Page 51 of Sincerely, the Duke
He shrugged. “We both had expectations. It’s over. By morning, I had come to some decisions.”
Her hands slowly curled into fists at her sides and her spine stiffened. For a moment, she felt as if the walls were closing in on her. Was their arrangement off? Would he annul the marriage and seek another? She wouldn’t stop him if that’s what he wished, but… strange as it felt to think it, she knew it would break her heart.
“About what?” she asked in a whisper.
“Since you aren’t unwell and you feel good, you need to finish your tea and get yourself belowstairs.”
Edwina stared at him. Stunned. Her breath swooshed out of her lungs. The first day they’d met, she’d learned he was abrupt, even abrasive at times in how shortly he spoke, but that comment seemed beyond the pale even for her disaster in the marriage bed.
It was true. He was sending her away because she hadn’t met his expectations last night. “Well, yes of course, I will.” She clasped her hands together but couldn’t seem to move her feet. “I’ll leave the house right away.”
His brows rose and eyes narrowed in a confusing frown. “What the devil? Leave?” He ran a hand through his hair and huffed a grunt. “Why would I want that when your sisters will be arriving soon?”
Another prickle of fear shimmied over her. “I didn’t invite them to come today. Did they seek your permission?”
“What kind of man do you think I am?” he asked irritably. “This is your home. They wouldn’t need my permission to come over. I went to see them and your aunt this morning. I told them they are to move out of the leased house today and come live with us. I’ve sent footmen over to pick up their luggage. You have a lot to do to get them ready for the ball tonight.”
Edwina’s shoulders lightened. He wanted her to stay. And her sisters too? Edwina couldn’t utter a single word for a few moments. “They are coming to live here with us?”
The duke’s frown softened. “I made the decision without asking you because I think it’s best.”
She tried to calm her racing pulse. “I don’t know what to say because I don’t know why you did this.”
He sighed in resignation. “For you, Edwina.”
She blinked at his surprising words.
Stonerick made another frustrated swipe through his hair. “I think—Ihopeit will help you to be more comfortable if they are here with you. I know you are close to them.”
“We always have been,” she said softly.
He came to stand before her. “I should have suggested it the day they arrived, but it didn’t cross my mind.”
It took every ounce of Edwina’s courage, but she took a hesitant step toward him. “I’m grateful for this offer, but I don’t think you realize what it might be like to have four ladies in the house with you when you aren’t used to having even one. My sisters will not be like your servants who move quietly around the house without notice.”
His chuckle was an easy, natural sound. Then, he inhaled deeply, and in a reassuring tone and with a tender expression, he said, “I lived through my school days at Eton and Oxford with hundreds of boys. I’ll adjust. The house is big enough we shouldn’t be stumbling over each other. I’m away most of the day and sometimes into the night. I’ll be away at times with my sporting club. Having them with you is the right thing to do. Your aunt and sisters shouldn’t be living in that small house when there is plenty of room here.” He gave her a small smile. “We are family now. Your sisters are my sisters. I’ll treat them that way and take care of them.”
What he’d said and done was a precious gift. All she could say was, “Thank you, Your Grace, for asking them.”
The skin around the edges of his eyes crinkled in quiet amusement. “Always call me Rick, Edwina.”
She nodded, feeling a nervous jitter fluttering in her chest.
“Besides, it won’t be for long, right? Our goal is to have them married or betrothed by the end of the Season.”
“Yes.” Encouragement and something deeper soared inside her. He had saidourgoal. “It is.”
“I’m also not convinced your aunt is capable of handling all that will be required of your sisters during the Season and while they are being courted. After she has settled in, I’ll have my apothecary give her a tonic to make her stronger.”
For all his brash impatience, he really cared about people. “Thank you. That would be wonderful of you and wonderful for her.”
“I’ll have a better chance of getting your sisters married if they are living here where we can keep an eye on them when gentlemen call or pick them up for rides in the park. It will be beneficial to you and me. I told them to make plans to leave immediately so they would have plenty of time to prepare for the ball tonight.”
Edwina was overwhelmed with emotion again. She felt on the verge of tears again, but for a different reason. “I’m… I don’t know what to say. I’m so grateful you still want to help them find husbands when they are being difficult.”
He gave her that curious expression she was getting used to, reached out and took hold of her hand and kissed the backs of her fingers. “Why would you think I changed my mind?”
Refusing to let her courage fail her, she managed to keep her gaze on his and speak the truth. “I didn’t fulfill my part of our arrangement last night.”
