Page 46 of Sincerely, the Duke
THE ART OF BEING A FINE GENTLEMAN
SIR DUDLEY SAMSON PEMBERTON FINE
The finest married gentleman denies his own desires and pleasures and seeks to please his wife first.
The afternoon had stretched on longer than Rick had thought possible. He made sure everyone in attendance had been introduced to the new duchess, except Mr. Matthew Malcolm. It didn’t appear the man had stayed a lengthy amount of time after the wedding, which was good, and everyone was gone shortly after dark.
Edwina had looked as exhausted and wrung out as Rick felt when all the wedding guests had left. She’d nodded with appreciation when he suggested she retire to her rooms to rest for a while; he would be up later in the evening.
Rick’s head had pounded off and on all afternoon but thankfully now that his house was quiet again, he was feeling fine as he went into his book room, thinking he would look over correspondence, documents, the wedding contracts again, or something to distract him while he gave Edwina extra time. He found the only thing he’d been able to focus on was his beautiful wife and wanting to join her in her room.
He’d been surprised to learn Edwina’s sisters and aunt had been some of the first to leave, until he discovered Miss Eleonora had enjoyed the taste of champagne but was unaware of the effects of drinking too much of it.
Rick would have thought the eldest sister would have stayed with Edwina and let the aunt go back home with Miss Eleonora. Though, he supposed, her family might have considered it was now his place to be with her. Which it was. But it might take him a while to get used to the responsibility. He liked being alone. But having an heir meant he must have a wife first. And given the way he felt when he looked at her, he had chosen well. It was also good that Edwina didn’t like crowds any better than he did. Still having someone, a lady—his wife—living with him might be a struggle at times.
Rick smiled as he thought of Edwina and how well she’d handled the day, the guests, and his mother. He liked the way she smiled at him and the way she looked for him in the crowd if they got separated. Yes, they should manage nicely together.
After Wyatt had married last year, it had been weeks before Fredericka had joined him in London to live together as man and wife. He finally adapted and adjusted well to being a husband. Rick assumed he would adjust too. In time.
After less than an hour, he gave up the pursuit of doing anything productive and headed up to his chambers.
Rick threw his coat on the bed and started removing his neckcloth. He looked over at the door that connected his room to Edwina’s. No light was visible around the framing. He envisioned her lying across the bed surrounded by flickering candlelight, wearing a gossamer white gown with her golden-red hair spread invitingly across her pillow.
He undressed with rising anticipation. Not just the desire to be with a woman, he realized, but to be with Edwina. Did all men wait with such excitement as their brides readied themselves for the wedding night? Imagining Edwina feeling as he did in the next room made him want to go to her immediately. But he couldn’t be a cad. He had to make sure he gave her all the time she needed to prepare for him, so he made no hurry to remove the last of his clothing.
Instead, he made himself comfortable in his slipper chair and sipped the brandy he’d brought with him. There was much about her that pleased him. She loved her sisters and wanted to take care of them. The fact they didn’t want her help made her vulnerable. It was her misfortune that she was the one her father picked to carry out his dying wish, but he would now handle that for her.
He remembered the feel of her lips beneath his, honeyed and warm. The time he’d held her in his arms had left him wanting to be close to her again. Even now, thinking about her made his heart start beating faster and his muscles stir restlessly.
He hadn’t paid a visit to his mistress since he’d met Edwina. He didn’t know why. There could be several reasons, but none of them mattered anymore. His interest was no longer in women with practiced caresses and meaningless sighs.
The only woman he wanted to be with was his beautiful, challenging wife.
Until today, Rick thought the hardest thing any man could do was be responsible for the safety and financial condition of a dukedom. But not anymore. For any man, taking a wife to care for and protect for the rest of his life was the biggest and hardest thing he would ever commit to. It was a milestone most males crossed at somepoint, and yet for all the massive responsibility of the life-altering event called marriage, Rick couldn’t say he felt any different from before he saidI do. Maybe that would come in time. Perhaps a change would become evident when Edwina was in the family way, or when he had a son and knew the title was secure under his lineage.
Throughout his ruminations about weddings, wives, and responsibility, Rick never forgot it was his wedding night. He was looking forward to sharing it with his duchess. He would be mindful of her innocence and take things slowly for her. It was the best way to enjoy the intimate pleasures with a woman anyway.
Mrs. Castleton had probably seen to it she knew a little in the ways of intimacy with a man. And then there was the universal, ethereal feeling called desire. It was the great educator that was the equalizer when a man and woman came together. By the way she looked at him and reacted to him, he was sure Edwina had felt desire for him. Now it was time to show her what to do with it.
Rick polished off the last of his brandy and finished removing his clothing. He turned out his lamp and started walking nude toward Edwina’s door, but something stopped him just short of it. He was a gentleman when the occasion called for it and this one did. Edwina was not a well-seasoned mistress practiced in the art of looking at a man with scalding passion. Turning, he peered into the darkness of his room and, by the pale light from the window, spotted his nightshirt on the bed where it had been laid out for him. Grabbing it up, he tossed it over his head. No use in shocking her too much on their wedding night.
With his covering in place, he knocked lightly and then opened her door. The room was dark as Hades. Pitchblack as an inner cave. Not even the glow of a lone glittering candle shed light in the room. The draperies had been shut so tightly there wasn’t even a sliver of moonlight around the edges. He’d never had a reason to go into the rooms set aside for the lady of the house and had no idea where the bed was. He listened, but the only sound he heard was his own labored breathing.
What the devil was going on? He tensed as he felt a prickling at the back of his neck, telling him something wasn’t right. Had he waited so long she had fallen asleep? Had she fled the room?
“Edwina?” he asked softly.
“Yes,” came the cautious reply.
His muscles relaxed. For an instant he hadn’t been sure she was there. It looked as if the place had been closed as tight as a tomb.
“I can’t see,” he responded in a low voice, wishing he hadn’t turned out the lamp in his room. That would have thrown a little brightness into the room. “Where are you?”
“On the bed,” she answered.
Of course. But where the hell was it? He couldn’t see a blasted thing. Was it straight ahead or to the right or left?
“Should I be somewhere else?” she asked in a tentative voice.
