“Good morning,” Elizabeth replied in a hoarse voice as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “How long was I asleep?”
“It’s almost noon,” he said after glancing at his pocket watch. “You’ve slept for about three hours. We even stopped to bait the horses half an hour ago, and you didn’t even stir. Who’d have thought that married life was this uneventful,” he said wryly.
Elizabeth worried that he might be serious in his criticism and felt guilty.
“Are you hungry?” Talbot asked when she remained silent. “Perhaps we should have had a wedding breakfast before leaving.”
Elizabeth shook her head vehemently, “There was no way I could have stomached anything this morning.”
“Is the idea of being married to me so offensive to you?” he asked quietly.
Elizabeth was horrified. “No! It was… I…” She struggled with her answer.
“It’s just… You cried for the duration of the ceremony,” Talbot said with his jaw clenched tight.
“The way it all came about, you see…” Elizabeth tried again. “My nerves. I haven’t slept a wink last night.”
They were both silent for a while.
Then Elizabeth mustered up all her courage and asked, “Is the idea, perhaps, offensiveto you? I know you didn’t want to sully the Talbot name through…”
She kept her gaze on her slippers as she apprehensively awaited his response. She felt him take her hand in his. His skin was soft and warm. Her breath caught in surprise, and she looked up at him. Colin was staring at her hand in his, pensive. With the index finger of his other hand, he traced the veins on it.
“You’re my wife now, Lady Elizabeth. My duchess. I don’t want to hear any more such talk.”
She nodded wordlessly.
“Now, let’s see what your cook has put in this basket for us, shall we?”
They ate and drank and talked about things that were of very little consequence, and when they stopped to change horses some two hours later, Elizabeth felt much better.
“Norwich sounds wonderful,” she said dreamily after he’d told her a little bit about it. “The only two estates I’ve ever been to are Ashbury and Winchester.”
“You shall quickly realise that Norwich is far superior to both of those,” Talbot said matter-of-factly. “When we arrive tomorrow, you’ll meet the permanent staff who live there. My cook and valet are travelling together with your lady’s maid and her husband; they should arrive late tonight.”
“Thank you again for allowing my maid’s husband to join her. I imagine it would be very difficult for them to be apart.”
“I’m sure Mr Baker, my butler, will find something for Mr Ward to do,” Talbot said with a wave of his hand, dismissing her gratitude. “You’re awfully concerned with your maid’s marriage; not to mention how odd it is that someone in the service is married in the first place,” he added.
“Mary is my oldest friend,” Elizabeth explained, “we used to live and work together before,” without having to specify whatbeforewas.
Talbot nodded, his lips tightening in disapproval.
“Mind, you’re a duchess now. I’d advise against being too familiar with the servants.”
“Of course,” Elizabeth nodded, torn between the shame of having betrayed her friend by nodding so eagerly and the shame of being someone who needed to be instructed on proper conduct with the servants.
She decided she might as well get all the embarrassing things done right away.
“I wanted to ask you for something,” she said.
Talbot was sitting on the bench opposite her now, his long legs stretched in front of him, his interlaced fingers comfortably resting on his stomach.
“Yes?”
“I was wondering if I could invite Lady Burnham to stay with us at Norwich as my companion? She used to instruct me in all matters regarding etiquette, and I think I shall need her help as I adjust to my new duties.”
“Is that General Burnham’s widow?”
