Page 62 of His Scandalous Viscountess
He was between bites, so he looked at her and sought a calm response. “We are not the first bride and groom to be in a similar position. However, we should delay this conversation until we are in more private surroundings.”
Her soft sigh and the sadness in her green eyes was answer enough. He did not mean to be cruel; he merely preferred to spare both of them any further embarrassment than they’d already suffered.
“You look lovely today.” He offered the compliment both because it was true, and he wished to ease her very obvious distress.
She blushed a bit. “Thank you. But you don’t—”
“I wouldn’t say it if it were not the truth,” he grumbled, and then refocused on his plate.
Yes, it seemed they still had much to discuss later. The question was, now that he knew she did not love him, could he still win her heart?
Did he still wish to?
Chapter 25
Julia walked through the home that was now partly hers. All the guests had long since departed, and her things had been put away. In the three days since she’d agreed to marry Wolf, they obviously had not had time to discuss a honeymoon. The truth was, she could happily skip that tradition. Her last one had left much to be desired.
Guilt and regret ate at her as she wandered aimlessly.How could I have been so thoughtlessly cruel to my friend?She hadn’t meant to shout that she didn’t love him. The worst part was that it wasn’t even true. Fear had simply taken a stranglehold on her in that moment, and had caused her to panic and lash out instinctively. A tear slipped down her cheek as she remembered the look on Wolf’s face when she’d looked over the railing. The hurt and devastation she’d glimpsed before he’d turned and walked into the salon would forever be stamped on her memory.
She wandered into the salon where the ceremony had been held and tried to remember how the room had been arranged. Wolf’s efficient staff already had everything set to rights, leaving her nothing to do. At loose ends, she sighed.
A masculine throat cleared behind her. “Could I have a word with you in the library?”
She turned as soon as he made the sound behind her, surreptitiously wiping the stray tear from her face, and followed him into his domain. Considering the awful thing he’d heard her say earlier, she couldn’t blame him for wanting to have this conversation from a place of power.
He sat behind his desk, and she took one of the chairs sitting across from him.
“I imagine you’d like to address what you heard just before the wedding.”
“Not at all.” He drew a breath. “Look, Jules. I am well aware you did not want to get married ever again. This was an unavoidable situation. I certainly have no illusions about the state of our relationship.”
She hated that he’d been forced to articulate such truths. If she were honest, it gutted her.
He continued. “But we’ve been friends for a long time, and more recently, lovers. That is more than manytonmarriages have been built on.”
She couldn’t dispute his statement. “It is.”
His hands fisted on the desk and then flattened out. “So I am hoping that we can move past this morning’s less than ideal start and continue down the path we’ve been on for the last few weeks.”
Was he nervous? She looked down at her hands clutched tightly in her lap in order to hide her amusement. That she even felt such a thing after their morning was like a ray of sunshine on a bleak day. After she quickly gathered herself, she looked back up at him again. “I would like that. The notion of marrying again, of being so vulnerable to anyone, had me on edge this morning. Keeping things more or less as they’ve been would be wonderful.”
He apparently had refrained from breathing, because upon her agreement, he released a deep breath. “Excellent. However, as my wife, I would like to cover your day-to-day expenses. New gowns, pin money, whatever you need.”
She bit her lip, concern flaring within. “I can’t allow you to do that. I have plenty of my own money to address those needs.”
He frowned. “Use your fortune for other things, then. Spoil your sister and your family, give it to charity, or maybe invest it. But as your husband, it is my job to take care of you and all your needs.”
She shook her head. She refused to be so dependent on him. “I can’t allow myself to become…”
Her words trailed off as she saw the spark of frustration in his eyes. For some reason, this was important to him.
With deep reservations, she tried for a compromise. “Might I suggest we share the cost of any new gowns?”
“Have all bills sent to me. I shall tally up your portion and let you know the total on a quarterly basis. Will that work?” He looked about as pleased with the arrangement as she was.
“Very well, though do not think you can fool me with some token amount. I am quite aware of my spending habits.” She resisted the urge to fist her hands in her silk skirts. She wasnota lavish spender, but there were certain luxuries she had come to enjoy. Fine fabrics, such as the softest lawn, silks, velvets, and of course, the gowns that resulted. While she did not frequent Society, she relished the feel of silk against her skin, and a finely made dress was greatly appreciated.
“Noted.” He seemed to gather himself for a moment. “I believe we should also discuss the agreement we made previously with regard to sex.”
