that he couldn’t help but come himself, pouring into her all of the emotions that he just couldn’t say to her aloud.
She looked up at him in wonder, to which he could only offer a breathless grin. Never, in any sort of imagining, would he have guessed that his marriage to this woman would result in a coupling like this, in the possibility of a future of, at the very least, some sort of amiability between them.
Edmund rolled off of her onto his side, turning her so that she didn’t have to look at his face and scooping her toward him, his arm coming possessively around her.
As he held her in his embrace, closing his eyes while nuzzling his nose into her hair, all he could think about was how his life had so drastically changed since his marriage to Hannah.
He had thought he would bring her here, show her what his life was like, and soon enough she would be running back to London, away from him, Hollingswood, and his great-uncle Andrew.
But instead – he swallowed hard as she wiggled against him while making herself more comfortable – he was losing his heart, something he didn’t think was whole enough to ever give away.
And the next morning when he woke up in Hannah’s bed without any sign of having a nightmare – no twisted sheets, no sweat on his brow, no acknowledgement from Hannah that she had witnessed anything? He knew he was well and truly sunk.
Chapter 10
Hannah smiled as she looked around the withdrawing room, which had previously been void of any life or furniture besides the reminders of those who had lived here years prior. Over the past few weeks, with Edmund’s permission, she and Molly had converted it into a room of her own. She still spent much time in Edmund’s library, but that room would always be his, as much as he was willing to share with her.
Hannah and Edmund had certainly become closer, that much was certain. He was as gruff as ever, but he was slowly showing her the side of him that had previously been surrounded by walls and buried underneath layers.
Hannah looked forward to each evening, when the two of them would sit together and read the letters which had been exchanged between Andrew and Isabel fifty years ago. It was a sad story, that much was for certain.
The south-facing bay window allowed light to flood the room. Edmund had told her that he didn’t like her staring at the tragic story crudely painted on the wall, nor the paintings of marble and inlay. He said she deserved a room of marble itself, but in its stead, he had paneled the wall with wood. Having been freshly cut, it beautifully scented the air, and Hannah took a grateful sniff as she turned around the room. It wasn’t finished, she knew, though she couldn’t quite determine what was lacking.
“My lady?”
Hannah looked up to find Molly in the doorframe. She had been awaiting her to finish with Mrs. Ackerman, and then the two of them were going to go search within the guest rooms to find additional furniture or decoration for the room.
“I’m ready, Molly, if you are,” she said.
Her maid nodded in agreement. “I am, my lady.”
“How are you finding Hollingswood?” Hannah asked as the two of them began climbing the staircase.
“It’s quiet, that is for certain,” Molly said, to which Hannah nodded in agreement. “Mrs. Ackerman and Falton are kind, and have been welcoming to me. The house could use a gardener, perhaps, or a footman, particularly if company ever comes.”
“I’m not sure that is anything we should be particularly concerned about,” Hannah said with some regret.
She enjoyed the solitude and life here away from the city, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t enjoy a new face now and again.
Molly nodded, apparently having learned much about her new employer. “I understand that my lord does not enjoy visitors,” she said. “I have enjoyed my time in the nearby village when I have my day to myself.”
“I must make more effort to get there,” Hannah murmured as they rounded the top of the staircase, emerging near the guest quarters on the second floor.
“The villagers would be most interested if you did,” Molly said. “Lord Edmund is quite the mystery there, and they were all very intrigued to learn that he returned home with a bride.” She stopped for a moment, intent upon Hannah. “Though I made certain not to share with them