Tobias’s hand cupped her elbow. “Mother, Father, I must steal my bride away from you and, indeed, away from all our guests. The hour grows late, and I grow”—the gaze he pierced Maggie with burned her to the core—“tired.”
Tired?Ha. More likely tired of waiting to take her to bed. Thank the heavens. Conversation with her husband’s parents had proved enlightening. Mr. Blake really did despise his son, and not defending him wore her down. They did not see the real Tobias, and she wanted to reveal him to them. Each sentence she silenced before it even began sat heavy in her heart, and a wave of exhaustion coursed through her. She wanted only her bedroom. And Tobias. She threaded her fingers through his. “Me as well. I look forward to our tour of your factory, Mr. Blake.”
Her father-in-law nodded.
Her mother-in-law smiled warmly.
Maggie stifled a yawn. “Of course. We must say goodbye to other guests, and I’m afraid we leave for London early in the morning.”
“Before breakfast,” Tobias added. “You’ll not see us again. For a while.”
Maggie elbowed Tobias. There was no reason to be rude.
Tobias’s mother checked a sob, and she blinked back tears. “Tobias, we’re so proud of you.”
His father grunted and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Jem!” Violet warned.
“I’m more amazed he married well than proud.”
Tobias’s eyes widened in shock. “Lady Maggie, did you hear that?”
Things were fast deteriorating. She had to salvage some fellow feelings before they took their leave. She smiled brightly at Tobias’s parents. “I am so happy to have met you both.” She turned her face up to Tobias. “I am quite fatigued. Will you escort me to bed?” She couldn’t keep her cheeks from heating at the question and all it implied.
“My pleasure.” As they turned, he cast a flippant look over his shoulder at his father. “Good night, dearest Papa.”
Maggie yanked on his arm. “Must you antagonize everyone?”
“Oh, certainly. But especiallyhim. He’s a bore.”
“He is rather … intimidating.”
He kissed the top of her head. “But not too much so for my courageous Lady Mags. You faced him all on your own. I lost years off my life when I saw you two conversing.”
“Why?” Did he not trust her to keep her silence?
“Father can be a beast. I did not wish him to tear you into little pieces.”
A decent enough answer, that.
People waved and smiled as he dragged her through the ballroom and toward the exit.
Maggie dug her heels in, trying to stop him, slow him down. “Wait. We really do have to say goodbye. My parents—”
“Would be elated if I threw you over my shoulder and carried you like a sack of flour out of this room.” He arched an eyebrow at her. “Would they not?”
Of course they would. They’d probably clap and cheer him on. She’d be lucky if her mother didn’t yell out suggestions for lovemaking. Perhaps it was best they retreated upstairs as quickly as possible.
He stopped their progress right at the door. “Wait. Right. There.” He disappeared back into the crowd.
“Where are you going?!”
He lifted an arm in her direction in response and continued his path toward … what? She sighed and leaned against the door frame, suddenly tired of waiting. She wanted Tobias to stride back toward her, flip her over his shoulder as he’d threatened, and bundle her away. Upstairs to be more accurate, to her bedroom, which was to be her bedroom one final night. A thrill shivered down Maggie’s spine. Tonight, she’d be Tobias’s wife in every sense of the word, she’d experience the full promise of the pleasure his kisses and caresses hinted at.
“Pardon me, Mrs. Blake?”
Maggie looked around for Tobias’s mother. Had she followed them across the room? When she could not locate her, she realized the woman smiling at her referred to Maggie herself. “Oh! You mean me. I am not yet used to my new name.”
