“Your Grace,” she said, once she was sure that he had exhausted his own panic, “I am indebted to you for your kindness. I will not try to persuade you otherwise. I understand that when we carry worries and fears for our loved ones, we must sometimes take action to still our own frantic hearts. But do you know? It is better, sometimes, to face these things head-on.”
“What could you mean?”
“When my mother passed, my father had Olivia and I take riding lessons just a few weeks after she was buried. He did not want us to be afraid of something we loved so dearly.”
“I see.”
“At first, it was a mess. For me, anyway. Olivia took to the lessons quite well, but I sobbed every time I saw a horse. For months.”
“How did you overcome it?”
Marina smiled and looked down at her lap. “I became quite angry with my husband one night.”
“You rode for the first time….to Miss Harrington?”
“Since my mother’s passing yes.”
“Marina, had you told me that, I would have?—”
“Not let me go?”
“Yes, of course.”
“You were not home to stop me.”
Phillip stared at her, the air around him in the carriage feeling suddenly stale and empty. She was fine, of course, but what if that had not been the case? What if something had happened to her merely because Phillip had been too stubborn to get to know his wife well enough to realize she faced great emotional torment each time she rode a horse?
Marina continued when he did not speak. “I think I outgrew my fear far before that night, Phillip. It was just that it had become a habit to avoid it. I did not think that I could, so I did not try, but as it is, I still quite enjoy it.”
Phillip thought for a moment then looked up at her with a smile. “When the weather warms again next season, let us go riding on the beach together. And in the meantime, I would very much like to ride with you in the evenings when you feel up to it.”
Marina smiled. “I would love that.”
CHAPTER 24
“Marina! Make haste, or we shall be exceptionally late!”
Phillip, Olivia, and Lord Linfield stood together at the foot of the stairs, waiting anxiously for Marina to descend. It was the night of the last ball of the season, and she was acting as Olivia’s chaperone in her father’s stead for the night as he was headed out for other affairs. She had expressed to Phillip, many times, that she was exceedingly nervous about attending. It was their first ball together since they’d been married. He had assured her that it would go smoothly, but she could not shake the feeling that something was bound to go wrong.
Part of his inability to reassure her had to do with the creeping suspicions his uncle had planted in her mind. Although things had improved between the Haywards since their adventure with the stray horse, Phillip’s schedule had become increasingly erratic over the past couple of days. His absence and unpredictability had watered and nurtured those seeds, and they were now budding into a small but vibrant garden. Her stomachchurned at the idea of discovering a secret or happening upon a secretly exchanged glance between Phillip and another woman. She tried to tell herself that the more she anticipated it, the more likely it was to happen, but this only made things worse.
At last, she came down the stairs wearing a simple periwinkle gown with lavender embellishments and white satin gloves. Her hair was pinned up, elegantly, and Phillip thought she shone just as brightly as the night they met. He wondered, idly, why it had not occurred to him before that taking her to more balls would mean seeing her like this more often. She was always breathtaking, but there was just something about a ball gown that truly complimented her soft, romantic features.
“You wore the dress!” Olivia exclaimed, putting her own gloved hands up to her face. The gown Marina wore had been a gift from her sister, one which matched the one Olivia herself had on. “And it looks splendid!” Olivia’s hands reached out for Marina’s, and they held each other for a moment, taking the other in.
When Phillip had first met them, he thought that Marina and Olivia could nearly be twins, but now that he looked at Olivia a bit more, he could see that she favored her father. Her hair was not the same shade of gold as Marina’s—a bit lighter and ashier. Her eyes did not shine as brightly. And her features were sharper. They were both beautiful but each in their own way, and no one, he thought, before he could stop the thought from rising unbidden in his mind, was as beautiful as his wife.
The three of them arrived at the ball together, but Olivia was whisked away almost immediately to dance with one of her many suitors. Marina and Phillip, linked at the arm, took a slow, tepid turn about the room together. Neither of them were the pleasantries sort, so it was easier for them to bask in the company of each other than to pretend to enjoy small talk with the other guests at the party.
“Tell me what you think of Olivia’s prospects,” Phillip said quietly.
“Each of them individually or as a whole?”
“As a whole and then perhaps, your least and best favorite.”
Marina smiled, chuckling lightly behind a closed mouth. “I think that Olivia has done quite well for herself. She could have her pick of the most eligible men in the country, including the Viscount.”
Phillip raised his eyebrows. “The Viscount? Lord Baker?” he asked, his tone hushed just in case others were attempting to eavesdrop.
