The Obedient Bride

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Her cheeks flushed slightly. "I beg your pardon, my lord," she said. "I shall not do so again."

"My name is Geoffrey," he said. "Will you use it?"

"If you wish it, my lord," she said.

He smiled fleetingly again. "If you are not to go shopping after all," he said, "may I send a hairdresser, Arabella? I believe you will find that fashionable hair styles are a great deal lighter and curlier than yours. One of the new styles would become you well."

I hate my hair," she said. "It is far too heavy and will not hold into any style. I wish we still lived in an age when everyone wore wigs. I would be able to shave off my own hair beneath it."

He laughed. "Then I am very glad that the fashion fell from favor long ago," he said. "I shall see if Monsieur Pierre can come this morning. Perhaps he can persuade you to like your hair a little better."

"Yes, my lord," she said and smiled. "I shall try what he can do if it will please you. Are you really going to send for George and Emily as you promised last evening? It would be so splendidly generous of you to do so. George will be lonely without me, for everyone else treats him like a dog instead of like a person. And animals are really persons, my lord. At least, what I mean is that they have very real feelings and need love just as we do."

Her eyes widened suddenly and she blushed and looked down at her plate. She busied herself pushing the remnants of a muffin around her plate with the tip of her knife.

"I shall make the arrangements today to have them sent for," Lord Astor said. "Of course I meant it, Arabella. This is your home now, and I wish you to be happy here. You will have ample opportunity to ride your horse and walk your dog. The park is very close by."

"The park?" Her eyes were directed at him again. They were very dark gray eyes. Sometimes they looked almost black.

"Hyde Park," he said. "Did you not know? We are ...

© Mary Balogh