Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

“ T onight, wear something simple,” Adam instructed, “And meet me in the carriage.”

Beth was not one to disobey orders, typically, but even if she had been she would not have said no to her husband. He seemed almost ecstatic at the thought of going somewhere with her, and she had to admit that she felt the same fizzing of opportunity within her.

And yet, she was concerned. Simple clothing meant a simple place, and she was certainly not accustomed to going to such places with a man. She had lived in an inn that was nice enough, but it was something resembling a home, not an exciting outing. Regardless, she hoped to enjoy herself no matter what he had planned.

It was strange leaving the household in the darkness alone. She hadn’t worn a gown so plain outside before, and she felt the chill in the air. Winter was approaching, and it was making its upcoming presence known. Once she entered the carriage, Adam laughed and handed her his coat.

“That will not fit me!”

“Do you wish to catch a chill.”

“Not especially, no.”

“Then put it on. I assure you, where we are going nobody will care as to how you look.”

“I am the wife of an earl. My appearance is important.”

“I shall repeat. Not where we are going.”

He knocked on the ceiling, and the carriage lurched into action.

“Where are we going?” She asked after a while, “I assume it is for dinner?”

“Did you not eat?” He asked, his expression one of horror.

“Oh! Was I supposed to? I–”

His act broke, and he laughed at her. She playfully flicked his shoulder and folded her arms, pouting in a most infantile manner. She would have mocked herself had she not been so surprised at being caught out.

“Yes, we are going to have dinner,” he explained, the remnants of his smirk on his lips, “There is a tavern here, and I was thinking about trying it for a while, and now that you are with me there is no better time.”

“Then why are we dressed like this? If we are going to meet people, we should have dressed appropriately.”

“Would you rather flaunt wealth and luxury in front of them? I wouldn’t call that an intelligent idea.”

“I suppose, but we are supposed to show our status. We are not commoners.”

“Do you truly see yourself that way?”

“And you! We are an earl and a countess.”

“Yes, and I lived in a tiny little house with my mother for most of my life, and you have spent time living in a single bedroom. We are not exactly better than anyone else, are we?”

Beth thought about that, and felt an immense guilt. Adam was right; they had known their own struggles, and she was not entitled to see anyone differently simply because her circumstances had changed for the better.

When they arrived, Beth smiled. It was a quaint little building, smoke billowing out of the chimney. It was well lit inside, the windows glowing yellow from the candlelight and people of equal warmth scattered around outside even if the weather was freezing.

“Two meals, please,” he asked the owner, his voice smooth.

“Certainly, Sir,” he nodded, giving a quick smile to Beth.

“He seems kind,” she said quietly as they walked to their table.

“The owners of these places tend to be. They do this work because they enjoy it.”

“Did you?”

“Of course! There were new people to meet every night, then the people that had been coming for years, and all of them agreeing that their meals and drinks were good.”

“You must have met so many people.”

“I did, and that was quite possibly the best part of it all. It was long work, and difficult at times, but I would be a liar if I claimed not to miss it, even if leaving it behind made me financially more fortunate.”

“Excuse me,” a gentleman said suddenly, appearing at their side, “I may be mistaken, but are you not the Earl of Colton?”

“I am indeed,” Adam nodded, “I am having dinner with my lovely wife, here.”

“Good evening, My Lady.”

“Good evening, Mister…”

“Grantham. Now, I do not mean to interrupt your meal, but you are both more than welcome to join us when you are done, if you wish.”

“We most certainly will,” Adam nodded, and Mister Grantham left.

“It is good to see that manners are not in short supply here,” she smiled, looking at her glass of lemonade.

“They are not going to be improper simply because they are not in the nobility. Surely you know that?”

“Of course I do! I lived among people that are not in the nobility, but it is still quite a bizarre thing to see.”

“I would argue that they are more polite than those in the ton. Other than yourself, I am yet to have a good conversation with anyone in London outside of my sisters and their husbands, and I do not believe those are fair to count. They have no choice but to like me, after all.”

“Did you like them?”

“They were nice enough to my sisters, not that my thoughts would have mattered there. One was already married, and the other was well on the way there.”

“I’m sure they would have cared. I’m sure they still do.”

“They do, as any sisters would, the same as I care for them, but it is easier this way. They have their own lives and families, and I have mine. We are all happy, and it is better to keep it this way.”

Beth disagreed, but they were having a nice evening and she did not wish to spoil it. She did not know everything about them, and so it was not the time nor the place for her to say what she thought about all of it.

“Did you ever want a sister?” He asked, which made her feel anxious, “You told me you have no brothers or sisters. Did you ever find yourself in want of one?”

“A brother, yes. Everything would have been easier if I had a brother.”

“Because you would have had someone to protect you?”

“Because then my father would have had an heir, and there would have been no need for my match to have been made by him, as he was not searching for someone to take over his title before he passed.”

“Has he passed?”

“No, not as yet. He is in perfect health, actually, or he was when I last saw him. He was simply concerned because he knew something could happen to him, and his bloodline would come to an end.”

Adam raised his glass to her, and she clinked hers to his.

“To terrible fathers,” he laughed emptily, “And to the fact that we still have things to thank them for.”

She laughed, and their meals arrived. Beth had grown accustomed to meals from their cook, but there was an undeniable charm to food from an inn or a tavern, and that night’s meal was no exception. It was a burst of heat against the cold outside, and she welcomed it.

“This is wonderful,” Adam sighed, “Cook is wonderful, but there is no matching the atmosphere of a place such as this.”

“Do you mean to say that you enjoy company while you eat?”

“I most certainly do.”

“Then why did you not wish to do so with me?”

“Ah… You see, I knew that my tendencies in that regard were rather abnormal, and so I was saving you from the displeasure of witnessing it, though I must say I reveled in it a little when you did request it.”

“I can only imagine,” she smiled.

When they had finished, Adam led her to the other room where the patrons were drinking. He held her hand the entire way, which made her heart pound. They were married, but such actions in public places were improper, scandalous even, but nobody seemed to notice, and if they did then it was quite clear that they did not care. They were enjoying themselves far too much to care about the actions of those they did not know, and it was refreshing.

“My Lord!” Mister Grantham greeted, “Welcome!”

“I already feel very much welcomed,” Adam nodded, “As does my companion, though she might not be as willing to converse as I am.”

“Ah, a proper lady, is she?”

“She is, indeed, though she is a wonderful speaker. It just so happens that she is also a good listener.”

“Then she is more than welcome to listen to us gentlemen, so long as her poor, ladylike heart can handle it.”

Had it been said another way, Beth might have taken it as some sort of attack, but he was looking at her kindly and speaking with patience. She was not disliked simply because of her upbringing, and it surprised her no matter how prepared she had been for it.

“Does this mean you have found a wife, My Lord?” Another gentleman asked, “You have been the earl here for years now. We were wondering when you might meet one.”

“It does, indeed, though I will say that our courtship was shorter than expected.”

A week. It had lasted a week.

“Then that must be why we haven’t heard about her yet. You have done well, she is beautiful.”

There it was again, those improper pieces of conversation, but they were easier to hear this time. It was different, somehow, and Beth wondered if that was because it was the sort of company they were in. She had to admit that there was a draw to the place, as though there was a separation between those that were there and those that were not that was more than the distance.

It was freeing.

There was no expectation that she would sit perfectly upright and use all of the etiquette that had been instilled in her since birth. She was a countess, certainly, but she was also a person and it had only been since meeting her husband that she had known such a feeling.

“Do you want something to drink?” Adam asked.

“A lemonade would be lovely.”

“You can have more than a lemonade here,” he chuckled, “Nobody will care, I assure you.”

“Very well,” she sighed, “So long as it isn’t a whisky.”

“As you wish. I shall return momentarily.”

Alone with the others, Beth did feel slightly less at ease but there were other ladies around her that made her feel more comfortable. They looked kindly at her, not as if she was an exotic animal but as if she was a person, and it was a nice change to what she had grown used to.

“You are a new marriage, if I am not mistaken,” one woman said gently.

“Relatively speaking, yes. The earl was not being untruthful when he said our courtship was short. It was a mutual decision. He and I… we needed one another.”

“How wonderful. We have been hoping for some time that he might meet someone. His father always seemed to be in misery, and we wanted more for his son.”

“Well, Juliet, that was because he had lost his wife. We all knew that.”

“Ah, yes, the fire. A terrible thing to happen to a family. The girls must have been torn apart.”

“The girls?” Beth echoed, “Do you mean the earl’s sisters?”

“Of course. They were sweet girls, not that we were ever able to see them. They faced many trials when their mother passed, but now they are duchesses. The late earl spoke only of that in his last few months. Two duchesses and an heir, he said, as though it had been his greatest achievement.”

“It certainly sounds like one.”

“Yes, but he had no love for them, only for what he had done for them. There is a difference between feeling pride for a child you love and feeling pride for something you have done for a child.”

“Here you go,” Adam said brightly, handing her a glass, “I assure you, it is not whisky.”

“Did he truly give you whisky? Oh, you poor thing.”

Adam looked atJuliet and laughed loudly.

“I only wanted to show her a different way of living, and I’ll have you know that there is a way in which she likes it.”

He looked at her expectantly, and Beth said the words hot toddy the way he did, and they all beamed.

“A delicacy from whence you came,” Mister Grantham nodded, “You ought to make them here some time.”

“I cannot. You would all pester me for another!”

Just then, music began to play. Adam swept her up from her seat, placed her drink down, and pulled her into a dance.

“You didn’t invite me!” She spluttered through laughs.

“This isn’t a ball. This is how we commoners ask ladies to dance with us. Do you not like it?”

“It is improper, and completely scandalous–”

“I didn’t ask that,” he pointed out, his lips almost pressed to her ears, “I asked if you like it.”

And she did. Oh, how she did. There was a spontaneity to it, something she had never known before meeting him, and she had to admit that it is something that she had unknowingly been missing.

She nodded, unable to speak from breathlessness; this dance was faster than what she was used to, and it required a lot more effort.

When the music came to an end, she was dizzy, but she felt strong arms around her, lifting her up.

“This, ladies and gentlemen,” Adam proclaimed, “Is my new, wonderful wife!”

There were cheers from the other guests, even if it was information they already knew, and in that moment she knew she had to do something.

And so she kissed him.

It was the very first act of impropriety she had dared to commit of her own volition, and it was the greatest defiance she could think of in the moment. And yet, among the taste of wine on her tongue, she had never felt a clearer mind.

She froze. That kiss exceeded her expectations of what it meant to be so close to someone, and she had enjoyed it, but it gave her a cause for concern nonetheless.

She had kissed the one man that she had promised not to fall for.