Marchioness Divine | A Regency Romance

Chapter Fourteen: He Only Despised Her

So many ladies feared their mothers-in-law, but Amelia did not think there was anything worse than the unbearable silence of being trapped in a house with her husband after hers left. She was sure he felt the same, but maybe his desire for his mother's and sister's companionship was trumped by his need to punish Amelia. She could not figure out why they did not visit him, or why he did not go and leave her behind. The servants were not prepared to talk to her. Edward never indicated that he wished to head to the country, possibly because he knew Amelia liked it there and wanted her to suffer in town.

The Dowager Countess had introduced Amelia to every member of the staff on her wedding day while Edward had taken to his study. Edward was meant to take her on a tour of the house but he never did, leading Amelia to aimlessly wander the halls. She attempted to memorise where the important rooms were – the bedchamber, the dining room, and her own personal sitting room. There was a larger one somewhere in the Herriot labyrinth but she could not find it.

She accidentally strolled into Edward's bedchamber one evening because she forgot which wing hers was in – she silently left without an explanation. That accident was the only time she saw her husband in the week after the wedding.

As it became apparent that Edward planned to live married in silence, Amelia's grief quickly turned to anger. She knew she had done wrong but she would not be punished by a man who could never understand what drove her to make such a decision.

Amelia was the mistress of this house – she had not given up her Marchioness title to become someone's subordinate.

After nine days of silence and hiding in her little parlour, Amelia made her way to the library and decided to make frequent use of it. She might spend the whole morning there writing letters to the Warstones and her parents. She helped herself to a whole section on learning Italian.

Edward walked into the library three times on the second week of their marriage, before storming out as soon as he saw her. She felt a dose of smug pride when she realised she could still agitate him so – he was not completely unfeeling towards her. He only despised her.

Within a few days Amelia had successfully appropriated the library and then moved onto the drawing room – the room where she had first kissed Edward. He was accustomed to reading his newspaper in there in the mornings, so Amelia allowed him use of the room until noon, when she would take tea. The first day he stormed out once more. The second he attempted to enjoy some tea as well before storming out after three minutes and spending the rest of the day at his club. By the third he had worked out her schedule and vacated the room before she entered it.

Marriage became a game of torment, but she never felt as though she were winning.

The days she could rule the house. The nights she could just about cope with. Many couples used separate bedchambers, but that was not the life she had intended for herself and Edward. After almost a month of this dreaded silence passed, she realised that Edward intended for them to live like this always – together but separate. No matter what she might tease out of herself, she knew what it was to press her skin against Edward's and nothing would satisfy her until she could touch him again.

This could not go on forever. She could play countess, but this was not the life she deserved. It was a prison sentence. She would write and study in the library in the mornings, she would take tea in the drawing room, and in the afternoons she would sit in her parlour and think and think until she knew what to do.

She loved Edward more than her own life. No matter how much she tried to rile him up, swanning about the house she was trespassing in, she would always love him. And slowly she figured out a plan which would release him. It would break their binds and break her heart.