Married to the Marquess

by Rebecca Connolly

  “Excellent,” Derek said with pride and animation, for she really was furiously talented. “When should the first concert be?”

  Kate looked back at the piano, then at him again, her eyes dancing with excitement. “What are you doing right now?”

  He laughed and moved to take a seat near the instrument. “Not a thing.”

  “You don’t have somewhere better to be?” she asked as she took her seat, somehow looking more timid and uncertain than ever before. How many times had someone said that to a much younger, more innocent Kate who only wanted to show what she had accomplished?

  “No,” he said honestly, his heart leaping to his throat at the tender vulnerability in her gaze. “No, I do not.”

  If confusion were an illness, then Katherine would be so severely infected that she would have to be quarantined for the safety of any around her.

  In all of the twenty-three years of her life, she had never known that one could feel so utterly bewildered, and the idea that it was her husband who was bewildering her was the most bewildering part of all.

  She had known this man her entire life, had severely disliked him, hated him, really, for most of that time, and the feeling had been completely mutual, and she had not minded that. Now that they were becoming friends, however, she found that she did not know her husband at all.

  To be fair, he did not know her either, nor had he ever seemed inclined to do so before this. But yesterday they had spent a good amount of time in the music room as she played and he critiqued, and quite intelligently at that, and it had been the most enjoyable morning she had spent in a long time.

  He’d asked her about acquiring a new chef and she perked up at that. Though she had never spoken of it, the meals were not particularly palatable in their home. But as she did not usually care, she hardly felt right to complain. And the tarts in particular had always been delightful, which he assured her would still be at her disposal. He seemed quite adamant about that part, actually.

  And he’d asked her about the new chef. Not informed her what he would do, but asked and consulted with her. Like a true married couple would.

  With all of that, she had begun to think that perhaps things just might work out between the two of them after all. And she had to admit, but only to herself and only to the very most private part of her, that his calling her Kate was not the irritation it had once been. She would like to be Kate. Kate was open and honest and fresh, while Katherine was stuffy and haughty and held herself with far too much pride.

  Someday she would tell him. Someday she would stop correcting him. But for now, she would only do so in her mind.

  But this morning her thoughts were whirlishly dancing around the subject of her husband. She never knew quite how to behave around him, even when things were innocent. And why was he being so attentive with her? It was not yet certain if they were even going to succeed in this friendship of theirs. It had potential, if they would work at it, but nothing was certain. Still he treated her with more kindness than anybody except her father had done, and they had not fought in a number of hours, which was a record for their marriage.

  All of these things jumbled about in her mind as she now hurried along the busy streets of London, making her way to the one place she never thought she would go for advice.

  “Katherine?” a rather imperious voice called from a window in the building before her.

  She looked up and almost sighed in resignation as her sister was trying to force the top half of her body out of the open window, and having quite a bit of difficulty in doing so. “Hello, Aurelia.”

  “What are you doing here?” Aurelia tried to hiss, though her voice carried quite a good deal.

  “I came to speak with you,” Katherine said plainly. There seemed no point in trying to hide it.

  “Have you really?” Aurelia asked in surprise, and not a little suspicion. “On what topic?”

  Katherine looked around, and saw that very few people were heeding them at all, which she hoped was a typical thing for members of her sister’s neighborhood. “My husband,” she replied at last.

  A scheming light entered her sister’s gaze and she smiled down at Katherine. “It is about time, I daresay. Do come in.”

  “Thank you,” Katherine muttered dryly as her sister removed herself from the window.

  In short order, the two sisters were ensconced in Aurelia’s rather hideous drawing room and a tea was before them. A plate of biscuits stacked so high it looked impossible that it had been carried up from the kitchens as it now sat on the tray, and Aurelia made no attempt to restrain herself from devouring them.

  “Where are the children?” she asked politely as she sipped her tea.

  Aurelia waved a pudgy hand dismissively. “Damien and Vincent are up in the school room, and the girl is upstairs with the wet nurse.”

  “The girl?” Katherine felt her ire rising at that. Alice was a beautiful child, only a few months old, and rather sweet tempered, and if her sister changed that, Katherine would be enraged.

  “What else am I supposed to call her?” Aurelia asked with an incredulous laugh.

  “Oh, I don’t know, perhaps Alice? As that is the name you gave her.”

  Her sister’s eyes narrowed. “Really, Katherine, you ought to have checked your attitude before entering. This is my home and I may refer to my children however I wish to. Honestly, I think Mother’s ghost might be inhabiting your body at present.” She reached for another biscuit, giving her a disapproving glare. “And besides, it is not as though that child adds anything to the world. She will not amount to anything, I know. I had so hoped for another son. I have no idea what to do with a girl.”

  Fighting for control, Katherine took in a steadying breath, then released it slowly. “If you care so little for Alice, then why did you even have her?”

  “Why, for my own amusement, of course!” Aurelia cried in surprise, taking a large bite of biscuit. “You did not honestly think that I went through all of that out of love or admiration for Nigel, do you?” She laughed at her own words. “Good heavens, but that man is an idiot. I declare, I do not know how I put up with him at all.”

  “He does wait on you hand and foot and treat you as if you were royalty or deity,” Katherine pointed out with no small amount of sarcasm and distaste.

  Her sister missed the spirit in which the words were said. “Oh, I know,” she gushed with a smile. “And it is for that reason alone that I keep him around. It is vastly amusing. But as far as conversation or wit or anything useful, he is perfectly a waste. Husbands are such bores, don’t you think?”

  “I hardly know,” Katherine said with more honesty than she had meant to. “My husband is a trifle difficult to understand.”

  “What is there to understand?” Aurelia laughed as if it were the most ridiculous assertion she had ever heard. “What was it that Mother said? ‘Our duty as women is to make sure that our husband is well respected and his estate envied, but every intelligent being of sense knows that the real power in the world lies with the wives’.” Aurelia grinned at the memory and nodded. “I do not think she ever spoke truer words to us, do you?”

  Actually, Katherine did not. “Not in the case of my husband, I can assure you. He is a mystery.”

  “Dear Katherine,” Aurelia said as she sat forward and put her tea down, watching her sister in a sort of triumphant amusement, “haven’t you learned how to milk your husband for all he is worth yet?”

  “My husband is not to be ‘milked’, Aurelia,” Katherine muttered with no small amount of irritation. “He is not a cow. And he does not worship the ground I walk on as yours does.”

  Aurelia trilled a laugh that was not at all amusing. “Then you are not doing it right, dear. The man should be eating out of the palm of your hand.”

  “If he did that, I would be likely to be bitten.”

  “For heaven’s sake, Katherine,” Aurelia groaned dramatically with a roll of her eyes as she sat back, “how long have you
been married anyway? You know nothing of men. But then, if you did, you would not be here to ask me for help.”

  Katherine chose not to point out the fact that she had not asked for help at all, and would never do so. If all husbands were to be handled in the manner that Aurelia did hers, then the entire world would be doomed.

  “And I do not know why you have so brazenly come to call upon anybody when we are in mourning,” her sister said in condemnation, tsking rather noisily. “It is entirely shameful of you. And you are not even in black!”

  Aurelia seemed quite unaware of the fact that at the moment, she was wearing a rather ghastly looking yellow gown with no hint of mourning colors at all. Katherine opted to remain silent on this subject as well.

  “I can assure you,” she continued, “that I have been quite unable to venture out of doors at all. Poor Mama.”

  Katherine nearly choked on her tea that she had taken up again. Their mother would have blanched terribly at being called Mama. It was always to be Mother and nothing else.

  Regardless, Katherine was quite certain that Aurelia did not venture out of doors at all unless it was to be well worth the efforts in doing so, whether in mourning or not.

  But she allowed her sister to ramble on for the next three years, or so it felt to her, before she conveniently recalled an errand that had to be done, and made her escape. She moodily made her way back to the house, only to be met by Derek as he returned as well.

  “Kate!” he said pleasantly as he stood back and let her enter first.

  “Good morning, Derek,” she replied with a smile and a nod as she stepped into the house. She carefully removed her gloves and bonnet and handed them to Jemima with a nod of thanks. Then she turned back to her husband. “Have you been with the solicitor all this time?”

  “Yes, unfortunately,” he responded with a small scowl. “I hate those meetings.”

  She wrinkled up her nose in distaste. “I don’t know many that enjoy them. But is it all resolved?”

  He nodded. “Yes, it was about the Shropshire tenants. Apparently, they have not been receiving adequate attention from the manager down there.”

  “Mr. Everett?”

  “The very same.”

  “Oh dear,” Katherine murmured as she walked towards the sitting room, Derek at her side. “And Mrs. Goodrich has been so ill of late, I hope that she has not suffered more because of Mr. Everett’s inability to do his job.”

  Derek looked at her in surprise.

  “What?” she asked, ducking her head slightly, knowing her cheeks would be growing pink under his gaze. “I may not know all the London gossip, but I do know our tenants quite well.”

  “Apparently,” he said, smiling still. “At any rate, we have sent inquiries and Randall is going to start looking for a new manager, just in case.”

  “Very prudent.” She gave him an approving nod as she sat on a sofa. “Mr. Randall has excellent taste in character.”

  “That he does. So what have you done all morning?”

  She sighed and tried to smile. “I just returned from visiting my sister.”

  The look of horror and disgust that crossed his face made her laugh. “Good heavens, why?” he asked as he took his own seat in the chair that she had always thought of as his. It was worn, but not terribly so, and had a large and comfortable back to it. She had often times caught him sleeping in this chair in this room, and every time in the past she had slipped out as quickly and quietly as she could, praying not to disturb him, as she did not wish to speak with him. Now, however, she was taking pains to do so.

  How confusing things had become!

  “Kate?”

  His voice brought her out of her reverie. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” she asked him.

  He grinned. “What great disaster or horrific event prompted you to risk a visit to your sister?”

  “I hardly know anymore,” she muttered darkly. “It seemed the only viable option at the time. But next time, if there is a next time, I’ll think it through a good deal more carefully.”

  “Now that is an impressive glower,” he commented with an odd sort of amazement. “What did Aurelia do this time?”

  “She calls Alice ‘the girl’.” Katherine shook her head, feeling her agitation rising again.

  “That beautiful child that is so different from her brothers she has to be adopted?” Derek asked in astonishment. “That Alice?”

  Katherine nodded earnestly. “She says that Alice will never amount to anything, so she did not see why she should take pains towards her. Derek, I almost slapped her.”

  “I think you should have,” he said, his expression dark. “If she doesn’t want Alice, then we’ll take her.”

  “We will?” Katherine gaped, stunned by his admission.

  He gave her an incredulous look. “You don’t think I am going to sit by and let her ruin that child, do you? No, our niece will always be allowed to come here as often as she likes without invitation or warning. I daresay the nurse they have set her with will appreciate the break from your sister’s household.”

  “Thank you, Derek,” Katherine whispered, her eyes tearing up.

  “Oh dear, don’t cry again, Kate,” he said with a teasing smile. “It’s rather difficult to get you to stop once you start.”

  “My apologies,” she laughed as she wiped her eyes. “And it’s Katherine.”

  He gave her a look. “Don’t make me say it, Kate.”

  She grinned, then remembered what she had actually wanted to tell him. “Oh, but I forgot to tell you the best part!”

  “I tremble with excitement,” he muttered, but with a smile.

  She quirked her brows knowingly. “My sister thinks you should be eating the crumbs from under my shoes.”

  Derek raised one brow slowly. “Have I ever told you,” he announced, emphasizing each word carefully, “that I absolutely despise your sister?”

  “She is quite a viper, isn’t she?” Katherine returned with a crinkle of her nose. “I have never been especially fond of her.”

  She received a curious look for that, to which she snorted rather indelicately. “Oh, please, I lived with her for seventeen years of my life, you don’t think I know her better than you?”

  Derek chuckled. “Then why did you go speak to her, if you dislike her so much?”

  “Who else am I supposed to speak to?" she asked.

  He shrugged. “How about me? I am your husband, after all."

  She rolled her eyes, but smiled. “Don’t be ridiculous. I cannot possibly speak to you about you.”

  “Well, why not?” he asked with a mischievous grin. “I am an expert on the subject.” But then he took on a very serious face and nodded. “No, I suppose you’re right. Hmm. Well, I don’t want you speaking to Moira about me.”

  “Too late,” she replied with a smile of her own.

  He sighed heavily and shook his head. “All right, well, you need a better option. How about my sister?”

  She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Lady Beckham? We are not especially well acquainted.”

  “All the more reason to speak with her,” he said without concern. “She is wonderful, you’ll love her. And she knows me very well.” Then he winced. “On second thought, I don’t want you speaking to her either."

  Now it was Kate who grinned mischievously. “Oh, I am definitely going to speak with her.”

  Derek groaned, and waved a hand in surrender. “Fine, fine, but please, try to remember that I am available to talk if you need it. I can safely promise an answer to at least half of your questions concerning me roughly thirty-five percent of the time.”

  She snickered, then cocked her head slightly and looked him over. “Do you think we can talk without fighting?"

  “About me?” he asked, then snorted. “Probably not, but I am willing to risk it."

  “Why do we fight so much, anyway?” she sighed, sitting back, even though it was not proper posture.

  “Because it’s fun?
”

  “Be serious.”

  “I am being serious. I love fighting with you.”

  She laughed out loud at that. “Why?”

  He grinned rather cheekily and spread his hands out as if the answer were obvious. “Well, because you are so very good at it, that’s why.”

  “Derek,” she scolded, trying not to smile.

  “Kate,” he replied in the same tone, mirroring her expression.

  “You are ridiculous,” she said in resignation, shaking her head at him.

  He shrugged one shoulder. “I know. But you like me, admit it.”

  She laughed once. “Hardly.”

  “Come on, Kate. You know you want to,” he taunted with a grin.

  “Do I?”

  He nodded emphatically. “Yes, you do.”

  “Oh, very well then,” she sighed, as if surrendering. “I like you. Are you satisfied?”

  A rather bright grin crossed his features. “Really?”

  Katherine fought the urge to smile and shrugged. “So you say.”

  “Very well, then. You like me,” he pronounced proudly, as if he were a king granting a knighthood. Then the childish grin was back. “In fact, you wonder how you ever lived without me.”

  “And now I am leaving,” she said, pushing to her feet and heading for the door.

  “Where are you going?” he cried in dismay, looking rather petulant.

  She turned with a half-smile. “As you suggested, I want to visit your sister.”

  “Oh no,” he moaned, jumping up from his chair. “I’m coming along.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Somebody needs to keep Diana in check.”

  Katherine frowned and looked up at him. “Won’t her husband do that?”

  Derek gave her a rather dark look indeed. “You do not know Edward.” He turned and took her bonnet from Harville, who seemed to have a bizarre ability to sense whenever anybody was going out.

  “Thank you, Harville,” he said as he handed Kate her bonnet.

  “Shouldn’t we send a note over?” she asked as she put it on and tied the ribbons.