Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

"… a nd he returned thrice to ask for a dance," Olivia gushed, the first course of her meal entirely untouched. "Once, I danced with someone else, and after I saw them speaking together, and My Lord looked displeased."

"Do you mean to say he has been scaring off your other suitors, Olivia?" Marina asked, scandalized.

She sat at the dinner table between her sister and her father who was seated at the head of the table across from her betrothed. Phillip was staying with the Linfields for a fortnight. He wanted to get to know Marina's family, he'd said, and so her father had arranged it. Marina appreciated the gesture; he clearly understood how important her family was to her.

Further, she was pleased to find that he had not once shown the side of himself which must have existed during his travels for him to garner a reputation such as he had. Despite this, she was reluctant, still, to let her guard down.

"Intimidating the competition is common practice for a gentleman who is taken by a lady but is not yet of courageous spirit enough to court her," Phillip said, matter-of-factly, to Olivia's delight. "I am positive that he is quite taken with you although I would be wary of a man so willing to threaten another so openly."

"Your Grace, your wisdom is appreciated," she giggled. "What do you think, Marina?"

Phillip expected her to protest. He had seen her chastising Olivia for speaking of such topics at the dinner table when he'd dined with them before, but he was beginning to feel that she had grown more comfortable around him and seemed to feel his relationship with her family was familiar enough to entertain such intimate topics.

"It does not matter what I think, Olivia. I only care that you are enjoying the balls so thoroughly. It comes as no surprise to anyone that you are popular."

"It is because I take after my dear sister that I am so beloved," Olivia sighed wistfully, bending her head down to rest on Marina's shoulder for a moment.

"I hardly think that's true," Marina laughed.

"Marina, will I have to dance with boys at balls when I am Olivia's age?" Marina turned to young Emily who was staring at her in horror.

"What's wrong with boys?" Nicholas demanded to know.

"They are filthy," Emily answered.

"Boys, perhaps," Marina conceded. "But by the time you are of age, they will be too, and they will have learned to be much cleaner. You've nothing to be concerned about, sweet Emily. I swear it."

Phillip watched Emily nod, and thought it was remarkable how quickly she was willing to take Marina's word at her young age. He had very little experience with children. In fact, he had very little experience with family. And the Linfields had taken him by particular surprise. A part of him had expected the visit to be uncomfortable. Dinners with his father certainly had been. He assumed that they were putting on their best behavior when he had dined with them before, but in the week he had already been their guest, he had seen them do nothing but love one another.

"Must I learn to be clean ?" Nicholas whispered to him. Phillip grinned, watching as Marina and Olivia pretended not to hear their brother. "What is the point if I am going to spend my time outside."

"Of course you must," Phillip whispered in return. "But it is not so difficult as ladies make it seem. They act as such to scare you, but the process is rather simple. Sometime, when you are ready, I shall be sure to share my secrets."

Nicholas seemed satisfied with this answer, and Phillip felt his heart swell unexpectedly. He had never felt like he was a part of something before. He made friends in school, but they were obligated to be around one another for their education and because of their status. Marina's family had welcomed him as one of them, and he felt, they wanted him around. It was a stark contrast to the way in which he had grown up. His father had never once made Phillip feel like he belonged at Hayward Estates.

"Did you like to dance very much when you were younger?" Olivia inquired of Phillip.

"I rather preferred to stay at home and study," he answered. "There are a fair many more books to be read than there are dances to be had, I am afraid."

"It is splendid that you are well-read," Olivia remarked. "Marina is a bore, herself, and would also prefer to stick her head in a book than to go to a ball unless she is there to watch my every move like a hawk."

"In fairness," the Earl said, "it is not only you who she watches. She and Miss Harrington stick to the walls of any ball or party they attend, so they might watch the rest of us enjoy ourselves."

"Watching the rest of you is how I enjoy myself," Marina insisted. "What greater joy is there than to see the people you love smile? Or hear them laugh?"

"To be the one who is smiling and laughing, sister," Olivia answered. "You must try it at least once." The table erupted with laughter, and Phillip thought that he could grow accustomed to this life, were it his to borrow.

The Duke knew that Marina would make a good wife. He felt more secure about his decision than ever, regardless of how his uncle felt. His eyes followed her every move in spite of his resolve to remain emotionally distant from her. If they were to, somehow, grow too close, he would be putting his secret and her at risk. It would be better to stay away.

That was easier said than done.

While he was there, Phillip saw Marina in an unexpected light. Not only was she so clearly devoted to her family, especially her siblings, but she was a delight to be around. She was principled and practical but sure enough of herself and her mind to express her feelings and opinions without restraint. She effortlessly kept order in the house, playfully ushering her family through the busy social life they attended as a fixture of the ton during the season. They appeared in all the right places at all the right times, and he realized quickly that this was largely for Olivia's benefit.

It struck him that Marina, with her knowledge of society life and her beauty, had only remained unwed so long somehow by choice. Why, he could not determine. But there was certainly no real reason for her to have been considered unmarriageable except that she had chosen to appear as such. He watched her coach her sister through making the acquaintance of the proper eligible men, catching the attention of the more affluent Mamas whose sons they were hoping to marry off, and appearing in the right places wearing the perfect clothes and saying all of the most appealing things.

She had the knowledge and grace of a woman twice her age and quite above her already high station. Phillip wondered, sometimes, if he had courted her properly whether he would have paled in comparison to her. Would she have rejected him, had he proposed in her first or second season out at court?

She had already proven her ability to manage a proper household and maintain a family's relatively pristine reputation in the absence of a countess. But there were other moments, too. The serenity on her face when she was indulging in a particularly nice cup of tea and thought no one was paying her any mind. The glimmer of her golden curls when she sat just so before a window where the early morning light could reach in and illuminate her beauty. Phillip found himself struggling to look away from her. He tried to remind himself that he need only await their wedding date, for afterward, surely, she would not seem so shiny and bright.

They sat together at the opera one night, stuffed into a corner of the Linfield box so that her father could entertain a few guests of his own. Most of the ton went to the opera to socialize and be seen, but not Marina. Her gaze was fixated on the show, and he almost felt bad interrupting her experience with the music.

"How are you finding the singer?" he asked.

"She is talented beyond compare," Marina gushed without thought, not daring to look away from the display below. "She is the understudy, I believe, so we do not get to hear from her often, but I daresay she is a deal more talented than the regular performer."

"Is this what has kept you from finding a husband in all of this time?" Marina glanced at him, perplexed. She was not sure whether or not she should be offended. "I do not mean to offend. I merely mean that I have observed you all this time, and it seems to me that if you are not wed by now, it must be by your own volition."

Marina glanced around, hoping that no one had heard them, but no one was paying the pair of them any mind. They had become old news long ago, and her family were preoccupied with their guests.

"Matters of marriage and proposal are entirely outside of my control," she whispered.

"I disagree," Phillip muttered, matter-of-factly. "I have seen what you have done for the younger Lady Olivia. And I imagine that you will once again do the same for Emily once she is of age."

Marina was listening, but she was staring at the opera. He turned to look at her, his eyes scanning her form for any break in her emotion. There was none. His hunch, he was sure now, had been correct, but he wanted her to tell him.

"All I wish to say is that it is admirable how deep your dedication to your family runs. I have never met a woman willing to sacrifice her future for such a noble cause."

"It was hardly noble," Marina muttered. "I did what any woman of integrity would do. They deserve to have someone to look after them."

Phillip waited for her to look at him again, and when she met his gaze, he was almost surprised to see the change in her eyes. In all this time, she had seemed sure that her original judgment of him had been accurate—a judgment fueled, he assumed, by what had been written of him in the papers before they had even met.

"I want you to know that I have no intention of taking you away from them. That is all. It is the only reason I have asked."

"Thank you," she answered, softly. It was the first time that Marina thought, perhaps, that the rumors may not be true.

Marina insisted on a private wedding ceremony, and the Duke was eager to agree. At his status, a special license was not uncommon but certainly not customary, and they both found they were grateful for this decision when the day did come. They both felt it incredibly awkward but for vastly different reasons.

The bride was sure that she would faint. She told Olivia as much.

"Please keep some salts handy during the ceremony," Marina begged.

"Stop your squirming," was the younger girl's only answer. Her svelte fingers were working to weave fresh flowers across the crown of Marina's hair. Her ringlets had been gathered into a loose bun, and the budding roses adorning it had been plucked by Olivia from the bottom of the bouquet the Duke had gifted her. The remainder of it was downstairs on display, decorating the dining room table where Phillip and her family would be celebrating the union during the wedding breakfast.

"Do not jest, Olivia. My heart is racing."

Olivia stopped her fussing over Marina's hair and moved to stand before her. The elder girl was dressed in a beautiful white dress with simple, silver trimmings and adornments. It was flattering and elegant but did not distract from its wearer's natural beauty. This, too, had been a gift from Phillip.

"Marina, what is it that troubles you? Today should be a joyous one."

"What does not trouble me, Olivia? I have never been away from the three of you. I still feel that the Duke and I do not know each other. And I—" Marina stopped. She was just about to confide in Olivia that she was still unsure of the Duke's motivations. He had been as forthcoming as he'd ever been the day they spoke in the park but not at all since. What was she to think? Every minute which brought her closer to their matrimony brought Marina closer to having a hysterical episode.

"And?"

Marina sucked in a deep breath, shutting her eyes and willing her nerves to still.

"Never you mind," she answered, her voice now more level. "It is all in my mind."

"Precisely. It cannot be all bad, Marina. The way that he looks at you is like a dream."

"The way that he looks at me?"

The girls were interrupted by the housekeeper who called upon them to come down to the carriage. It was time to head to the church. Marina knew that she had done her duties, smiled at the appropriate times, expressed her gratitude where needed, and said her lines as they had been rehearsed. Otherwise, the entire event went by more quickly than she expected. While she'd wanted it to be over then, she felt foolish for thinking anything of the sort as she sat in a carriage, now the Duchess of Peterborough, entirely in silence across from her husband. She dabbed at her puffy cheeks though the remnants of her tearful goodbyes to her family had long ago dried.

Phillip had felt much the same way. The entire ceremony of marriage felt stuffy to him. It was as if they had been made to put on a pageant for their family only to now be going home as husband and wife. There were no instructions or manuals about how to conduct daily life. There was, he thought, but one matter he needed to attend to before they arrived at the Hayward Estate.

"Marina, are you quite well?" he asked, his voice soft and probing.

She swallowed, fidgeting with adjusting her skirts and hair for a moment before answering. "I am, Your Grace. I am merely mourning my girlhood, if you will. My brother and sisters…I still feel as though they need me. It will take some time to adjust to being away from them."

"You may go and visit them whenever you like," he insisted. "I know that they will miss you just as dearly as you must already miss them." He did not elaborate, and Marina was not eager to initiate another conversation. Her only wish was that he might show her some glimmer of hope for the future of their marriage, and for her, this felt like it. Even if they continued to make progress slowly like this, they would make progress.

Phillip's thoughts were not in alignment with her own, however. The wedding was as if he had marked off a task on his work ledger. Marina was a wonderful woman, and he still believed that he had chosen the right woman to wed. She would make a remarkable duchess, and he felt sure that he could make her happy by supplying whatever she wanted financially. There was nothing his estate could not handle, but there were many things his heart could not. So long as he did not forget his conviction to remain free of affection for her, Phillip could protect and provide for her.