Page 29 of Wedded to the Cruel Duke
Charles nearly choked on his food.
“The curtains are closed for a reason, Phoebe,” he told her pointedly.
“Yes, I suppose you did not shroud the entire manor in darkness for no reason at all,” she replied with a casual shrug. “But houses that have been left to fester in darkness… well, they get ill too, you know.”
He frowned.A house could get ill? Where did she ever get that notion?
“Us humans need sunlight,” she continued. “It is why God, in His infinite wisdom, saw fit to provide us with a sun. But houses need to be aired regularly, as well, or… well, they might get musty and that simply would not do.”
Charles paused and looked towards his footman. For years, Wentworth Park had kept its curtains and windowsclosedoff from prying eyes.
Was he supposed to open it all up—and the people inside it—to the rest of the world and their enemies?
The thought of it made Charles shudder.
However, as he looked at his wife happily buttering her toast and enjoying breakfast without a care in the world, he had the rather ominous feeling that this was only the beginning of the changes that he would have to accommodate just to keep her from asking questions.
She was nothing at all like the vapid young women who could hardly hold a conversation beyond the latest fashions and gossip. She was clearly intelligent—which was a blessed relief.
He just did not anticipate that she would question the rules he had already set in stone before her arrival.
He sighed inwardly as he sipped at his coffee, glancing briefly at the curtains that were kept open for now.
He might have to increase the security of the entire manor, just to keep Phoebe from asking more questions.
As well as go on more routine inspections of the entire area just to make sure he did not miss anything.
Having a wife, it would seem, was a lot more work than he’d initially bargained for.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Ihad thought that being in Wentworth Park would be a bit more exciting than this…
Phoebe stared out glumly as she sat on a swing in a corner of the gardens. After breakfast, Charles had not stayed long enough for even a short conversation. No, he just went right up to his study.
Towork.
The day right after his wedding.
Well, I suppose that with a wife like myself, he could only bury himself in his work while he was supposed to be on his honeymoon, she sighed inwardly.
She was a spinster for a reason. Well,severalof them, actually.
She was not conventionally beautiful in that delicate and charming way that young ladies were supposed to be. No, instead she was much too tall, which did her no actual favors at all, for it only accentuated her awkward nature.
She was also outspoken and clumsy. Her conversational skills left much to be desired, and she was wholly inept in the art of flirting and seduction.
With all that, it was no wonder that her husband did not come to her bedchamber on their wedding night. No doubt, he could not bring himself to even consummate his marriage with such an ungainly creature such as herself.
Phoebe let out a heavy sigh. She had been so looking forward to her wedding night, too, although she did not truly know what it was she was supposed to expect.
She had heard of it—the affairs between men and women—discussed in such hushed whispers, that it titillated her. But then again, her mother had often admonished her and her sisters to refrain from being tooinvitingwith their suitors.
Not that Phoebe had any suitors to invite. She was woefully inexperienced in that regard.
Still, she had hoped, at least, that her husband would be patient enough to bring her education up on that matter.
I should have known better than to think that, she mused with a heavy heart.After all, he is so handsome, whereas I… well, there is not much to talk about, is there?