It whipped through their hair, and she finally laughed as it sent her skirts dancing about her.
“You find it amusing?” he asked. “The wind?”
“Oh yes.” And she laughed as her eyes brightened. “It’s almost as if it’s playing with me. Don’t you think?”
He studied her, amazed.Stillamazed at the way she viewed the world. “I suppose it’s possible,” he said. “Well, duchess, what shall you do now?”
“I should like to take a nap,” she declared honestly.
He laughed. “Whatever the duchess requires. Let me escort you.”
And with that, he swept her up into his arms easily, leaving behind the group of people who would take part in a small celebration that he had arranged for the servants.
He knew that the Earl of Argyle would find his way to a room quietly without assistance or help. He knew this castle well and had been here many times as a boy. The servants would leave him be as they had done over the years.
And now he took his bride, his duchess, up through the winding halls, the myriad corridors, through the long salons to at last rest in the ducal chamber.
“This is not my room,” she pointed out softly.
“No,” he agreed. “It is mine.”
Her brows rose. “Am I to share a room with you again?”
“Do you not wish to?” he countered, his voice nearly catching in his throat.
“Of course I do,” she affirmed passionately. “I always liked our time together. The conversations we had were most intimate and inspiring and off the cuff.”
He laughed. “Off the cuff?”
She beamed up at him, a warm enthusiasm bubbling up in her for a moment. “I loved the fact that one never knew what we might say in those moments, in the dark, with the fire crackling. I would like that again.”
“Would you?” he breathed as he crossed deeper into his chamber filled with dark furniture and elaborate tapestries.
She nodded quietly.
He took her to the great four-poster bed. “Come. Let me tuck you in.”
“Or… shall we do something else?”
“Something else?” he queried, his hands pausing, carefully holding her.
She cleared her throat as she peered up at him, vulnerable. “Well, we are man and wife now, and there is something that we can do that could pass a little bit of time before I take my nap.”
He blinked down at her. “Are you sure? Many ladies, as I understand, do not care to when—”
“I want to be close to you,” she rushed. “This whole arrangement has driven us further and further apart, and I have honestly felt lonely.”
He winced.
In this cavernous castle, it was easy to feel lonely if one was not careful, and this was exactly what Argyle had warned him about. She was spending too much time alone, even if she had her sister here.
He had allowed her to be alone too much. Too much with her thoughts, and he did not want his wife to feel lonely.
Even if he was fairly certain he would never be able to shake that feeling of being alone that had been with him and walked with him for so long.
“Whatever you wish, my love,” he said.
Her eyes sparked at that, and he regretted letting those two words out of his mouth. It was a common term of endearment, but she might think something more. Something that he could not express.