greeting and his fierce scowl toward them all, Hannah’s instincts told her that she was better off marrying a man like this than Lord Byron, who would have left her bed for another right after the vows were spoken – never mind the warnings she had been provided at the party. A part of her still longed to wait until she learned the identity of her mysterious stranger from the library, a man she had been unable to push from her mind, but in all likelihood, she would never see him again.
This was her future now, and the best way forward was to begin as optimistically as possible.
“Yes,” she finally said, speaking for them all. “Let us begin.”
One thing Edmund could say about his new wife was that she was much braver than she looked.
He stole a glance over at the carriage trundling alongside him. For the first part of the journey, she had kept the curtain pulled back, peering out the window as though taking in everything that passed outside. He had hung back then, not wanting to obstruct her view.
He guessed she was likely sleeping now, for there hadn’t been any sign of her for some time.
His heart constricted as he thought of her. What would she say if she knew he was the man she had kissed that night, that his scarred face was the one that had brushed up against hers in the dark?
Edmund had seen the shocked expression upon her face when he entered the doorway of his parents’ sitting room, had noted her mother’s gasp and the denial that was forming on her father’s lips. But then Hannah had stepped forward, shoulders up and head held high, bravely declaring that she would go on with the wedding.
He had to admit that part of him was hoping she would cry off.
The other part despaired at any thought of her doing so.
For she stirred something within him that had been lying dormant for a very long time now. He hadn’t even known that such desires were possible for him anymore, not since… since the war. How long had it been since he had been with a woman? Over six years now, he mused. He had tried – once. The prostitute had come into the room and taken one look at him before nearly fainting dead away. She had tried to up her rate, but by that point he no longer had any interest in whatever favors she might provide and he had sent her away.
He had never tried again.
Now he had a wife. He took a deep breath. This was the last thing he had expected when he had made the trek to London for his brother’s engagement and ensuing marriage. As much as he never wanted this and knew they could never truly be husband and wife, at the very least she was safe from his brother.
But, he thought as they crested one hill and he saw the approaching inn in the distance, was the danger with him far worse?
Hannah hadn’t known what to expect from her husband. But she hadn’t expected this silence.
He hadn’t looked at her once through the wedding. When he had repeated the few words required of him, his voice had sent shivers down her spine. There was something terribly familiar about it, and she searched her brain for when she might have met him before.
“Never,” he had said tersely when she had asked him, and so she had pushed the thought away, although something about him nagged at her, something she couldn’t quite determine. It was quickly overcome, however, by her ire that he had refused to wait for her to prepare for the wedding, but had been determined to have it over with quickly so that he could return to his beloved home. It must be quite something.
She had said a quick, tearful goodbye to her parents, though her sadness had acquired a bitter edge when she saw her father and Lord Heatherstone shake hands as though they had just finished conducting a successful business deal – although to them, she supposed this was exactly what it was.
She and her maid, Molly, had been deposited into the carriage, and before she could ask where her husband was, the door had been shut and she had been sent on her way. Had she not seen him riding beside the window, she would have wondered whether he had even accompanied her.
He rode with his collar lifted high and his hat pulled