Page 21 of Yours Truly, the Duke
A flock of twittering starlings flew overhead, and heand Fredericka looked up to watch them pass. The birds soared with little effort and looked so free. A twinge of tightness knotted his chest briefly and he wondered if it was a sign that his freedom was flying away with them. It was up to him to see it didn’t.
“I don’t know when we might see each other again,” he stated, brushing aside the thoughts of disrupted freedom changing his life. “I wanted to make sure you are comfortable sending a message if you need me. I will take care of you and the children. Whatever you desire, let me know and I will handle it.”
The breeze fluttered short strands of hair around her face and flushed her cheeks. Since he had to marry, he didn’t think he could have picked a more satisfying wife. She was beautiful, strong, and prim enough to be interesting.
“I believe you,” she assured him, without a trace of reservation in her tone. “You’ve done so much already. I can’t think of anything else we might need. Having Mr. Franwipple here to read all the documents made the difference in how smoothly everything turned out.”
“It was to my benefit to have him here as well. I wanted you to be comfortable.”
“I am. It’s my hope that now we’ve married Jane will discontinue her petition to take the children from me. I’ll write to her this evening and let her know.”
“If she doesn’t abandon her quest, get in touch with me. I’ll find out who I need to talk to in order to settle the matter.”
She expelled a long, soft breath. “Thank you. For everything.”
Wyatt didn’t know why he was lingering. There was no need now that the vows had been said and the inheritance secured. Maybe it was that he hadn’t appeased his curiosity about her. That was dangerous, but he’d never turned away from anything just because there was danger.
He found himself prolonging his departure by asking, “How did Mr. Maywaring take the news of our wedding?”
Fredericka gave him another smile before walking toward the fence again. “I didn’t mention you or the possibility of our marriage to him at all.”
He fell in step beside her. “Really?”
“Nor any other gentleman. I don’t think it would have been appropriate for me to do so.”
“What did the two of you do?” he asked with a little more than mere inquisitiveness in his tone.
“We had tea and talked of people we know in common, flowers, and his collection of snuffboxes. Two of which he had brought along in his pockets to show me.” She looked down at her shawl and adjusted it once more while saying, “He’s quite fond of his assortment.”
That news caused a twitch between Wyatt’s shoulder blades. Showing his personal belongings to her was a rather intimate thing for Maywaring to do. A rare feeling of jealousy wormed its way through him, but he quickly shook it off. So, the man was into snuff. A lot of gentlemen were. Wyatt had never considered the habit. He had enough vices without adding one more.
The sun suddenly seemed hot on the back of his neck. “So, you entertained him, examined his treasures, but didn’t tell him you had already agreed to marry me?”
“It wasn’t necessary.” She dismissed the event as unimportant.
“That’s a matter of opinion,” he murmured, not trying to hide his discontent with her handling of the situation.
She stopped and looked at him defensively. “To tell you the truth, at that point, I still wasn’t sure it wouldhappen at all. How could I be? You had just walked out the back door, and I was showing Mr. Maywaring into the drawing room. Within the space of half an hour I had become engaged. I—I wasn’t going to—” Her words faltered as she looked away.
“Let go of one man until you were absolutely certain about the worthiness of another?” he questioned with a note of devilry in his tone.
“No, not at all,” she answered, not meeting his gaze at first, but when she did there was a confident sparkle in her eyes. “That isn’t what I was thinking, but now that you mention it, I suppose it’s true too. I didn’t tell him because it all felt like a dream. I wondered if it had really happened. You have to admit that your arrival and proposal was quite sudden and shocking. In many ways, it’s the thing that dreams are made of. I’m sure countless young ladies, at one time or another, have thought to themselves,Wouldn’t it be wonderful if a duke arrived at my door and proposed to me?”
“What’s this?” he said good-naturedly. “You had me believing a thought like that had never entered your mind. Are you telling me now it has?”
The breeze rippled her hair again and she gave him a dubious squint as sunshine glinted in her eyes. “Well, if it did, the dukes I envisioned were not nearly as young or handsome as you. Most of the titled gentlemen I’ve met were much older and—” She cut off her sentence again.
Wyatt liked her honesty. It was as attractive and refreshing as she was. He had no doubt she was aware of the fascination that was always buzzing between them.
“Plump, perhaps?” he asked, trying not to show amusement in his expression. “Losing their hair and teeth?”
“You said that, not me, and I’ll say no more about it.” Her mouth curved into a playful smile as she swatteda hovering bee. “And just so you know, I don’t mind your lighthearted teasing.”
He gave her another grin, amazed at how good that simple admission made him feel. It hadn’t been easy to get her to stop being so serious. “I don’t mind yours either.”
Fredericka seemed to accept that without question and started walking toward the far meadow again. “Anyway, I knew Mr. Maywaring would find out soon enough if you and I actually went through with the ceremony. However, when he asked if he could call on me again, I told him that wouldn’t be possible.”
“How did he respond?” Wyatt asked, feeling that strange twinge between his shoulders again.
