The Duke's Divorce (The Reluctant Grooms Series Volume IV) Read Online Free Page A

him.
    “I decided not to wait until we arrived in
London to give you this, for many reasons, but also, well, you are
my wife now.” He placed the box on the table in front of her.
    Fiona looked at the box and then at him.
“What is this?”
    “Open it and see.”
    She took the jewelry box and flipped the lid
open. Inside on white velvet lay a square cut diamond ring
surrounded by smaller green stones, emeralds perhaps, interlaid
with gold filigree. A plain gold band lay underneath.
    “I hope you like them,” Robert said.
    “What is it?” she asked, her eyes wide.
    “It is a wedding set.”
    “For me?”
    “Of course for you. I do not have another
wife.” Robert wondered at her incredulous expression. Did she not
think he would buy her a wedding ring?
    “It looks so expensive,” she said. “Surely,
you do not wish to spend so much on a wedding set for a marriage
that will not last.”
    Robert tried to keep his voice calm. “Fiona,
‘tis just a small token. Without a ring on your finger too many
questions would be asked at the next inns, and I have no wish to
have eyebrows raised in my direction.”
    She looked at him again. Her face was a mask,
but the shimmer in her eyes told him another story. She did seem
pleased. She slipped the gold band, and then the diamond onto the
ring finger of her left hand.
    “They fit perfectly,” she whispered. She held
her hand away from the table and admired the rings. A tear slipped
down her cheek. “Thank you, my lord. They are beautiful. I shall
treasure them always.”
    Just then, the innkeeper’s wife brought their
breakfast. Fiona ate heartily and Robert couldn’t help smile as he
watched, as time and again, Fiona’s gaze went to her new rings.
    *****
    Fiona could not keep from staring at her
hand. The rings were exquisite. Jostling in the carriage, every so
often the light from the open window would catch the diamond and
send sparkling rainbows swirling throughout the equipage. Robert
had bought them for her. For her. Every time she thought of it,
another tide of tears would start. She had not received a present
since before her mother had died. That had been her pony, which her
father sold, along with her mother’s horse after her mother was
killed. She had never received another gift until this morning.
    “I assure you, they will not fly away,”
Robert said.
    Fiona startled at the sound of his voice. She
thought he was asleep. “Of course, my lord. I just cannot believe
how beautiful they are and that they are mine.”
    “Trust me, Fiona, they are yours.” Robert sat
up and looked out the window. “We are almost to Hawick. We have
made very good time these last few days together. I’m glad the
weather was for us. If it holds, I think we may arrive in London a
day ahead of schedule.”
    Fiona’s stomach did a flop. London. She had
no idea what she would find there. She had been at school in
Edinburgh, but that was nothing to compare to London she was
sure.
    “Tell me, what is London like?” Fiona
asked.
    “Big, loud, noise filled, fog filled, people
filled. It is not somewhere I choose to live, but that I must live.
For a period of time anyway. I have duties to Parliament, but I
soon hope to remove from Town. I find I am more suited to country
life.”
    “Aye, I am as well.” She wondered how she
would truly get on in the big city. “What is your home like? Is it
very grand?”
    “Yes, I believe you could say that.” Robert
puffed up his chest just a little bit.
    “I very much look forward to seeing it.”
    Robert flushed. “Ah, Fiona, that is something
I have been thinking about.”
    “Aye?” She didn’t like his tone.
    “I thought it best if you stayed at a hotel.
I had not thought to present you to my family. After all, with an
expedited annulment, there is no need for you to acquaint yourself
with the affairs of being the duchess. It would only prove
imprudent to introduce you as my wife.”
    She looked out the carriage window.