Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

" Y ou must greet my sisters first," Matthew told Cressida as they entered Gunderson Manor. "And their husbands as well."

Cressida nodded, feeling a flutter of anxiety. She had met Matthew's sisters before, but only briefly. There had been introductions but no discussion. Now she would have the chance to get to know them properly. And even though the marriage had been finalized already and there were no real stakes, she badly wanted them to like her. She knew how important her own sister's opinion was to her, and no doubt Matthew would feel the same way about his sisters.

They were standing together near the far side of the ballroom, their husbands off to one side. Matthew led the way over to them. "Lavinia," he said. "Edwina. You remember my wife, Cressida, of course?"

"Oh, of course!" Lavinia broke from her conversation with her sister to embrace Cressida. "How lovely that we're going to be sisters now," she enthused. "Edwina and I are so excited to have you as part of the family, aren't we, Edwina?"

"Very excited," Edwina agreed with a smile. "And may I say, Cressida, that you look lovely this evening? That gown brings out the color of your eyes wonderfully. You made an amazing choice."

"And the gloves!" Lavinia's voice dripped with admiring envy. "I do wish I had a pair like that. You must tell us where you got them."

"Actually, Matthew surprised me with these just today," Cressida said, holding them out for her new sisters to admire. "And I quite agree with you—they're beautiful. I was telling him earlier that I believe they're the finest I've ever owned."

"You never bought anything like that for us," Edwina accused him.

"You have a husband of your own now," Matthew told her. "If you need new gloves, you ought to appeal to him, not to me."

"Well, perhaps I will," Edwina said. "Though there's no point in doing so tonight." She gestured to where her husband, the Duke of Harbeck, was now regaling a whole group of gentlemen with some story that seemed to make them laugh excessively. Cressida found herself rather curious as to what they could be talking about, though she also knew that there was no point in making any attempt to join in that conversation.

Apparently Matthew was also curious. "What is he talking to them about?"

"Some sort of business arrangement," Edwina said. "I didn't inquire as to the details. But you know how Allan is. When he wants something, he doesn't stop until he has it."

"I know he was that way with you," Matthew agreed.

Edwina rolled her eyes and turned to Cressida. "He loves to tell this story," she said. "He forgets that he wanted Allan to have nothing to do with me for the longest time. He was the biggest opposition to our courtship."

"Apart from you yourself!" Lavinia chimed in. She leaned in conspiratorially and said to Cressida, "I was the one who arranged everything. Edwina would never have married at all had it not been for my involvement. And Matthew did all he could to keep them apart. But there's no stopping true love."

As they were speaking, Cressida noticed that Matthew had placed his hand at the small of her back rather possessively, and it made her feel as if every inch of her body was alight. She was sure that everyone around her must be able to see on her face—on her very skin—how captivated she was by his touch. But if they could see it, they hadn't reacted, so maybe it wasn't as utterly obvious as it felt to her. Though it seemed impossible to believe, maybe people weren't noticing the way the lights seemed brighter and the room seemed warmer every time his hand shifted slightly on her back, every time she was forced to contemplate his touch.

"Are you having a nice time, Cressida?" Edwina asked the question calmly, as if nothing out of the ordinary was taking place at all.

"We've just arrived," Cressida said. "But so far I'm having a very nice time, yes. The manor looks beautiful. I'm so happy that we were able to come tonight."

"Is your sister here?" Edwina asked her.

"She wrote to me and told me that she wouldn't be attending." Cressida had been quite distraught when she had first received that letter, for the greatest concern weighing on her mind had been the thought that Victoria's season would be disrupted by her own sudden marriage. Her father could not be counted upon, after all, to make sure that Victoria was provided for throughout the season, and it seemed that Cressida's fears were being realized, and that her sister was being neglected.

However, she had decided to wait before allowing herself to worry too much. It was only one ball, after all, and it was to be expected that Victoria would have some trouble making her way to functions now that she didn't have Cressida by her side. Cressida had made a mental note for herself to speak to Matthew about the dilemma—perhaps they could arrange to collect Victoria from her father's house and escort her to the next ball. She was confident that Matthew would agree, but she was also glad that she hadn't made the request this time. She understood how important their very first ball as a married couple was to Matthew, and she didn't want to get in the way of that.

To Edwina, she said, "I'm sure she'll be here next time. I know she's excited to get to know the two of you. Victoria has always cared a great deal for the idea of family, so the prospect of having two new sisters is a very exciting one for her."

"And of course we will consider her to be our sister," Lavinia said. "We're excited to meet her as well. Perhaps all four of us can spend a bit more time together, away from the company of all the gentlemen. We could go for a picnic, perhaps, or maybe we could all take a stroll in the park—or you could come to my home and we could play the piano and have tea. Oh, I have all sorts of ideas! We'll have a wonderful time together and become fast friends, Cressida. I can hardly wait."

Cressida smiled. "I feel the same way," she said, relieved at how well things were going between herself and her new sisters—it had been a matter of some concern. Knowing that she was going to be accepted with open arms was a wonderful feeling. "I can hardly wait until we're able to spend a bit more time together and get to know each other more closely. My sister has always been the most important person in my life, so to have two new sisters is truly a blessing."

Matthew glanced at her and took her arm. "The musicians are beginning," he told her. "I think we ought to dance, if that's all right with you."

Cressida found that she missed his hand on her back, but being arm in arm with him was also very fine—and who was to say where his hands might find themselves once the two of them began to dance together? "A dance would be lovely," she said. "Lavinia, Edwina, we'll speak to one another more later tonight, I hope?"

"You can count on it!" Edwina said. "Don't keep her from us for too long, now, Matthew. Remember that you have her all the time! Tonight ought to be our opportunity to spend time with her."

Matthew laughed. "Yes, yes," he called over his shoulder as he led Cressida away.

Once on the dance floor, he took her in his arms and they began the steps of the dance. It was a very lucky thing, Cressida thought, that she had practiced dancing with her sister since childhood and knew these steps so well, for if that hadn't been the case, she didn't think she would have been able to keep up with him at all. It wasn't that Matthew was a dramatically better dancer than she was, but she was so carried away by the nearness of him and the way he kept his hands so firmly on her body that it was difficult to focus on anything else at all. Cressida wasn't sure she could have been relied upon to remember her own name at the moment.

When he spoke, her heart sank momentarily, for she wasn't sure she was going to be able to maintain conversation with him. "My sisters were very happy to see you," he observed.

"They're lovely," Cressida said. "They've been so kind to me—so welcoming. It's so wonderful to join a family that truly wants you to belong to it."

"Were you worried about that?"

"I'm not sure," Cressida admitted. "They don't really know me. And I know how I felt at the thought of my sister marrying someone she hardly knew."

"It upset you so much that you felt the need to intervene," Matthew recalled, laughing lightly, and Cressida was amazed. It didn't seem that long ago to her that neither one of them would have found anything in their situation humorous in the least—and yet, they could laugh about it now. It was a wonderful thing to discover.

"I was worried that your sisters might feel the same way," Cressida said. "I can see now that my worry was unfounded, but I thought they might not approve of our marriage, and if that was the case, I didn't know how they would respond to me. I didn't know if they might try to come between us somehow. Of course, we're already married, so there's little they could do—but they might have been upset over that fact."

"No, they wouldn't," Matthew said. "My sisters have been itching to see me marry for some time, as a matter of fact."

"Have they?"

"I was rather harsh on them—both of them—when I felt that it was time for them to marry," Matthew explained. "I think they've longed to give me back a bit of that same treatment, to see me suffer in the way they would claim they suffered at my hands."

"How were you harsh with them?"

"Neither one of them wished to marry," Matthew explained. "I pressed them into it."

"But they seem very happy in their marriages."

"Oh, yes. You must have them tell you the stories sometime. They were each so opposed to marriage. You see Lavinia now, full of fun and life—she wasn't always that way! Her husband brought out that side of her. She used to be a wallflower, and we despaired of her prospects and tried to make arrangements for her. Then, right under our noses, she fell in love with the Duke of Loxburgh."

"And Edwina? She told me a little of her story, but it sounds as if there's so much more to it."

"Edwina despised the idea of marriage altogether! She was never shy or retiring in the least, but she couldn't abide the idea of any gentleman imposing his will over her own and was determined to remain a spinster for the rest of her days."

"And let me guess—she fell in love as well?"

"And nobody saw it coming! But they're quite happy together now," Matthew added. "And my sisters have become quite insufferable in their happiness, forever informing me that one day I will fall in love just as they did."

"Do they believe that's what's happened with the two of us?" Cressida asked. "That we've fallen in love the way they did?"

"I couldn't say what they believe," Matthew said. "I did tell them the truth, that this marriage was for practical purposes only. But perhaps you're familiar with the phenomenon of little sisters thinking they know best when in reality they don't."

Cressida had to laugh. "I am familiar with that," she agreed. "Even Victoria, who has always looked up to me and always taken my advice, has a habit of thinking she knows better than I do what I need and how to make me happy. She's an unfailingly kindhearted person, but she worries far too much."

"The good news is that my sisters now believe that their wishes for me have been realized," Matthew said. "So everyone is happy. I have the marriage I wanted, and they get to see me settled down—and with a lady they seem to quite like, no less. I think they were right when they said the three of you will be good friends."

He smiled, and his smile lit up his eyes.

Cressida's heart fluttered at the sight, and she felt the pang of longing that was becoming so terribly familiar—the longing for their marriage to be something more than what it was.

But all she said was, "I hope you're right."