Any Other Name (The Split Worlds) - By Emma Newman Page 0,26
I feel about it first. Admit it, if it had been Oliver being beaten, you wouldn’t have just engineered his rescue.”
“It would have been much harder to marry him.” He had hoped to crack the ice with a light joke, but she didn’t appreciate it.
“The point is, it didn’t even occur to you that I might have an opinion. I was just a helpless girl.”
“Well, you were,” he said, shrugging. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have had the bruises. You just don’t like to admit that you needed help.”
She rolled her eyes but remained silent.
“Why did he beat you?”
“He was angry with me. It happened all the time when I was a child.”
“Why was he angry?”
She drained her glass. “None of your business.”
“Was it because you were late to the engagement ball?”
“That was Lord Poppy’s fault, not mine.”
“But something was wrong, my mother spotted it. Was it because of what Horatio was saying?”
He watched a red flush creeping up her neck. “No,” she said, but it was too late.
He had more questions but she was too defensive for him to get anything more out of her. He needed to put her at ease, then try to find out more. “There’s a supper here that needs to be eaten. Why don’t you come over and sit down? Let’s get to know each other. We’re going to be together for a very long time. Let’s at least try to become friends.”
“You just won’t give up, will you?” She still walked over, despite the sarcasm.
“I asked your family’s cook what your favourite foods are,” he said, moving a chair out for her. She pulled out her own and sat down. He sighed and sat in the one he’d chosen for her.
“That’s very thoughtful,” she said. “But miniature custard tarts?”
“Oh, that’s one of mine.” He smiled.
“Do you think that if you’re sweet enough to me, I’ll be easier to manage?”
He offered her the pâté, and when she refused he spread some on a slice of toast. “I’m hoping that if you see that I’m actually not a horrifically awful chap, you might let me get to know you. And that, horror of horrors, you may also want to make a go of this.”
“You don’t want to get to know me. You want me to be pliable and bear your children.”
“You won’t give up either, will you?” He laid the knife down, took a bite. Perfection. “I think you’re afraid you might like me.”
“Oh please, stop, I might be sick.”
“No, hear me out. If you actually started to like your husband, what would you have to push against? If you liked me you might actually start to like this life and you might have to accept all the parts you don’t like about it, instead of rejecting it all in one convenient bundle.”
“That’s ridiculous.” She stabbed a fork into a slice of ham and let it slap onto her plate.
She was pouting like his younger sister Sophia as she shovelled a spoonful of potato salad onto the ham, trying to ignore him. “Oh, Catherine, I know this isn’t really you. Lucy told me.”
“Told you what?” There was genuine fear in her eyes. Interesting.
“That you’re a funny, bright and quite remarkable woman. That I should be patient with you.”
“She said that?”
He nodded. “She took me to one side whilst I was waiting for you to finish with Mother.” He regretted reminding her of that.
“About the Charm, William, can you lift it?”
“Why?”
“You said yourself it’s harsh. I think it’s barbaric.”
“It can’t be lifted. I’m sorry. And before you ask, I did check. I knew you would hate it. Only Lord Iris can undo the Charm in the wedding ring and, believe me, you do not want to make that case to him.”
“Bastards, the lot of them,” she muttered.
He chose to ignore that. He watched her push the food around her plate, locked inside her own furious thoughts. She took herself too seriously to be prodded into shifting her outlook. He munched on the toast as he considered his next move.
“I had an unpleasant surprise this morning, before the wedding,” he said. “Father called me into his study and informed me that we’re to move to Londinium and I’m to take the Dukedom.”
“What?”
“That’s what I said.” He smiled. “The house is being prepared for us now. It will be ready by the end of the honeymoon. Do you mind missing the rest of the season in Aquae Sulis?”