Ice Cold Duke (Frigid Dukes #2)

Chapter 6

Chapter Six

“ Y ou’re all set then, milady,” her lady’s maid said, setting down the brush she’d been using to brush out Emery’s hair and smiling at her in the vanity mirror. Then she caught herself. “Your Grace!” she said, a little too loudly, and clapped a hand to her mouth, then giggled. “I forgot, mi--Your Grace. I wasn’t expecting you to become a duchess today!”

“Neither was I, Ruth,” Emery said, shaking her head. “What a turn of events.”

“But how exciting,” Ruth said, a faraway look in her eyes. “To unexpectedly become a duchess, and to such a handsome duke! It’s like something out of a fairytale.”

Emery made a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat. It was very hard to think about the Duke being handsome when the mere thought of him made her want to punch something. She raised a hand to her hair and touched a lock of it.

“What if we tied it up?” she asked. “I’d like to have curls tomorrow, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course,” Ruth said, curtsying. “With the move here, I don’t know where the rags are I usually use to tie up your hair, but let me run down to the kitchen and find some.”

“Thank you, Ruth.”

Ruth curtsied again and disappeared out the door, closing it behind her. Emery, meanwhile, stretched, and looked around her room.

The Duchess’s chambers had been readied in time for her, and she had to admit that they were magnificent: twice the size of her room back at Hillsborough House and decorated with plush pillows, rich velvet drapes, and baroque-style furnishings. If there was one upside to being the Duchess, this room was it.

She hadn’t seen her husband for the rest of the day. And after the way they’d left things in the carriage, she wasn’t expecting to. Although she was more than aware of what happened on the wedding night--she’d made Henry, blushing scarlet, tell her once--she found it unlikely that the Duke would want to consummate anything with her.

Not that I’d want him to anyway, she thought contemptuously. She was not about to let someone who had spoken to her so rudely into her marriage bed.

There was a knock on the door, and Emery looked up. Ruth was fast! She had just thought when the door swung open and, to her shock, the Duke of Dredford entered.

Their eyes met in the mirror, and then Emery pulled her dressing gown more tightly around her and jumped to her feet. Whirling around to face him, she stared at him, wanting to appear standoffish and unwelcoming, but not quite managing it.

Because Ruth was right: her husband was handsome. She hadn’t really noticed it before. He’d always just been Henry’s older brother. But now, seeing him in shirtsleeves, his jacket and waistcoat gone, and the soft, warm candle light glinting off of his skin and dark, rakish hair, she couldn’t deny that there was a certain appeal to the man.

If he didn’t have the most dreadful personality ever known to man, she reminded herself.

For a moment, she continued to stare at him, as his eyes also swept her up and down, taking in her silk night rail and dressing gown, her unbound hair, which fell to the small of her back, and her bare feet. Suddenly hyper-aware and shy about her level of undress, she crossed her arms in front of her. No man had ever seen her like this-- Well, except for last night, when you literally fell into his bed!

“Duchess,” he said, and she was surprised by the gentleness in his voice. “You look very beautiful.”

While this compliment was probably supposed to soothe her, it had the opposite effect. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

“Do I? That is not a word any gentleman has ever used to describe me before, and I do not need to be flattered by you now.”

The Duke raised an eyebrow and took a step toward her. For a moment he hesitated, then he raised his hand and touched a lock of her dark hair, which had fallen in front of her face. As he did, his expression softened even more.

“I’m not flattering you,” he said, dropping his hand and looking her directly in the eyes. “You are beautiful. Your hair in particular is… luminous. Especially in the candlelight.”

“Luminous?” She snorted and rolled her eyes as irritation, alongside a secondary, new-found feeling, fluttered strangely in her stomach. She felt her face heat--in anger, surely--and she took a protective step back. “It sounds as if you read that in a book of what to tell ladies about their looks.”

To her surprise, the Duke smiled. It wasn't a particularly warm smile but it was still a smile. “I’ll admit, I am not used to complimenting ladies. But you can rest assured that when I do, I am always sincere. I am not in the habit of passing out compliments that I do not mean.”

She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of being pleased by his compliment, and she frowned at him and lifted her chin defiantly.

“What do you want?” she demanded. “And what are you doing here? You did not even come to dinner, and now you are here, in my bedchamber?”

“What do I want?” the Duke took a step toward her, and she thought she saw a flicker of a smile pass across his lips. “A strange question to ask a man on his wedding night. Most men would want only one thing.”

“And most ladies, I suspect, would not.”

He almost laughed at this, but of course, he didn’t.

“Well, fear not,” he said, and the hint of amusement on his face melted away, replaced by his usual cold, reserved expression. “Because that is exactly what I came to speak with you about.”

Looking away from her, he walked slowly to the window and looked out of it, over the grounds. There wasn’t much to see in the dark, except for the square patches of light where upstairs windows reflected down onto the lawn.

“You wish to discuss our marital relations?” she prompted, after he was quiet for a moment longer.

“Yes,” he said, his back still turned to her. “Ideally, I would have liked to discuss this before we were married, but given the circumstances, there was no time. Then of course, I hoped to bring it up in the carriage, but we got… distracted.”

Emery flushed slightly with anger, but also with a stranger feeling: it was almost like regret. If she had not known better, the Duke’s phrasing would have made her think that he was distracted in the carriage for good reasons… perhaps because he was caught in a passionate embrace with his wife.

Which only reminded her of her longing for the kind of marriage where she would have spent the ride to her new home being embraced by a man who loved her.

Don’t think about that now. Just focus on getting through this uncomfortable conversation.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t stick to your agenda items,” she said tartly. “But I had my own concerns to discuss with you in the carriage.”

He turned back around, and his green eyes bored into hers. “Is that what you call a discussion?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “I found it closer to an ambush.”

“No, an ambush is what you did to me at the wedding,” Emery said, putting her hands on her hips. “What I did in the carriage was a counter-attack.”

The Duke’s mouth twisted slightly, and he muttered, “Less than twenty-four hours into this marriage, and it has already become a war.”

“It began as a war,” she said coolly, “a war I didn’t want.”

“A war you initiated by scaring off you bridegroom,” he snapped, and the way he said this was so irritated and final that she decided not to respond. It wasn’t worth having another fight. She was tired and wanted to go to bed. So, she said nothing, simply leaning back against her vanity and raising an eyebrow expectantly.

His jaw tightened, and a muscle in it twitched as he loomed over her.

“This marriage will be a union on paper only,” he said at last. “And while I will make sure that all your financial and material needs are met, I see no reason for us to have to interact much in the coming years. I think this will be beneficial for us both, as I anticipate much time spent together will only result in more arguing. In fact…” he hesitated for a moment, then continued. “If you wish, we don’t need to see one another at all. I have plenty of estates where you can go to live, leaving you a castle of your own, or my London townhouse. Whichever you prefer.”

Emery frowned as she tried to wrap her mind around all of this and what it would mean for her future. There were certain things he was implying but not saying outright, and she personally wanted everything upfront and on the table.

“So, in the matter of heirs,” she began cautiously. “You and I would…?”

“Not be partaking in their facilitation.” A very faint pink flush appeared on the Duke’s cheeks, which gave Emery a small amount of satisfaction. She liked to see the Duke embarrassed--it showed he had real feelings.

“I see,” she said, although she didn’t really. “You do not want heirs, then? Isn’t that a duke’s main duty? To perpetuate his line? Didn’t you tell me, in the carriage, that ‘marriage is not about love, it is about the practicality of raising children and continuing on one’s family line’?”

The Duke’s jaw tightened, and she suspected he didn’t like having his own words used against him.

“I did say that,” he conceded. “And in most cases, it is true. But I never planned to marry, so I had long ago reconciled myself to the fact that I wouldn’t be carrying on my family line. Not personally, at least. But as you know, I have a younger brother. He will someday become the Duke of Dredford, and his children after him.”

So, either way, I would have become the Duchess of Dredford! It was a strange thought. And now, when my husband dies, I shall have to leave this home, or wherever else I end up living in, to make room for Henry and whoever he ends up marrying. Or perhaps they’ll allow me to live where I please, and we can all be close friends.

The thought was not an unhappy one, and she must have smiled, because the Duke said, his face still expressionless, “You seem pleased with this.”

She drew herself up. “If I am being perfectly frank, I have mixed emotions about it,” she said. “While I do not desire to have a traditional marital relationship with you and would have refused had you come here with that expectation--” he flinched slightly at this, which made her feel like a victorious general “--I cannot deny that I did always dream of having children. So, it shall take some time for me to adjust to this new reality.”

And despite the decisiveness in her voice, she could already feel the veil of disappointment settling over her. No children… No husband to love me or even children to adore me. No love at all.

She would have to learn to make do with the love of her friends. And the love of her sisters-in-law, hopefully, and all the children they would one day have.

I suppose I shall have to find happiness as an aunt.

Emery had always been good at accepting the disappointments of life, but this one was hard. The life she had to look forward to was not at all the one she would have picked out for herself.

“Take all the time you need,” the Duke said, and she glanced back at him. He hesitated. “Well, actually, there is a favor I need to ask of you.”

After all this, he thinks he can ask me for a favor? She forced herself to remain calm. “Oh?”

“As Leah may have told you today, she is due to debut in Society this Season. And as you know, spring is upon us, and we really should be making our way to London soon in order to introduce her to Society. I want the best for Leah. She deserves to make the best match of the Season.”

“Some would say I had made the best match of the Season,” Emery pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, we both know you would refute that.”

It was so close to a joke that Emery stared at him. Had the Duke really just tried to make me laugh? It seemed impossible that a man who was so austere would crack a joke, and yet… it almost seemed as if his eyes were twinkling.

“Anyway,” he continued, “considering what happened today, I do not want any more scandal or gossip to attach itself to our family and risk ruining Leah’s chances at making a great match. This is why I need you to escort me to London and show the ton that we are happy together and that there is nothing scandalous about our union.”

Emery considered this. “Didn’t you just say we would live apart? That will hardly show the ton we are happy together.”

“I was thinking that we could go our separate ways after the Season,” the Duke said. “It is common for newlyweds to enjoy one another’s company in the first few months of marriage and then choose to live separately, once the glow of first love is gone.”

Emery snorted, and the Duke raised an eyebrow at the unladylike sound. She ignored that. “You really think so little of love, don’t you?”

“I have seen that it is nothing more than a mere illusion on more than one occasion.”

“What would accompanying you to London entail?” Emery asked, deciding not to linger on the question of love with a man who was so decidedly a cynic. Her heart had tentatively begun to hammer, and she held her breath as she waited for the Duke’s response.

Is this it? Am I finally going to get my London Season?

“The usual things,” the Duke said with a shrug. “I would have you accompany my sister and act as her chaperone as she purchases dresses, gloves, jewels… everything a proper young lady needs. And then of course you would chaperone her at balls and dances. I would try to attend some of these, as well, and at the parties we attended together, we would need to play the part of the happy couple.”

It took all of Emery’s self-control to contain her excitement. She knew it was a poor substitute for a marriage full of love and children, but the idea of spending the Season in London, , was making her heart gallop through her chest.

For years, she had dreamed of having a Season, and now, she would finally get to. Of course, it wouldn’t end in a happy, loving marriage for herself, but perhaps it would end in Leah finding the love that she deserved.

Emery couldn’t keep in her excitement any longer, and she beamed up at the Duke.

“I would be very happy to do this for Lady Leah,” she said. “It has always been a hope of mine to attend a London Season. And when Lady Celeste and Lady Eve are ready, as well, I would be more than happy to chaperone them.”

“Good.” If the Duke was surprised by the level of enthusiasm she was displaying, he didn’t let on. He merely nodded and then moved to the door. “Leah will be very grateful,” he said, his hand on the doorknob. “Goodnight, Duchess.”

“Goodnight,” she said automatically as she watched him leave the room. Excitement was coursing through her, temporarily drowning out all the disappointment, and for the first time since this morning, she felt that perhaps her life wasn’t entirely ruined.