Page 17 of The Broken Marchioness (Lords of Inconvenience #3)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“A llan?” Frederica’s voice made him still in the doorway of his study.

For the last two days, he had been keeping his distance. Even at breakfast, he had either buried himself in his newspaper or pleaded a headache and gone walking early in the morning.

Every time he looked at her, he burned with the pain of her rejection. It was easier not to look at her, to try and avoid thinking of that kiss entirely.

“She’s here,” Frederica called to him from across the hallway. “Will you come and meet her?” she asked, a softness in her voice, a gentle pleading.

Sighing, Allan turned to look at her.

She was nervous, wringing her hands together as she stared back at him.

She expects me to say no. I suppose I should be flattered that she wishes me to meet her aunt at all.

“Of course, I will.” Allan walked across the hallway with Frederica falling in step beside him as they neared the door. He could feel her sneaking glances at him though she said nothing.

It couldn’t have escaped her notice that he was pulling back from her, but he didn’t know what else to do to protect himself.

To kiss her had felt so natural, the thrills and excitement between them bubbling over into a declaration of affection. He couldn’t forget the fact that she had kissed him back. It made her rejection even more confusing.

He opened the door and stepped out of the house.

The heat was overwhelming today. Summer had well and truly arrived, making the air so hot and sticky that Allan had to shed his tailcoat at once, slinging it over his shoulder. Frederica was suffering in the heat too, pulling at her thin gown and trying to fan her face with one of her hands.

Before them, a small carriage was pulling up on the driveway. It was a modest carriage, petite but well-kept and cared for. As the carriage pulled up, the door opened long before either Allan or one of his manservants could hurry forward to open it.

Honora stood on the carriage step, tilting her head high, revealing a face that Allan had not expected.

When he had pictured Frederica’s aunt, he had seen someone in his imagination who was mild in manner and gentle in appearance. This woman, with her rigid straight back and her hooked nose, was rather different to his expectation.

Her eyes darted over the house, moving as fast as bees. With her lips pursed together, she was judging it intently. Then her eyes moved to Frederica, and she smiled, the expression transforming her appearance.

“Frederica!” she declared, flinging her arms outward as she jumped out of the carriage. She dropped her reticule in her excitement, prompting Allan’s manservant to run after her and pick it up. She then also dropped a spencer jacket she had been holding, so the manservant hurried after her to pick up that too. “There you are! Oh, how my nerves have suffered since you left.”

Frederica moved off the stairs to greet her aunt. The two embraced tightly as Allan watched on, unsure what to make of the woman before him.

“I am sorry I left in the night,” Frederica said as she moved back from their embrace. Honora continued to fuss over her as a mother might, pushing back loose locks which had fallen out of Frederica’s updo and looking intently into her face, clearly checking the heavy shadows which were under Frederica’s eyes. “It was for the best though.”

“So I see.” Honora held a small smirk as she turned her face to look at Allan.

Those eyes were so piercing, he actually found his back straightening under that look.

“Welcome,” he said stiffly, trying to be as formal and as welcoming as he could be. “You are more than welcome to stay as long as you like.”

“That is kind,” she said softly, moving toward him. “So, you are my niece’s husband?” She lifted her chin high, looking over him the way that she had looked at the house. “Tall, handsome, well presented. You’ve done well for yourself, Frederica.”

“Aunt!” Frederica hissed, but Honora was already laughing. She offered a curtsy to Allan and at her laugh, Allan found himself softening. He bowed in greeting to her too.

“I think I embarrass her,” Honora mockingly whispered. “But I am glad to see her so settled.”

“Have no fear. I embarrass her too,” Allan added. This made Honora laugh all the more though it did not escape his notice that Frederica burned beetroot red at his words. “Well, I shall leave you with your niece, so you can talk of all that you wish to, but I hope I shall see you again at dinner this evening?”

“I’d like that. Thank you.” Honora smiled. As Allan turned to walk away though, she spoke again. “One thing before you go, My Lord?” He turned back to face her. “I hope you are happy with this marriage?”

“Aunt!” Frederica hissed once again, blushing so much now that the color reached down her neck.

“You do not beat about the bush, do you?” Allan asked, deciding he liked her more and more.

“Never,” Honora declared. “In my experience, life is too short and messy not to say what we really mean.”

“Then rest assured, I am content.” Allan nodded. “I pray your niece is too. If you would excuse me, I have business to attend to.” Eager to escape, for he could feel Frederica’s gaze intently on him, he walked away and back into the house.

“Hmm.” Honora’s next words still reached him, despite his efforts to escape fast. “Strange, from your letters, I pictured a man with much more warmth in his character.”

“Aunt!” Frederica hissed for a third time. “He is warm. He’s kind, too.”

“Then what has happened already to make you both so distant?”

Allan couldn’t listen anymore. He dived for the safety of his study, locking the door tight and absorbing himself in the plans for his estate and garden.

* * *

Frederica stared at the empty spot at the head of the breakfast table. So far, she hadn’t touched her food though Honora ate rather noisily at her place opposite Frederica.

Allan had not come to breakfast. The unhappy feeling this caused was amplified by the fact that the evening before, Allan had scarcely said a word during dinner, leaving Honora to handle most of the conversation.

“You must eat, dear,” Honora said softly, pushing some of the plates of food toward her. “Trust me, I know you never eat that much — I saw that the year you were under my roof — but you should eat now. After all, wives often have to eat for two shortly after they are wed.”

Tea shot the wrong way down Frederica’s throat. She coughed and spluttered so much that Lucy and Mrs. Long appeared in the nearest doorway, peering around the frame to check on her.

“I’m — well —” Frederica tried to assure them though they sprang into action anyway. Lucy presented her with a clean handkerchief to clean herself up, and Mrs. Long poured out a fresh cup of tea. “Thank you for your kindness,” Frederica said as they both smiled at her and left the room again.

“Well, I can see you are well taken care of by the staff,” Honora said with interest, taking it upon herself to now pile food on Frederica’s plate. “Even if your husband takes little notice of you.”

“He does take care of me,” Frederica argued, wiping some tea from her chin. “He buys me gifts all the time. He usually sits here and has breakfast with me. We talk, we smile together, and…” she trailed off, realizing that none of this explained his behavior the last couple of days. “And as for eating for two, that is not possible.”

Honora nodded slowly.

Frederica realized again how grateful she was for her aunt. By now, her mother would be outraged that they had not consummated the marriage, but Honora simply accepted this fact.

“Very well.” Honora sat back in her chair and looked around the room. “Well, if you are intent on changing much in this house, and your husband has agreed to fund such changes, let us go shopping today? A little trip to Covent Garden might just make you smile.”

Frederica stared at her, blankly.

“Do not think I haven’t noticed your manner,” Honora whispered. “You smiled when I arrived, but you have smiled for little else. If it is your husband making you miserable, then we shall escape for a little while. So, Covent Garden?”

Frederica glanced at the empty chair at the head of the table, deep in thought as she debated her answer. Mrs. Long soon came in with another pot of tea.

“Mrs. Long, have you seen Allan this morning?”

“The master had breakfast early, My Lady,” Mrs. Long said gently. “He’s gone to visit his tenants with his steward.”

Frederica’s spine stiffened. Allan could have left her a note to tell her or even left a message with the housekeeper, but Mrs. Long’s forced smile showed there was no point in Frederica asking about such a message.

“Yes, Aunt, let’s go to Covent Garden,” Frederica said with finality. “Perhaps a little excursion would be good.”

Honora clapped her hands together excitedly.

* * *

“What of this one?” Honora asked, presenting a cloth for new curtains in the draper’s shop. She laid it upon another bolt of material for Frederica to look at.

“Hmm.” Frederica chewed her lip in thought. “My mother would certainly approve. It’s busy enough for her taste.”

Honora snatched away the material, a sudden sharpness apparent in her expression.

“What?” Frederica asked.

“We are not shopping for your mother. We are shopping for you .” Honora waved the material at her in consternation then threw it aside where it was promptly caught by the draper’s assistant who was looking rather panicked at the careless way Honora was handling all the samples. “So, let us pick another.”

Honora now presented Frederica with a soft cream curtain, inlaid with a gentle sage green leaf. It was beautiful without being overstated. Frederica smiled when she considered that Allan might also like this curtain. He was so fond of the outdoors; it would work very well to bring the outside in.

“I like it,” she whispered, “very much.”

“Excellent, then write down the details, so you can consider it.” Honora added it to a pile of other swatches they were building to take home with them. “Do you know what your husband would like? Or is he always as distant with you as he has been since I arrived?”

The draper’s assistant clearly knew he was not needed for this conversation. Blushing as magenta pink as one of the samples, he turned and hotfooted it into one of the back rooms.

“I thought you said you felt blessed to marry a friend,” Honora said with interest as she pulled forward another bolt, this one plain cream.

“Too plain,” Frederica said with a wrinkled nose, so Honora happily discarded it. “He is my friend. It’s just…” She looked around, checking no one else was close enough to hear them before she carried on. “… I do not understand him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sometimes he is warm to me; sometimes cold.” Frederica shook her head, not even noticing the bolt that Honora now presented for her appraisal. “He can be so kind, so amusing, eager to have me sit with him, to talk, and yet other times… he will be formal with me… but the rest is just coldness.”

“I see, and could there be a reason for such coldness?”

“I…” Frederica trailed off. The first time Allan had been cold with her in the house was when she had suggested he could take a lover. The last time was because he had kissed her, and she had demanded he never did it again. “It may be because I push him away first.”

“Well, this is not a conversation to be had over swatches. Come, there is a teahouse across the way. This requires tea or hot chocolate. You can choose tea if you like, but I will certainly be indulging in hot chocolate.”

Frederica was so caught up in her own thoughts that she just let her aunt steer her out of the shop. A handful of minutes later, they were pressed into a corner of the shop with people glancing their way, clearly curious as to the identity of the lady sitting with the new Lady Padleigh. Hot chocolates were presented to them, and Honora gulped hers as Frederica stared down into hers uneasily.

“So, you were saying that you push him away,” Honora began. “Will you share with me why that is, dear?”

“Because when he is warm with me — when he is kind — it feels wonderful,” she said with exasperation.

“I’m going to need a little more explanation, dear,” Honora said with a perfectly arched eyebrow.

“I am not used to that feeling,” Frederica continued in a rush. “I certainly don’t deserve such happiness.”

Honora froze with her cup half lifted in the air, paused on its way toward her lips.

“What did you say?” she whispered.

“Allan was forced into marrying me because we were caught together. Should I not pay a price for that scandal? And my last scandal, too? I am hardly a woman who deserves happiness, am I?”

“I have always thought you to be clever, but I am seriously beginning to doubt my own judgements,” Honora muttered sharply. “Are you honestly so interested in self-sabotaging your life?”

“That’s not what this is.” Frederica shook her head firmly. “All I’m saying is that such a rushed marriage, one of arrangement, is unlikely to cause any degree of true love. I am happy to be his friend, but when he offers more…”

“You pull back,” Honora concluded, so she didn’t have to. Frederica just nodded, hurriedly. Reaching out with her hand, Honora placed her fingers over Frederica’s on the table. “Have no fear, dear. I have a feeling that things will work out in the end. Everything will be well.”

“What makes you say that?” Frederica asked, for another fear had entered her head now. She was remembering Lord Wetherington, wondering if he would yet make an appearance at her house.

“Because I think I have seen something in your husband that you have not seen yet, but it is not for me to tell you. It is for you to discover. Just trust me on this,” Honora said, retracting her hand and finishing off her hot chocolate. “Things have a funny way of working themselves out in the end, and I believe this will be one of those things.”

“Thank you,” Frederica said though she wasn’t convinced.

Lord Wetherington will come back, won’t he? He will not give up.

“Might I just recommend one thing?” Honora said, putting down her cup. “Maybe don’t think too much when you are next in your husband’s company. Rather than dwelling and overthinking it all, you could try and be in the moment, dear. Enjoy his company again. You never know how that might change things.”