“Thank you,” she managed to mutter, but she wasn’t convinced the words were intelligible.
“My pleasure,” he said all the same. “I was going to ride, but… it appears your outing was not what you hoped.”
She turned away to carefully wipe her tears. “It was fine. I didn’t leave this morning with… with high expectations.”
That appeared to silence Owen. She focused on drying her tears and stopping the hiccups for so long that she thought he must have left, for the stables became too quiet. But when she turned back in his direction, she found him leaning against the wall nearby, his eyes downcast.
“I may not know much about family,” Owen said slowly in a soft voice, “but I know what it is to feel hurt. Betrayed. It is not a pain I would wish upon anyone, especially you.”
Dumbfounded, Georgiana didn’t know how to react. She wrung the handkerchief in her hands as she looked up at him.
If only Owen would look her in the eye. Why didn’t he? And would she survive if he did? She swallowed past the lump in her throat, wondering why he was being nice to her.
He must have felt her gaze on him, for he straightened. Though he looked up, he didn’t quite meet her gaze. It seemed he was staring at her chin.
“You deserve better,” he murmured. “That’s all I wished to say.”
“I deserve better?”
Again he looked down. “There isn’t much I know about women either, I fear. Keep the handkerchief.”
Then Owen walked away. While Georgiana had half expected the tightness in her chest to ease when he disappeared, it didn’t. She still felt that hurt. That fear. She wiped one last tear as confusion added to the maelstrom of emotions within her.
Was Owen trying to be kind to me? I hardly understand what just happened.
She shook her head. It had been a long day, and she was ready for it to be over. Up to the house she walked.
After writing a quick apology to the hosts of the dinner party she was supposed to attend that evening, Georgiana climbed into her bed and stopped trying for the rest of the day.
CHAPTER16
If there was one thing Owen tried to avoid in his life, it was discomfort. Whether it came in the way of fear, pain, or embarrassment, he did his best to stay away from such occasions.
So after that afternoon in the stables, he resumed his efforts to avoid his wife.
There was a part of him that knew it was madness. It made no sense. Though he wanted to keep her around in order to sustain the change that their marriage had brought them, he didn’t actually want to be around her. Owen wasn’t ready for that.
Already he admitted too much to Georgiana. She knew more about him than she should. Even through her tears, she would have noticed it.
“Your Grace?”
He glanced up from where he was studying his new pocket watch. The footman, Thomas, looked at him curiously from the other side of the hall. Then they glanced at the corner of the front hall.
“Is there…?”
But the young man fell quiet when Owen put his finger to his lips to silence him. There were already voices down the next hall. Mrs. Helen and Georgiana spent most mornings talking there after their meetings in the kitchen to ensure the smooth running of the household.
All she had to do was wait another six minutes. Approximately.
He blamed the chambermaid for that. She had brought his breakfast a little earlier this morning, so he was ahead of schedule. Pushing back his irritation, Owen put the pocket watch away. He wouldn’t admit it to the man, but Anders had been right. This one was a handy one to have.
“Sunday will be a quiet day, I think,” Georgiana continued. She spoke confidently, managing the house as though she had lived in it all of her life instead of a month. “That would be the perfect time for everyone to have an extra day off. Are you certain you don’t wish to join them?”
“Oh, not this time, but thank you, Your Grace.”
“Mrs. Helen, I insist. If you don’t take Sunday off, then you shall have Tuesday and Wednesday to yourself. I won’t hear of you working. If you wish to stay on the premises, you may, but I won’t let you lift a finger.”
“That’s very generous, Your Grace, but I’m not certain I can accept.”
