Page 23 of Married to the Duke By Midnight

Robert had seen her in four of her dresses at this point and had not commented on any of them. Perhaps she was overthinking it, and it was simply not something he did. Mr. Oakley would constantly be praising Beatrice: her hair, her dress, her eyes, but that might differ from man to man.

Beatrice hummed as she thought, which told Jo that she was thinking of a way to say something diplomatically.

“In my experience, men rarely notice your dress. Even if they compliment it, you cannot count on their opinion. I could be wearing a bright orange dress with a peacock on my head and Oakley would still tell me I looked beautiful,” Beatrice mused and paused to take a bite from her last sandwich.

Jo waited to hear more of her friend’s wisdom on married life and men in general.

“Your wardrobe could perhaps do with an update, though. You are a married woman now, Jo. And of much higher ranking than previously.”

Jo nodded pensively. Her dresses had been bought with Hampshire society in mind, not London. And certainly not the life of a duchess. Many of her dresses were practical since she preferred to walk, and a lot of them were a couple of years old, because she had not bothered replacing them when there was no need. She would rather focus her attention on her uncle when he had been alive, and then for the better part of six months she had been wearing black, then grey and purple in the half-morning, and had only changed into colors after arriving in London.

“Will you help me?” Jo asked, sounding more desperate than she meant to.

“Of course,” Beatrice answered, and Jo sighed with relief.

She could not fail at this. She wanted to be a good wife to Robert and part of that was appearances. They were due to go out tonight for the first time as a couple. To show the ton a united front against her cousin and quell all gossip about the match. It was only a dinner at Xavier’s house, hosted by Helena, with a select group of guests, who would all be amicable yet several of them would quickly spread the word of how happy Robert and Jo’s marriage seemed. Luckily Beatrice and Mr. Oakley were also going to be there tonight.

“Tomorrow?” Jo asked and they agreed on when and where to meet.

They talked of Beatrice’s children, Jo’s attempt to acquaint herself with Robert’s household, and Beatrice’s challenge to find a new cook, until Robert and Mr. Oakley joined them.

Mr. Oakley went straight to his wife’s side, sat down on the sofa next to her and gave her hand an affectionate squeeze, before accepting the cup of tea Jo offered him. There were two empty chairs, and Robert chose the one furthest from Jo.

She did not know what to think of it and busied herself pouring tea for the gentlemen. She already knew how Mr. Oakley liked his and offered it to him first but then hesitated before making Robert’s tea. She sent him a questioning look, hoping she did not have to ask him outright in front of her friends how he preferred his tea. It seemed something that a wife should know, even though she knew her friends would understand why she did not.

“A squeeze of lemon and only the tip of a spoon of sugar,” Robert told her with the hint of a smile. Did he find her amusing?

Jo hurriedly looked at the cup as she stirred the sugar into the tea before placing the cup and saucer in front of him. He smiled appreciatively and Jo felt her eyes catch on him. She could not look away even though she knew she should. Robert returned her gaze steadily.

The warmth and kindness in his gaze that she had seen the first night was back. He did like her, Jo assured herself. Because he found her quirky and amusing or because he wanted to take her to bed? Jo gulped dryly and tried to cover the sound by taking a sip of her tea.

“Well, everything is settled with Mr. Hawkins now,” Mr. Oakley told her, either oblivious or ignoring the tension between Jo and Robert. Jo was happy that he seemed ignorant of it, although she was less certain that Beatrice was. She did not dare turn her head and look at her friend, fearing what she might see on Beatrice’s face. Whatever feeling Jo could imagine felt horrible at the moment.

“I hope so,” Jo muttered and looked between Mr. Oakley and Robert.

“I assure you that he has no claim over your money, Jo,” Robert told her in a low voice that felt very intimate.

Or was she just hallucinating things now? She needed to be alone and organize her thoughts in a neat list. Dissect every look and moment and come up with an answer.

“I know. I have just learned over the years to always expect the worst from him,” she explained and paused. “Did he… did he mention anything about me?” she asked tentatively and looked between Robert and Mr. Oakley.

Robert moved uncomfortably in his seat, which told Jo all she needed to know.

“He did try to besmirch you, but His Grace shut him down immediately. I am glad you did, Your Grace. I have a hard time stomaching that man even on a good day,” Mr. Oakley said.

Jo looked at Robert, thanking him silently, and he offered her a small smile, before he hurriedly steered the conversation in another direction.

11

Robert had to bite his tongue not to compliment Jo as she came down the stairs that evening. She was wearing a teal silk dress that reminded him of the inside of a seashell. Even though he was not certain he had ever seen one in quite that color.

Her hair was organized in soft curls around her face and bunched up high on her head in the back, laced with several of his grandmother’s diamond pins. He had found them in the safe this afternoon and asked Jo’s lady’s maid to place them in her hair. He had been too afraid to give the pins to his wife directly since he was not sure how the gesture would be perceived.

The delicate diamond necklace shone around her neck and the bracelet was placed around her wrist over her long ivory gloves covering her arms from elbow to fingertips.

A ring! Blast it, he had forgotten to buy her a ring. They had used his signet ring for the ceremony, and he had told himself that he would buy one for her at a later time. They had been married for two days now, and he had forgotten to look for one, busying himself so that he would not follow her around the house and drink in her sweet sea breeze-like scent.

“Is it too much?” Jo asked as she reached him at the end of the stairs and looked down at her body. “Miss Fletcher said it would be passable to wear both the necklace and the bracelet. But I feel as if I have dressed to meet the queen.”