured, drawing his gaze to hers. “Is something wrong?”

“No. I believe everything is all right. And you?”

“Yes, I… All is well.”

She licked her lips as her eyes roamed over his face, making him wonder what she was thinking. Particularly when her eyes wandered downward. His heart thudded in his chest.

How long has it been since I kissed a woman? Kissed her passionately? How long has it been since I held a woman properly in my arms? I thought I would never feel the urge again, and yet, with her, I can’t help but wonder. I can already imagine her warmth and her softness, her hair all around me. Just a kiss would settle the madness of my heartbeat.

“Ahoy!”

Tearing his gaze away, Nicholas plastered on a smile as the last member of their party appeared.

Kenneth heaved himself into the carriage on Joanna’s other side and sat across from Eleanor. The two of them were already bickering about his long legs before they started moving again.

“Are we almost there?” Joanna asked, her breath tickling Nicholas’s ear.

He had to suppress a shudder. “Almost.”

“How close?”

His lips quirked up. When he met her gaze, he saw the glimmer in her eyes. “Close.”

“This street, then?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“The next street?”

He shook his head as his smile widened. “We are close enough, Duchess, and that shall be your final clue. No matter how much you pout,” he added when she stuck out her bottom lip. “Only a few more minutes, so long as no one blocks the road.”

“Then we are turning. But onto which street?”

A short laugh escaped him.

Ignoring the intrigued gazes of their party, Nicholas shook his head and kept his focus on his wife. “I shan’t say another word, you mischief maker.”

That made her smile wider than before, and that caught his attention.

As Joanna tried to twist around to get a better look at the busy street, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. The sun lightened her brown curls into something soft and spirited. Her eyes were wide, and her cheeks were rosy. He wanted to stroke her skin to feel its softness.

“We’re here!”

He started, his feet unintentionally kicking Adrian, who gave him a pointed look. After mouthing an apology, he turned his ire on Kenneth, who absolutely did not have to shout. Finally, he focused back on Joanna, since this outing was for her.

“Oh,” he heard her murmur. “Are we really going…”

“To the British Museum, yes,” he confirmed.

He hesitated, suddenly feeling shy. It wasn’t much of a gift, he realized that now. Why had he been so focused on making this outing just right? She would probably laugh at him.

Shifting uncomfortably, Nicholas explained, “I know you mentioned wanting to see one of the exhibits from Egypt and that you had never been there. But perhaps I should have––or maybe we could have––”

When she grasped his hand, he stared down at their intertwined fingers. Both were covered in gloves, but he could still feel her. He would swear to his dying day that he could feel the tip of her thumb stroking the back of his hand.

“It’s wonderful,” she promised him with a dazzling smile. “Thank you.”

“Come now, you sick-in-love dogs,” Kenneth called as he opened the carriage door and helped Eleanor down. “Or we shall leave you behind.”

Joanna gave Nicholas one last dashing smile––was that a dimple?––before she turned away. “Don’t you dare!”

As the other two ladies climbed out, Adrian moved to follow. Yet, Nicholas didn’t move. Adrian had to slap his knee, half out of the carriage, to make him react. “Come now. You can’t follow your ladylove from out here,” he said.

Nicholas glared at him but said nothing. He was still tongue-tied.

After he alighted from the carriage, he instructed his driver and footman to take a few hours for themselves before returning to them at the appointed time.

They gathered on their way to the entrance, sticking to the side since he had their tickets. Inside they went, and everyone started oohing and aahing over the grand marble entranceway.

Joanna halted, however, upon seeing the map of the museum. Her lips turned downward. “The new exhibit doesn’t open until next week.”

“Then it is a very good thing I’m friends with the new curator.” Nicholas patted her arm. “Why would I bring you here only to deny you the thing you want the most, my dear?”

Her mouth dropped open. “We will still see it?”

“And without the gaping jaws of everyone else bumbling in our way,” Kenneth added with a short nod. There was an uneasy look in his eyes that gave Nicholas pause. He frowned at him. Something had to be up with him. But Kenneth shook his head as though to tell him not to worry. “Are we going to continue or not?”

Making a mental note to speak with his friend later, Nicholas nodded. He gathered the rest of their party so they might attend the private exhibit first.

His heart hammered in his chest the entire way. Never before had he felt so worried about pleasing a woman. It had always come naturally, so easily, to tell them what they wanted to hear and give them what they wanted.

Yet, Joanna was different. She didn’t care too much for fancy baubles—her simple shopping habits had proven that—but this was something she had mentioned offhand the other week, and it had seemed doable.

His old university friend, Hardy Grover, welcomed them beyond the velvet cords before starting their private tour. Nicholas thanked him, nudging his way to the front for Joanna’s sake.

She had practically ignored him throughout the tour, but her grip on his arm would tighten whenever she grew excited. There were loud exclamations and gasps. He almost felt offended, as she had never looked his way.

How could he feel jealous about the past like this?

But everything was put to rights when they returned to the other side of the velvet cords and Grover took his leave.

Joanna turned to Nicholas, grasping his other arm as well, and squealed. “Oh, that was unbelievably marvelous! Nicholas, I could never thank you enough for this outing. It was just wonderful. Can you believe I touched a sarcophagus?! Oh, you are simply the best husband.”

And just like that, all the trouble and worry had been worth it. Nicholas couldn’t help but preen, soaking in her smile and attention.

The best husband. That’s what she called me.