Especially the lovely bonheur-du-jour set between the windows. The very one that she had admired once.
“Oh!” Her fears dissipated, and she turned to face him, not hiding her pleasure. “This is so lovely.”
“You’ve had finer, I’m sure. But you may decorate it as you wish.”
“The desk! You saw how much I liked it.”
He nodded. “I wanted to give it to you then, but I was afraid you might take it amiss. I can’t give you the grandeur you’re used to, but I swear you will never want for anything. You are part of this family now, albeit through an unusual process.” He cast his gaze around the room. “It is a little bare.”
“It’s perfect!” She nodded to a painting hung on the wall by the bed. “Is this a relative?”
“My grandfather. I never knew him, but the painting is a pleasing one. You must tour the house, and decide what you want in here.”
Another door was set by the fireplace.
He followed her gaze. “That leads to your powder room and dressing room. Until recently, my brother William used this room, but he has no need of a permanent chamber. I’ll assign him another upstairs for when he visits. Before that, this room was part of the main suite. My room is next to yours.”
He waited, but she said nothing. She should have known better than to distrust him.
“I won’t enter unless you explicitly invite me,” he said.
“You don’t have to promise that,” she answered. “But I appreciate it.” She had to say it because he showed no sign of doing so. “You’re welcome in the bedroom. Indeed, the servants, however loyal, will be watching. They’ll expect it. But my bed...” She waved her hand vaguely, indicating the canopy bed. “I don’t know that I’m ready. I’m sorry. It’s your right, I know that, but...”
“Now or in the future I will never approach you unless I receive your wholehearted consent,” he said. “I don’t know—that is, I have no experience of being married, and the marriage of my parents was not a successful one. Unlike your kind, I don’t spend much time in other people’s houses, so my experience of marriage is severely limited. So we must make our own rules.”
“I’m sorry to harp on about this...”
“I’ll say it as many times as you need to hear it.”
That sounded so good to Juliana that she could have wept.
“We will make our own way, then.” Lifting her hand, he kissed the back, his lips barely skimming her skin. Despite the light touch, she felt the caress more intimately than any she’d received before. Ash looked at her, he noticed her, he was interested in her. Not in the titled heiress, or the conduit to fame and fortune, but Juliana the woman. Now she was Juliana Ashendon, and she liked that name far more than the other two she had held.
He released her hand and gave her a small bow. When he lifted his head, he was smiling. “I’ll send a maid to you, to help you prepare for bed. I’m sorry we can’t go about a little, but until your case is concluded, we’ll have to stay close to the house. However, that should be over soon.”
“Then what will happen?”
“I don’t know.” He stepped back. “Let’s take this one step at a time, shall we? Goodnight.”
And her husband left her alone, in her lovely bedroom.
Chapter Thirty-One
By morning, Juliana’s childlike euphoria had settled. Except, her childhood had been anything but euphoric. Her parents had allowed her old nurse to remain, but all her other staff was changed on a regular basis, so that she would not become attached to domestics. The only reason her nurse remained was that her parents effectively forgot about her, once she’d been pensioned to a cottage on the estate. So Juliana had that one person.
Now she had a whole family and she still wasn’t sure how she felt about that. As she dressed, she ruminated on her new life. Surely her parents wouldn’t be long in making an appearance.
But at breakfast, her new husband handed her a couple of letters. “You might be interested in these.”
The one on top was from her father. Briefly, it informed her that she was now the sole responsibility of her new husband. He washed his hands of her. She was, apparently, a bitter disappointment to him, and what was more, a poor investment.
She glanced up to meet Ash’s steady gaze. “You might not get the payment you’re owed from my parents.”
“Then I will settle a sum on you.” At her open mouth, he said, “I am not destitute, my dear. The property business fetches a good sum, and Father’s investments in funds and shares worked well. He bought stocks cheap, after the South Sea Bubble burst, and they have grown ever since. Your parents have already settled what debts they’ve incurred so far from my taking your case. Going forward, there are none.”
He flashed an unholy grin. “But I will send them another bill, and dun them for it when they don’t pay. Just for devilment.”
So he was capable of mischief. She smiled back. She wasn’t surprised to discover that her father’s communication bothered her not one bit. In one case, he relieved her. “If he washes his hands of me, that means he won’t pursue the effort to have his title invested in me.”
“Also good.”
She did not want to bear her father’s title. If Ash had been a peer, she would have taken his style without a qualm, but he was not, so that was that.
In time, she could bear him children. But she said nothing about that now. They needed to let the dust settle, and with any luck, disappear into their own lives. Society would, in time, forget her as if she’d never existed. Already a new scandal was eclipsing hers. It was her presence that would have kept the
