been adversaries for a year. This is not a marriage he desired or chose. I am certainly not the caliber of woman that a duke might have sought. He could have married someone to further his position or fortune.”
Celeste laughed. “I don’t think Gilmore has to worry about his fortune.”
“No, certainly not,” Pippa agreed. “And I have seen a lot of the man in the last year, being that he and my husband are the closest of friends. I don’t think he gives much of a damn about his position.”
Abigail worried her lip. That, she most definitely could see. After all, the man stood by Rhys, despite whatever damage that loyalty might do. He went to the salon and truly listened to a man speak who thought the entire system that Nathan ruled over should be dismantled for the greater happiness.
She hated to give him too much credit, but he was open-minded. And seemed to care more about right than might.
“It doesn’t follow that he gives a damn about me, either,” she said, more to herself than to the others.
“He obviously does or he would not have been caught doing something naughty with you,” Pippa said. “What exactly was it? I don’t trust gossip.”
“Pippa,” Celeste said softly, a warning.
“Oh, you want to know, too,” Pippa said with a laugh. “Don’t deny it.”
“Er, he was…he touched…he…” Abigail’s cheeks flamed. “With his hands. He did some things with his hands. And it was…God, it’s been so long since someone touched me like that, and even when it happened, it wasn’t like that.” She shook her head. “I wanted more.”
“And you’ll get it,” Celeste said. “Because you’ll be his wife.”
She shivered at that word. Wife. The duke’s wife. Gilmore’s wife.
“I’ll have to determine what that means for me as we read the banns and prepare,” she said. “But right now I’m in shock.”
“Then we’ll just have a drink,” Celeste said. “May I ask poor Owen to join us? Rhys went after Gilmore, so he’s pacing around the other parlor, waiting for me to say he’s allowed to have some part in this.”
“Yes,” Abigail said with a laugh as she waved her to fetch her husband, and then moved to the sideboard to pour the drinks. But as she did so, her hands shook because the reality of what was happening was sinking in. And the reality was less terrible than she wanted it to be.
But she couldn’t let her guard down. Not with Nathan, not with anyone. Pleasure or not, that was not a thing she could allow.
Chapter 11
Abigail was no less confused or defensive the next day than she had been the day she agreed to be Nathan’s bride. She kept waiting for it to sink in, to feel real and true and normal…but it hadn’t.
At least there was work to be done to fill her spinning brain. She had informed her servants of her impending marriage and discussed their future plans and who might require references if they did not come to the new home. She’d been taken aback, frankly, at the strength of their reaction to the news. Across the board, they had all been joyful and supportive, as if they’d been waiting or hoping for this. Even her choice of husband had seemed to be a delight to them.
Once that odd task was done, Abigail had written to a few remaining acquaintances, making sure to romanticize the story between them as much as possible. She had no idea if anyone would believe her poetic words about Nathan and their great “love”. They’d flowed easily enough, but when she read them over, it was as if someone else had written them.
Finally, she’d begun to look around her small home and think about what she would take with her when she moved to Nathan’s home here in London. She had spent a great deal of her life studying herbal remedies and healing practices, so her library was most important to her. Surely he would have room for that in that rambling house here in London, but she had to wonder if he would also have commentary about her hobby…her passion. Erasmus had certainly had a great deal of it over the years, to the point where she’d just hidden her books and never spoken to him about it.
She had just finished that inventory of her books and entered the parlor. It was laid out for tea and the furniture had been arranged for guests. The former Mrs. Montgomerys and their husbands,