Page 29 of Married to the Duke By Midnight

They were both silent as they avoided each other’s eyes, despite being closer than they had the last couple of days. The only other time they had been this close was when Jo had been on Robert’s arm. And when they had kissed.

Jo pushed the thought from her mind as she felt her cheeks heat again. As if he was able to feel it as well, Robert sat back on the stool to create as much distance between them as possible without moving to the chair again.

“A husband pays for his wife, Jo. It even says so in the marriage settlement that you had Mr. Oakley create. The one I signed before our wedding.”

“Yes, it says, ‘everyday upkeep’,” Jo tried to keep her voice calm, even though the frustration with him not understanding the situation still crept in.

But he would not be able to grasp the situation, because she could not tell him the true reason she wanted to pay for her own clothing.

“I have ordered at least fifteen dresses, that is hardly ‘everyday’.”

Robert frowned and she caught the way his eyes strayed to her dress. He was probably thinking that the pale green dress was not fit for a duchess and that she had done right to buy new ones.

“Dresses seem very ‘everyday’ to me,” he countered though. “As long as they are within the budget I have provided for you, I cannot see why I should not be the one to pay for them.”

“I already paid Madame Laval,” Jo told him and hoped it would end the argument.

He might not have any idea what dresses cost if he thought fifteen were nothing. And that was not to mention the fifteen nightgowns, petticoats, stockings, corsets, gloves and bonnets.

Robert nodded once curtly as if tucking the information away.

“I will reimburse you.”

Jo scoffed and rubbed her forehead.

“Why is this important to you?” she demanded.

Robert scrutinized her, his face focused. Jo’s entire body tensed as she fought the urge to squirm under his scrutiny, fearing whatever came next. She had gone from being beholden to a man she loathed to a man she did not know. It was still too early to tell whether the trade of had been worth it, but part of the verdict hinged on his next words.

“I will pay for your dresses, Jo. If your cousin learned that I had not, it would give him more reason to question our marriage.”

Jo thought of arguing that Ambrose would never know but ended up nodding instead as her throat constricted. Of course, an important aspect of their marriage was keeping a united front. It was part of the bargain they had made. The bargain she meant to honor.

She nodded again without looking at him as he rose from the stool.

Robert thanked her and said a quick goodbye before he hastily left the room.

14

He should have returned home, Robert thought as he studied himself in the looking glass in Thornston’s dressing room.

He should have returned straight after the discussion had concluded at the Duke of Camborne’s townhouse. He should at least have returned home when he had finished his coffee at the salon with Thornston and Xavier afterwards. Before he agreed to have dinner with Thornston. Before he sent a note to have his evening clothes brought to Thornston’s townhouse and a short apology to Jo that he would not make it home before she had to leave for the Cloptons’ soiree and that he would meet her there.

He should certainly have returned before he emptied a bottle of red wine with Thornston, became slightly inebriated and would have to fight the urge to pull Jo aside – preferably into a dark hallway or the garden – as soon as he arrived at the soiree. He thought of her rosy cheeks as she had entered their house earlier. The way her dress emphasized her bosom.

“Are you ready? You are spending more time than me getting dressed,” Thornston called from his lounge next to the dressing room.

What had once been a suite for his parents had been turned into a massive five-room suite for Thornston alone. His dressing room was the largest Robert had ever been in and was created in the bedroom that had been meant for the viscountess. As if Thornston did not anticipate she would ever exist. Or perhaps meant for her to sleep elsewhere in the house.

His friend had never spoken of marriage, even though he was the last of his line and would need an heir if the title was not to go back to the crown. Robert had often thought of asking but always hesitated. Even though Thorston was one of the people Robert knew best, he had always sensed that Thornston put up invisible barriers around several issues and that marriage was one of them.

“Yes, I am almost done,” Robert muttered and fiddled with his cravat once again as he gave himself one final glance in the looking glass.

With the dark blue coat, cream colored waistcoat and matching breeches, he looked presentable enough. Although even the finest clothes could not remove the dark circles under his eyes. He and Jo had been invited to another party tomorrow night and had already agreed to go, because it was important to show a united front, but he wished they had not.

Robert needed time. Time alone to recuperate. Ride for hours and empty his mind and make sense of the complicated labyrinth of desire and distance his life had become after he married.

And time to become better acquainted with Jo. If they knew each other better, they might avoid awkward and unnecessary fights in the future.