Ice Cold Duke (Frigid Dukes #2)

Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

“ H ow is Leah doing?” Emery whispered to her husband as she leaned on his arm, watching where Leah was talking to several other debutantes. “She seems to be fitting in quite nicely with the other young ladies.”

“She does seem to be doing well,” Lucien agreed, although when Emery glanced at him, he didn’t seem to be looking at his sister at all. Instead, he was looking down at her, a small, secret smile playing across his lips.

“What are you smiling about?” Emery asked, feeling the tickle of a smile in her own mouth even as she spoke.

“No reason at all,” Lucien said, looking away, and this time actually glancing across the garden to where Leah was standing, Henry hovering nearby. Henry was Leah’s main chaperone today at the O’Farrell’s garden party, a yearly event that was much anticipated, as the O’Farrell’s, a noble Irish family who spent half the year in Dublin, had one of the most elaborate gardens in London, complete with a huge hedge maze. Emery used to read about these garden parties when she only knew about the ton’s movements from the gossip sheets. Every year, it was famed for having at least one scandal take place there. This year, Emery had been determined to attend, and her husband had surprised her by agreeing to go.

“Are you sure?” she had asked him as they were getting ready to go. “I thought you would want Leah to avoid any party famed for bringing about scandal.”

“Well, usually I would,” Lucien had said, giving her a mischievous smile that made her heart flutter. “But we can’t deprive her of one of the biggest parties of the year, can I?”

“Are you talking about Leah or me?” Emery had asked, a teasing smile on her lips.

He’d pretended to think for a moment, then risen from his vanity and gone to her and wrapped his arms around. “Maybe both,” he’d murmured in her ear, and her whole body felt as if it had been set on fire.

Things had been like this between them for the last week: a simmering and sweltering tension that made Emery woozy every time she was in her husband’s presence and cautiously very, very happy. She didn’t quite know what was happening between them, and she wanted desperately to trust it, but of course, she was afraid.

The kiss had been… Emery still struggled to find the words to describe it. She’d never been kissed before, of course, so she had little to compare it to, but it was hard to imagine a better kiss. Not least of all because of the feelings that seemed to bubble up inside of her whenever she was near Lucien. It was exactly how she had always imagined romance might feel, and she couldn’t believe it was happening to her--with the man she’d been forced into marrying! It was too good to be true.

“Henry is being a good chaperone,” she remarked lightly, as she also tried to hide the smile on her face . He’s smiling because he is with me. I just have to be calm. But it was hard to stay calm when her heart was hammering so rapidly inside her chest. “He has stepped up in every way these past few weeks, hasn’t he? You must be very proud.”

“Mmm,” her husband said in agreement. “In fact, I am particularly thankful to him this afternoon.”

“Oh?” Emery glanced at him curiously. “And why is that?”

“Because he offered to be the main chaperone for Leah tonight even though we would be here.”

This surprised Emery. She knew Henry had been taking a more active role in the family ever since leaving Emery at the altar, but this seemed above and beyond. “Why would he do that?” she asked.

And there it was: the smile on Lucien’s lips. He couldn’t keep it from his lips even though he was trying. “Well…” he leaned his head closer to hers, his lips dangerously close to her ears--scandalously close, if they were not already married. “I may have mentioned that I was looking forward to spending more time with my wife in public. And when he asked how I would be able to focus on you while chaperoning Leah, and I responded that I would make do, he offered to step in as Leah’s chaperone.”

“Did he now?” Emery was smiling again as well. She felt so pleased, so touched by her husband’s words, that pink flooded her cheeks. It meant the world to her that not only would Lucien try to carve out time with her, but that he would confess as much to his brother. He wasn’t the kind of man who shared his feelings with others, so it told her his feelings about her were serious if he would reveal them to Henry. “And what did Henry say about you and I spending more time together in public?”

“He said that he’d seen it coming.” Lucien laughed and shook his head. “Personally, I don’t believe him. He just likes to be right about things.”

“Perhaps he did see it coming,” Emery teased, a little breathless at the thought of others being able to sense the chemistry between her and Lucien. “Maybe that’s why he left me at the altar.”

Lucien snorted. “Let’s not give him that much credit.”

“Perhaps we should even thank him.”

“Careful now,” Lucien said, but he was laughing. “I haven’t forgiven him that much yet.”

“Well, I have,” Emery said, smiling up at him. “If his leaving me at the altar is at all responsible for whatever this is…” she gestured with her free hand at the two of them. “Then I have no choice but to be thankful to him.”

“I have much to learn from you,” Lucien said, and his hand touched hers. “I have a feeling that you will make me a better person.”

It was such a kind thing to say that Emery found herself momentarily speechless. She knew that the romance between them was still tentative, but every time he paid her these kinds of compliments, she felt more and more certain that what was blossoming between them would bloom into something permanent.

Although whenever she remembered the way he used to rail against romantic love, she couldn’t be sure. She hadn’t yet had the courage to ask him whether or not he had changed his mind about love, and she didn’t know how to bring up such a sensitive subject.

“Right now, however,” Lucien added in a low voice that made the hairs on the back of Emery’s neck stand up, “I do not feel like a particularly good person.”

“What do you mean?” she whispered, instinctively knowing that the words they were about to exchange should be done so in whispers.

“I would rather like to go for a walk with you in the hedges…”

“But the hedges are where the most scandalous of acts take place,” Emery whispered, her eyes widening. “Surely we shouldn’t--”

“We are married,” Lucien said, the wickedness in his grin growing. “It will not be scandalous for a married couple to go for a stroll through the hedges.”

“I don’t know if that’s strictly true,” Emery said, but she knew already that she wouldn’t be able to resist him. “After all, we are on our honeymoon still.”

“Then let’s go. We can slip away for a few moments. Leah is safe with Henry.”

The two of them glanced over at her. She was still engaged in conversation with the other young ladies. To Emery’s delight, Georgina had also arrived, and she had joined the group. As Emery watched, she and Henry exchanged shy smiles, and Emery felt her heart swell.

Perhaps my best friend will also soon be my sister!

The thought made her brim with happiness. To think that everything was working out so well!

“Alright,” she murmured, turning back to Lucien. “Let us go.”

He smiled, then began to lead her away from the group. As they left, no one seemed to notice or care, which gave Emery a large measure of reassurance.

“You know, we never really got a honeymoon,” Lucien said thoughtfully, as they headed down one of the beautiful, winding paths that led to the hedge maze. “Perhaps, after this Season is over, and Leah is either married or back in the country, we should think about having a real honeymoon.”

“Really?” Emery felt her heart hitch with excitement. “I would love that!”

“Where would you like to go?” Lucien led her down the path and toward the hedges, passing rows and rows of the most beautiful, exotic, and fragrant flowers and trees Emery had ever seen in her life. “We can go anywhere you like.”

“I’ve never traveled anywhere,” Emery said. “My parents kept me so cooped up, and they were not travelers themselves. Even this garden feels to me like a different world! I know you must find that terribly common, but it’s true.”

“It’s not common,” Lucien said. “It’s normal for young ladies not to have traveled much. But you are a duchess now, and although we will have to be a little stingy these next few years until the girls are married, we can still afford to go on a nice honeymoon. Somewhere…” he smiled at her. “Like Italy.”

“Italy?” Emery almost stopped walking. “I would love that! I never dreamed I might someday go to Italy! I thought you meant Cheltenham, or the Lakes District.”

Lucien laughed. “The Duchess of Dredford deserves better than the Lakes District.”

They were at the edge of the hedge maze, and Lucien looked over his shoulder furtively before firmly grabbing her arm and pulling her after him into the maze. It was dark inside, and immediately much quieter, and Emery felt more aware of herself and her closeness to her husband. Even though he was right, they were married, and scandal was much less likely to be attached to a married couple, she still felt nervous.

I don’t want to push things. We should take this whole romance thing slowly, since he has been so skittish about it in the past.

The pathway they were on forked, and Lucien took the right path, leading her a little deeper into the maze. After several more twists and turns, he stopped and released her arm, taking both her hands in his and turning to face her.

“Does it really please you?” he asked, as he peered intently down into her eyes. “The idea of going to Italy for our honeymoon?”

“You’re really sure we can afford it?” she asked cautiously. “I know you are still trying to right your parents’ wasteful spending. And a honeymoon doesn’t need to be so lavish.”

“But it does,” Lucien insisted. “It is the only one we will ever get, and I want to show you how much I care for you.”

Emery’s heart swelled in her chest, and she squeezed his hands. “I appreciate that,” she murmured. “But what I wanted to say to you is that it doesn’t matter to me where we go. As exciting as Italy sounds, we have our whole lives to go, and if somewhere like the Lakes District makes more sense financially, that is fine with me. All that matters to me is that I am with you.”

She had never thought that she could render him speechless, but from the look on Lucien’s face, she had said something that had made it impossible for him to speak. He looked moved; emotional but not upset; and the look in his eyes was more tender and more touched than anything she had seen before.

“You truly are an incredible woman,” he murmured. “The best woman I have ever met.”

“I don’t know about that,” she said, trying to laugh, but her throat was too tight.

“No, not for long. Not now that I’ve lured you into the O’Farrells’ infamous hedge maze and have every plan to corrupt you.”

She laughed, but not for long, because the next second, he had stopped up her mouth with a kiss.

It was only the second kiss that they had shared. Despite the fact that they were sharing a bed now, they hadn’t so much as kissed since the first time when they were dancing. He had been very respectful and had slowly been paying her more and more compliments and spending more and more time with her. Which made this kiss even more special to her. She felt as if she were floating out of her body with happiness, while at the same time, she felt immensely aware of everything that was happening to her.

Most of all, she felt like the luckiest person in the world, as if she had to pinch herself to make sure this was really happening to her.

For several more glorious seconds, Lucien kissed her, and then they broke apart. Emery felt giddy with happiness and even a little light-headed. She wasn’t used to such things, although it was possibly the most wonderful experience of her life.

“Are you alright?” he murmured, gazing down at her with soft, tender eyes.

“I’m alright,” she whispered back. “Just very happy.”

He was silent for a moment. “Me as well,” he said at last, and Emery’s heart fluttered again. “I didn’t know it was possible to be this happy.”

“I feel the same way.” Her throat was now even tighter, and she was afraid she was going to cry, so she cleared her throat and looked away, back down the path they’d taken. “We should probably go back before we are missed.”

“You’re right,” he said, but she could hear the reluctance in his voice.

They linked arms again and began to meander slowly back down the path. They forked left, then right again, and Emery had just begun to wonder if they had gone the wrong way when there was a movement in front of them and they both froze.

“Is someone there?” she whispered to Lucien, and he shook his head, clearly not sure.

“Hello?” he called out, his voice muffled by the hedges.

“Lucien?” The voice that responded to them was oddly familiar. Lucien frowned and stepped forward.

“Who is it?” he called out.

A figure emerged from the dimness, another, smaller person right behind him, and Emery’s eyes grew wide as she realized, with mounting horror, who they had stumbled upon in the hedge maze, clearly meeting for a clandestine rendezvous.

It was Henry and Georgina.