Page 24 of Married to the Duke By Midnight

She had obviously misinterpreted his horrified expression.

“It is not too much,” Robert said and had to clear his throat. “When you meet the queen, you would be wearing even more jewelry. Not to mention a court dress.”

“When I meet the queen?” Jo asked nervously. “Do you… often associate with the royal family?”

He could hear her audibly gulping as he led her through the entrance hall.

“Often depends on your definition of the word,” he told her diplomatically as they walked down the stairs toward the waiting carriage.

“And what is your definition of ‘often’?” Jo inquired as he helped her into the carriage.

“Well, that entirely depends on the context,” Robert deadpanned with a smirk as he settled opposite her.

Not certain whether she caught the flirting note and sexual innuendo he had been unable to refrain from. It was too dark in the carriage for him to tell whether she was blushing. He hoped she was not, since he immediately regretted the comment.

He could not raise her expectations that this union would be anything more than what they agreed. Nor did he want her to think that he was not honoring her second list. It felt like balancing on a violin string with your eyes closed: he could feel the string digging into his bare feet, uncertain how much longer he would be able to remain on it, yet unable to give up, since he had no clue how great the fall was.

“In this context we are talking of. Meeting the queen,” Jo persisted, sounding a tad irritated.

“My family is acquainted with the royal family, but we are not part of the inner circle. We associate with them at balls and other more ceremonious occasions. You will have to be presented to the queen now that we are married, obviously, but I think it can wait until next season.”

Robert had spoken casually and did not notice how stiff Jo’s posture had become before he looked at her.

“Presented to the queen?” she breathed.

“I… Yes. Jo, you must have realized,” he told her gently and fought the urge to take her hand.

“I suppose I must have known but I have not consciously thought of it. How do I behave? What if I do something wrong? I would hate to…”

“Jo,” Robert interrupted her and clenched his hands on his thighs. “You will be fine. You know how to behave in polite society. You could do nothing wrong.”

He could tell by her pained expression that she was already making a list in her head of everything that could go wrong.

“If you wish, I will speak to my mother about it tonight. I am certain she agrees that it can wait until next season. It will give you plenty of time to adjust to the idea and practice for the presentation.”

Jo was nodding along as he spoke, although he was not certain that his words were registering with her. It was endearing that being presented at court made her so nervous. To Robert, court visits were mostly a boring and tedious obligation: You learned what rules you needed to follow; you bowed, kept quiet, and said ‘Yes, Your Majesty’, and then you loosened your cravat on the carriage ride home and breathed again.

They arrived at Xavier’s townhouse before he had time to reassure her further.

“It will be fine. Both when you meet the queen and tonight,” he allowed himself to reassure her.

Jo offered him a feeble smile before he alighted the carriage.

The dinner was a success as far as Robert could tell. People were enjoying the many courses that Xavier’s cook had managed to plan and gain supplies for in just a day. Everyone was talking animatedly and Jo had been placed close to his mother and Lady Clopton, a lady a little older than his mother – and one of the greatest gossips of the ton. She would soon spread word of their happy union.

“How was the meeting today?” Xavier asked in a low voice after the women had left for the drawing room. They were sitting beside each other, having all moved to Xavier’s end of the table, when the ladies left.

“Well. Mr. Hawkins had no choice but to accept the legality of our marriage.” Robert pressed his lips together at the thought of the meeting.

He hoped it was the last time he ever had to see Jo’s cousin.

“What happened?” Xavier asked quietly, leaning toward him. Obviously, his brother had been able to tell that it was not the entire story.

“He continued in the same way as he did yesterday. Implying that there is something the matter with Jo. He…” Robert gritted his teeth as he fought to keep his voice down. “He told me insanity is a valid reason for divorce.”

“What?” Xavier snapped too loudly, drawing the attention of the entire table. He smiled placatingly and waved a hand for the conversation to continue, but it was not before Thornston started a tale of climbing through some woman’s window and being attacked by her lapdog that the attention of the other gentlemen was drawn away again. “He said that to your face?”

“Not in so many words, but it was easy to interpret his meaning between the lines.” Robert could not meet Xavier’s eyes as he spoke. The rage was flaring, warm and alive, in his blood as he thought of Mr. Hawkins’ words. If their solicitors and Mr. Oakley had not been there, he would have pummeled the man.