Married to the Marquess

by Rebecca Connolly

  “What the devil is going on here?” Colin called out as he approached.

  “I am getting a new garden, compliments of my husband,” Kate chirped with a grin.

  Duncan smirked, his eyes twinkling. “So that’s why we’ve come, is it, Derek?”

  Derek shrugged. “I could use the help, and Nathan owes me. Besides, you could use the exercise.”

  “True enough,” Duncan admitted, shucking off his coat and handing it to a maid.

  Without a complaint, except for Colin, who repeatedly announced his hatred of perspiration, the rest of the men did the same and went to work, joining the workers in their tasks as if they were employed to do the same, and it didn’t take long for them to become as dirty and sweaty as the rest.

  “They just join in, just like that?” Kate asked Derek.

  He shrugged. “They are the best of men.”

  “I can see that,” she murmured. Truly, she had misjudged Derek’s friends just as she had him. It was a humbling experience.

  “I think I should rejoin them.”

  “Yes, you probably should,” she sighed longingly.

  He heard her tone and smiled. “I’ll see you tonight, Kate. We can talk then.”

  “If you have not exhausted yourself,” she remarked.

  “I never exhaust myself,” he told her in a low voice, quirking his brows. “I have far more endurance than meets the eye.”

  She rolled her eyes and pushed him away, though she knew she was blushing furiously. “Get over there, you great oaf.”

  He laughed and went back to the hole for the fountain.

  “Oh, and Colin?” Kate called.

  Colin looked up at her with an innocent expression. “Kate?”

  “I understand you owe me a new dress.” She raised a haughty brow, but was unable to avoid smiling.

  He grinned at her. “Yes, I am afraid I do. Terribly clumsy of me. Do forgive me.”

  “If I must.”

  He saluted and went back to work, and Kate finally turned to Moira, who was watching her in blatant amusement. “What are you gawking at?” Kate asked her with a grin as she took her arm and led her back towards the house.

  “You, dear Kate,” Moira replied with a smile. “Your appearance this morning is really quite intriguing.”

  Kate laughed in embarrassment as she touched her hair. “Yes, I’m afraid I was a bit frantic this morning.” They entered the house, and Kate removed Sarah’s shoes, then handed them to Jackson. “Take these down to the kitchens, would you, Jackson? And thank Miss Sarah for me, they were most useful.”

  He nodded obediently and left, and Moira made a sound.

  “What now?” Kate laughed.

  “You borrowed shoes from a worker’s daughter?” she remarked.

  “It was a frantic morning,” Kate repeated.

  “Why so frantic?”

  Kate sighed, and gestured down the hall. “Yesterday was the last day of the two weeks,” she confessed.

  “Oh,” Moira said, nodding in understanding.

  “Derek could have left this morning. I overslept, and I panicked, wondering if he had done so,” Kate told her, removing her shawl and placing it on the table in the hall.

  “For heaven’s sake, Kate, did you try to get yourself dressed this morning, too?” Moira commented from behind her. “You’ve got buttons undone!” She stepped forward and finished them off for her.

  “I know,” she moaned. “I was so rushed, I just threw it on, did the buttons I could reach, pulled my hair back without brushing it, and forgot shoes. I had no thought but coming down to see if he was still here.”

  Moira’s fingers froze at the top button, and she went utterly still.

  “Moira?” Kate asked, turning in concern. “Is something wrong?”

  Her friend looked as though a ghost had just crossed her path. “You love him. You loved him before he ever showed you that garden he is building for you. That was why you panicked, isn’t it? You love Derek.”

  Kate hesitated for only a moment, and only because she had yet to admit it aloud. But she smiled softly, her eyes starting to prickle with tears. “Yes,” she answered, her heart trilling like a melody in her chest. “Yes, I love him.”

  Moira stared for a long moment, then laughed out loud and pulled Kate into a tight hug, and held her close as both started to cry and laugh at once. Then she dragged her into the nearest room and forced her to tell her everything about the whole affair, sparing no detail. Kate did so, smiling broadly the entire time.

  She couldn’t help it. She loved Derek, and he was staying. And if the massive amount of work in the garden indicated what she hoped it might, he could be staying for quite some time.

  And she simply had to smile about that.

  Chapter Seventeen

  As it happened, Derek did exhaust himself quite effectively working out in the garden all day. He nearly fell asleep at the table over dinner, which was indication enough to Kate that the man was quite plainly fatigued beyond sense. He was rather apologetic as she led him upstairs, shrugging sheepishly at her suggestion that he was not quite as fit as he thought himself. Before he entered his rooms, however, he had paused and looked back at her, his expression the clearest it had been in some hours. “Do you know what my favorite part of the day was, Kate?” he had asked.

  She had blushed, imagining what moment had been her favorite part, which had made him grin deeply.

  “Well, yes, there was that, Kate,” he had said in a sly tone as he leaned against his doorframe. “That was quite enjoyable. But do you want to know my other favorite part?” Before she could answer, he had said, “Your rather small feet in that girl’s shoes.”

  “I didn’t mean to prove a point with it,” she told him, feeling embarrassed by the pride in his eyes.

  “I know, Kate. That was why I loved it.” Then, before she could say anything else, he had stepped forward and given her a brief, but rather passionate kiss that had left her gasping for both air and thought. With that wild grin she found so charming, he bid her goodnight and entered his rooms, shutting the door softly behind him.

  Kate had found herself standing out in the hallway before his door for some time, simply staring in wonder. What a whirl her life had become! Her own thoughts and emotions tumbling about, she went to her own bedchamber and pretended that she was tired, though sleep would not come for some time as she proceeded to relive certain rather fond memories of the day over and over in her mind, finally drifting to sleep with a smile on her face still.

  Now, however, she was just the slightest bit grumpy. It was nearing time for luncheon and Derek was still working out with the men, and she had not seen him since breakfast, and even then, he had only bidden her a good morning and gone out to work. How was she possibly supposed to tell the man she loved him if he were never around for her to do so?

  Sitting here in the morning room was not going to solve anything, she decided. She marched down to the kitchens and had a picnic lunch packed for them. Then she sent a footman out to tell Derek that she wanted to see him as soon as was convenient for him in the morning room. He rushed out with a quick nod, and she returned to her previous position on the sofa.

  Within two minutes, Derek came rushing into the morning room, boots still caked in dirt. “Kate, what is it? What’s wrong?”

  She took in the lovely, albeit terribly frantic sight of him. His hair was rather windswept in spite of being sweat dampened, his shirt was clinging to him, and his chest was heaving with his breaths, whether from his work or his running, she couldn’t tell. He wore a worried expression on his face, his green eyes wide and scanning over her person as though looking for injury.

  Realizing he had said something, she shook her head and met his eyes directly. “What?”

  He knelt down before her and took a hand. “Kate, what is it?”

  She frowned. “What is what?”

  Now he frowned in return, still looking concerned. “You sent for me. Timothy came out
and said you wanted me to come to the morning room. I thought that… Kate, is anything the matter?”

  “No, not at all,” she assured him, not sure if she should smile or not. “I said to ask if you could come as soon as it was convenient.”

  Derek’s face clouded and he stood up, placing his hands on his hips. “Someone needs to explain to Timothy the difference between ‘as soon as is convenient’ and ‘as soon as is possible’.”

  Kate covered her mouth to hide a helpless giggle or three that escaped. “Is that what he said?” she asked, her voice muffled.

  “Yes, he did,” Derek replied, clearly not amused. “I thought you were injured or sick or that something terribly wrong had occurred…” He ran a hand through his already mussed hair and then over his face with a groan. Whether of exhaustion, frustration, or relief, she could not tell.

  “And you came running in to me?” she asked softly, her own amusement fading as her heart swelled.

  He looked at her then, his eyes bearing so much emotion it hurt. “Yes,” he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

  Her eyes prickled with tears and she swallowed with difficulty. “Oh,” was all she could manage as she fought to keep her chin from quivering.

  Derek caught her emotion, and instantly was at her side, pulling her against him, dirt and sweat and all. He released a deep sigh and buried his face in her hair. “I couldn’t help it, Kate,” he whispered against her ear. “I had no thought but getting to you.” He held her closer, and she closed her eyes, reveling in the comfort he gave. Tell him, her mind screamed. Tell him now.

  But she couldn’t, not yet. And she hated that she couldn’t, knowing she was the worst sort of coward. She gradually pulled away from him, knowing that in her vulnerable state and his overly-attentive one, she was very likely to blurt something out if he continued to hold her. But she smiled up at him, and was delighted to see him return one.

  “Well, now that I know there is no disaster brewing,” he began, laughing finally, “what did you want?”

  “Merely to spend time with my husband,” she confessed with a shrug. “You have been so busy of late I have hardly seen you.”

  “I know,” he moaned, taking her hand again. “I’m sorry.”

  “I thought we could take a picnic today. If you want to, that is.”

  He grinned, his eyes crinkling adorably at the corners. “I would love to. The men can go on without me, I daresay. I doubt I am of much use.”

  Kate laughed and patted his chest. “I’m sure you are of much use, but if they can spare you, then I will gladly take you.”

  “Really?”

  She rolled her eyes at his suggestive tone and shoved at his chest. “Idiot. Go change, I can hardly picnic with a man dressed and smelling as you do at the moment.”

  He looked appropriately hurt. “But Kate, I thought it a rather nice testament to my manliness to look so active and laborious.”

  “That it is, I’m sure, but Hyde Park might not think so.”

  His brows raised just a touch. “Hyde Park? We’re to picnic publicly?”

  Now it was her turn to grin. “Not quite. I know a spot…”

  He laughed out loud, throwing his head back just a bit. “Of course you do. I’ll be back down momentarily, and then we can be off.”

  Her smile softened as he turned from the room, then it grew once more as he took the stairs three at a time up to the bedchamber. Life with Derek was never dull, she had to admit. Even when she hadn’t liked him, she had known that.

  She much preferred liking him.

  After enjoying the lovely meal that Hallstead had packed for them, Derek opted to lay down in the grass for a short nap to “recover his strength” so that he might go back to work when the returned. Kate suspected he was merely delaying their return to avoid the labor that awaited him. She didn’t mind. She was rather enjoying sitting against her tree, letting the warmth of the sunshine dance through the leaves across her face, feeling the cool breeze tickle her cheeks and sending her hair swaying against the back of her neck. They had managed to reach her secluded spot without much difficulty, though they did have to greet Lady Greversham with tight smiles and bald faced lies in wishing her well. But even the crotchety Lady Greversham could not spoil Kate’s day.

  She glanced over at her supposedly dozing husband, who lay stretched out with one arm across his face and the other on his chest. She had mentally smirked when he had skirted the pond where the geese gathered, remembering Diana’s remarks on the subject. He had pretended to be avoiding uneven ground for Kate’s sake, which she had thanked him appropriately for, though she hid a laugh.

  What a puzzling creature he was. A maddening, confusing, delightful puzzle all wrapped up in the form of a ridiculously handsome man. And he was already hers.

  It shouldn’t be this easy.

  She released a sigh and looked up at the sky, where just a few clouds dotted the bright blue color, and she started doing something she had not done since she was a very young girl; she looked for shapes in those clouds, smiling when she found one.

  “What has got you so silent, Kate?” Derek asked from his position, his eyes still closed.

  “Oh, I’m just looking at shapes in the clouds.”

  He grinned, but didn’t move. “Such a tricky thing, cloud shape identifying. What have you found so far?”

  “A rabbit, a butterfly, a flower, and a crème brûlée.”

  His brows quirked. “Crème brûlée? After those delicious tarts we had just now, you are thinking of crème brûlée?”

  “It appeared in the clouds,” she protested with a laugh. “I can’t help it if my mind jumped to that first.”

  “No, I supposed not,” he sighed. “Crème brûlée does tend to thrust itself wherever it wishes to go. Have you ever noticed the different colors that make up clouds?”

  “The what?”

  He shrugged. “Think about it. Look above you. No cloud is simply white or gray or black. Some are purple in places, some have no less than five shades of a single color, others have at least three different colors in the same cloud, and some are so thin they could be a veil. Even on cloudy days, the sky is a mass of colors.”

  Kate had never considered such a thing, but as she took his advice and examined her cloud shapes more closely, she saw what he was talking about. And oddly enough, she found herself wishing for yet another cloudy day so that she could see the sky then with as much wonder as he did.

  “You have made a study of the sky, haven’t you?” she asked with a fond smile, looking over at him.

  “It’s not just the night sky that captivates me.” He heaved a sigh and shifted just a bit in the grass. “The daytime sky is just as mystifying.”

  That was not the only captivating and mystifying thing, she thought to herself as she watched him. She was herself entirely captivated and mystified by him. More and more she was finding herself wanting to be with him every moment, and not just the waking ones. What would it feel like to wake in his arms in the morning? Would he wake her with soft, feather kisses that tickled her skin? Or would she wake first and be able to watch him sleep in the morning light, waiting for him to wake?

  Suddenly, the prospect of children with this man was not something she feared, but something she craved. She wanted to have sons and daughters who could play with their father and be themselves, whoever they were, and who would not be forced into a childhood of rules and regulations and lectures. She wanted to see Derek rocking their babies in his arms, reading to them in bed, teaching them about the clouds and the stars. She wanted to have children with Derek, not because it was their duty, not for the title, not for the continuation of their family bloodlines. She wanted to have them because she loved him.

  Because she could not imagine her life with anyone else.

  She thought her heart was going to burst within her, and she restrained herself from clasping a hand to her chest to prevent it. Such a rush of emotion was becoming shockingl
y frequent, and she didn’t know how she was going to contain it if they become regular.

  There was only one question remaining in her mind; was Derek going to stay after the garden was completed? And by extension, despite what she had seen, what she had thought, could he actually love her in return?

  The fear of his departure sent a chill through her. He was well within his rights to do as he chose, to leave whenever he wanted, and to go wherever he pleased, but he would be leaving behind a wife with a broken heart, and a pile of her broken dreams.

  “You know, Kate, I’ve been thinking...” Derek started slowly, or was it reluctantly?

  Her heart sunk to her toes. He was leaving. He was leaving the project of her garden into someone else’s hands, and he was leaving. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the words, praying that she would be able to retain some sense of composure.

  “I was thinking that this has been rather fun, us being friends.”

  “It has...” she replied carefully, uncertain as to his point.

  He rolled to his side and propped his head onto his elbow, peering up at her. “Probably the best time I have had in a long time.”

  She swallowed down a troublesome lump that had risen. “Thank you.”

  “I don’t want it to end, Kate.” He paused. “I’m not leaving.”

  Her heart, having returned to her chest, now stopped beating. “You’re not?” she gasped, feeling as though her mind was working backwards.

  “No," he said, as he moved to put his head in her lap. “I’m going to stay and annoy you some more. It’s entirely too much fun, and you are far too easy to tease. I have a rather large project to finish, which no doubt makes me seem very pleasant and generous, but when we have done with that, you can be sure I will return to my former state of annoying, troublesome, utterly maddening husband that you so enjoyed before. I shall spend quite a long time driving you to distraction.”

  She grinned, trying not to cry in relief, and started running her fingers through his hair. “I suppose I shall have to make do," she sighed rather dramatically.