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E mily’s marriage to Freddie went by in a whirl of well-wishes and bawdy winks. The minister intoned some words Emily was too frightened to follow and before she knew it, she was bound to Freddie until one of them died.

Once it was over, only three things stood out in Emily’s memory: Freddie’s smile as she walked towards him, the warmth of his hands on the cold skin of her arm and his solemn voice as he promised to be hers until death.

Everything else was a blur of voices, colourful dresses and men with their coats pressed extra smartly as if a wedding were the reason to use an iron with force.

Before she knew what was happening, she was ensconced in a carriage with her groom, on the way to their short honeymoon.

Freddie and his brothers were bound by Sebastian’s will, which tied them into living together for two years in order to raise Charlotte, but Freddie had booked a few nights in a hotel on the east coast for the two of them after checking with the lawyer that this was acceptable.

Emily fidgeted with her fingers unsure if she was happy or terrified about being taken away from everything that she knew.

In the last few weeks, the summer had come into force and the heat inside the carriage was building.

Freddie leaned over and pulled down a blind, but the sun still poured around the edges of it.

He kept smoothing his hands over his thighs, then linking his fingers for a few moments and tapping the backs of his hands, before starting the cycle again.

The carriage rolled on, heading out of London’s bustling streets, the road becoming more uneven, and whatever protest she might have made was left unsaid.

‘Where are we going exactly?’ she whispered eventually.

His lips quirked. ‘Why are you speaking so quietly?’ he whispered back.

‘I do not know. I felt like the situation called for it.’

His mouth broke out into a full smile and her heart swelled at the sight of it. It was the first time today she’d seen him looking so relaxed. ‘We can head to the hotel later, but I thought this afternoon, we might take a walk.’

‘A walk?’ His face fell and she realised how that must have sounded. ‘It is not that I do not want to; it is just I thought you might want to…’ Her skin burned. She had no idea how she was going to perform the marital act if she couldn’t even talk about it.

‘Ah,’ he said. ‘Yes, I see.’ He scratched his chin, glanced at the covered window and then back at her.

‘It is not that I am not eager to do that . But I am not a beast. We have not had a chance to speak properly since we…’ He waved his fingers around to demonstrate the last time they’d spoken properly.

‘Since our engagement,’ he continued, ‘and I thought a walk might give us a chance to… relax.’

She nodded. She supposed she must be feeling relieved but the emotion she was experiencing seemed a little like disappointment.

He leaned forward and took her hand in his. ‘Emily, we have all the time in the world. There is no hurry.’

There was a hurry. He would get bored of her soon enough and then he would not want to bed her and she would not get to skim her hands over the length of his body again, but she didn’t say any of that. Instead, she said, ‘Of course, Freddie. ’

He smiled again. ‘I am not used to you being so amenable.’

‘I can be at odds with you, if you prefer.’

He laughed, bringing her hand up to his mouth then planting the softest of kisses on the inside of her wrist, the gentle touch like a shot to her heart. ‘Save it for tomorrow,’ he said against her skin. ‘Today let us be at peace with one another.’

‘Very well,’ she said, her fingers unfurling and lightly touching the edge of his jaw. His eyes closed as he leaned into her touch and she allowed herself a moment to feel his skin there, the softness of it contrasting with the prickles of his stubble.

The carriage slowed to a stop. ‘We are here,’ he said, pulling himself upright and out of her touch.

‘Where is here?’

His knees bounced up and down. ‘Do you remember the drawing I did in the duke’s library?’

‘Of course. It was very beautiful and I told you I wanted to visit such a place. Wait, did you buy the land? Is that where we are?’

‘I did.’ He cleared his throat. ‘The money I had for your dowry meant that I finally had enough and it seemed that now I was making one very important decision in my life, I should make another. My brothers and I came out yesterday and I bought it.’

She clapped her hands together. ‘Oh, Freddie, that is excellent news.’

Her excitement seemed to have the opposite effect on Freddie.

His shoulders tensed as if he were about to deliver bad news.

‘It’s not how it looked in the drawing. It’s a wilderness, but one day, it will be, hopefully, magical, and if you like it, we can build a house here, something fit for you.

But obviously, if you hate it, we can stay in town.

Or I can sell it. Once the land is in better condition it will hopefully fetch a higher price. ’

Emily rather thought it would be him who would want to stay in the hustle and bustle of London, but if they could build somewhere out from all the noise and smoke, then she could learn to be content alone, especially if there was a library.

It was a discussion for a future date. Right now was their wedding day and they should both enjoy it as much as was possible.

‘I would love for you to show me around.’

His eyes lit up and her heart kicked in her chest at the joy she saw in his expression.

He leapt down from the carriage and held up his hand to help her down.

She reached down and took a hold of him, his fingers warm through the material of her gloves.

Their gaze met and heat flared in his eyes and she stumbled slightly on the steps.

His hand came around her waist to steady her and she felt his touch everywhere.

His lips parted and she was sure he was going to kiss her again, but the moment passed.

He dropped his hands and turned to the coach driver instead.

Freddie instructed him to take himself off to the village pub for the afternoon and to return in a few hours to collect them and then he tucked her arm in his, picked up a picnic hamper with the other and led her into the wilderness that now belonged to him, to them, she supposed.

For a while they meandered down paths that were covered in weeds or had fallen in entirely.

He helped her to scramble over a broken statue and they almost kicked over a wasp’s nest buried amongst some tall grass.

All the while, she kept her arm tucked in his and listened as he told her his plans for the place.

This was Freddie as she had never seen him before; his eyes were lit with a special kind of wonder.

Several times, he placed the picnic hamper down and waved his free arm around to show her all that he planned to do in that particular area.

If he appeared to be falling silent, she asked a question and before long, she realised she wanted this to work as much as he did.

It was exciting, this plan for their future.

She could see this place changing, growing and becoming the place of his dreams with dips and hollows filled with flowers, the natural shade of trees sheltering her from the summer sun while she read to their children.

In these dreams, Freddie was there, smiling and laughing with them all.

A dangerous fantasy if she allowed herself to believe in it.

After a while, they came across a dip in the ground that sheltered them from the pounding summer sun. ‘Shall we have our food here?’ he asked.

‘That would be lovely.’

He went about setting down a blanket while she went through the food he’d brought. She marvelled at the two of them. Months ago, she could barely tolerate being in his company for more than a few minutes and now they were acting like they did this all the time.

‘Is this the sort of food I can expect at Glanmore House?’ she asked after she’d just finished the most delicious strawberry tart she’d ever had the fortune to place in her mouth.

Freddie huffed out a laugh. ‘Tobias does have an excellent cook.’

‘Will I have to call him Tobias now too, do you think? I cannot imagine calling him anything other than Your Grace.’

Freddie raised an eyebrow. ‘With any other man, I might say call him by his first name now that we are going to be living with him, but I am never sure what Tobias is thinking. You will have noticed that he does not talk much.’

‘I will start with Your Grace then and see how I fare.’

Freddie began repacking the hamper, seemingly intent on his task, but when he rearranged something for the fifth time, it occurred to her that he might be stalling for some reason. ‘Is everything all right?’ she asked after he did it for a sixth time.

Freddie sighed and closed the basket. ‘I am sorry that we have to live with my brothers for the foreseeable future. It is a lot to ask of a newly married woman. I am sure you would prefer a place of your own but…’

She reached over and covered his hand with hers.

‘I understand about the situation with Lotte. I would not leave her for the earth.’ It was one of the things that had started to change her opinion about Freddie; she liked the way that he cared deeply about his niece.

She squeezed his hand, but he didn’t seem reassured by her words.

‘It is a lot of change for you. I wish there was some way I could make it easier.’ It was hard to reconcile this sweet, thoughtful man with the person she thought she’d known.

‘It is hardly difficult. I am only moving next door to my home.’ She didn’t mention what a relief it would be to no longer live with her mother; he would know that. ‘I will be able to see more of the lovely Lotte, which can only be a good thing, and then there is that magnificent library.’