The Viscount and the Vixen by Ava Devlin

Author:Ava Devlin
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2019-09-07T21:00:00+00:00

14

G raham had made it clear that they would arrive in Scotland well after nightfall. That is to say, it would be far too late to find anyone to conduct a marriage ceremony until the following morning.

Rose didn’t mind. So long as they found an inn with proper bedrooms this time, she’d be fine. The last coaching inn had only shared rooms, separated by gender. Rather than spend another evening wrapped in Gideon’s arms, she had been shoved into a bed with three other women, separated by thin cushioned bolsters. One of the women, and she didn’t know which, snored something awful.

She guessed Gideon’s experience had been similar. Not because he said so, but because just after luncheon, he’d fallen dead asleep with his head in her lap as the carriage rumbled along.

She indulged in combing her fingers through his hair, admiring the way his face changed when he wasn’t awake to furrow his brow or suppress his emotions. She had caught glimpses of this relaxed, simpler Gideon over the last few days. She saw him only when he was playing Mr. d’Aubrey, flirting with her over meals at various little establishments along the road north.

Unfortunately, they had not had another opportunity to pass the night together. Rose wondered if he anticipated sharing a bed with her again as much as she did. When he was playing Mr. d’Aubrey, she felt that yes, he would tumble her at the first chance.

Serious, reserved Gideon came back in the carriage, when their conversations turned back to strategy regarding his sister’s misfortune and their options for addressing this crisis. That’s when the line appeared between his brows again, and she was not sure he had even thought about their night together since the sun had risen the next day.

She had taken her sketchbook out of her valise shortly after being given the news, and they’d made a makeshift list of possibilities in smudged charcoal as they talked over their options. In truth, she didn’t think they had narrowed down the possibilities much, but it seemed to comfort Gideon to talk through all the ways they might avoid scandal, and Rose was happy to do that if it gave him peace of mind.

She thought, with a little jolt of pride, that Gloriana would never have handled this so well. After all, had she not spent her entire life diffusing her mother’s never-ceasing worries and fears and complaints?

If she could aid Gideon in this, if she could manage his family’s problems the way she had often mitigated the dramatics of her mother and the Blakeleys, perhaps their partnership would be equal, and he would feel as lucky to have come into this marriage as she did. She must only prove her worth.

In truth, she was glad it was such a common breed of scandal, and she had told Gideon as much. Though one never knew for sure which families or when, everyone knew that sometimes young ladies got into trouble, and if it was handled with care, things would be all right in the end.

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