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 beclean?” 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 partof 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, theywantedhim 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 withlaughter, 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 secretandher 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 inthe 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. “Sheis 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.
