Chapter 42 - Dinner And To Bed

"My Lady? My Lady, should I show you to your room?"

Delaney turned and found the housekeeper, Mrs. Crouch, watching her with a warm smile on her wrinkled face. She'd been the housekeeper at Edgewood Manor as long as Delaney could remember.

"Of course," Delaney agreed, trying to pull herself together, "Thank you, Mrs. Crouch. I'm glad to see you're still taking good care of Edgewood."

"Oh," the grey-haired woman chuckled, pleased at being noticed, "I manage to keep things running smoothly enough. I will say it was easy these last few years with no one here to look after but I'm so happy you and his Lordship have finally come so the house can be a home again."

Delaney swallowed. She was afraid she and Vincent were going to be a great disappointment.

She followed the little woman in through the high, wooden doors and into the stone castle beyond. It was such an old structure that inside, it was always rather dark. As soon as they were through the entryway, they turned and started up the grand stone staircase.

Looking around, Delaney was surprised by how the same things were now as they had been when she was a child. The paintings and tapestries all hung in the same places. The holders for the torches and candles were polished until they shined but they hadn't changed at all.

Mrs. Crouch walked ahead of her up the stairs, telling her the dinner menu they had planned for the evening to celebrate the wedding. Mrs. Crouch was a short little old woman but she was strict and the servants underneath her feared and respected her.

Delaney was happy the housekeeper seemed to like her. Maybe she would be an ally in case one was needed. She felt she might end up needing allies here.

At last, after walking a bit down the long, high ceilinged hallway, Mrs. Crouch stopped in front of an elegantly carved door. She opened it and stepped back so Delaney could go in ahead of her.

The room was easily twice the size of the bedroom she'd had before, complete with its own fireplace and tall paned glass windows that would let the sunshine in. There were shelves with her own books already nicely set on them, a writing desk, and plush couches in front of the whitewashed fireplace.

She was most surprised by the enormous fourposter bed with a sheer canopy over the top. It was loaded with all different size pillows and layers of feather down stuffed quilts.

Delaney had lived a pampered life with her Aunt and Uncle but this room was fit for royalty.

Noticing the ornate tapestries on the walls, she had to pause to admire them. Each was a different beautiful scene. One had a unicorn standing alone in the forest. Another had what looked to be fairies dancing around in a ring. There was a lake with swans and another with a pair of deer.

"Oh yes aren't they beautiful," Mrs. Crouch smiled, seeing her new mistress admiring them, "Lord Adair picked these all out to be hung in this room for you. The one with the deer actually came from his study."

"Vincent picked these for me?" Delaney questioned, looking at them with more care now.

"Most everything in this room was chosen by him to be here. He took great care in making it nice for you."

The old housekeeper smiled proudly, speaking of her master she had known since his birth. Delaney knew she meant to reassure her new mistress that he cared for her but it only confused her more after his outburst upon her arrival.

"When did he pick everything?" she asked curiously, wondering if it had been before or after their exchange the night of her birthday party.

"Oh well, most of this he picked out yesterday. As soon as he got home he had an army of us follow him through the house as he handpicked things to move in here."

Delaney's face must have shown her surprise and Mrs. Crouch misread it as disappointment.

"I'm sure he would've rather spent more time on it," she continued quickly, "But he said Lady Adair insisted the wedding happen today."

"Yes," Delaney smiled to ease the woman's worry, "It was quite a surprise for both of us."

Just then a red-headed young woman stepped into the room, giving Delaney a nervous curtsey.

"There you are Ivy," Mrs. Crouch looked at her with a flash of disapproval before her face resumed its pleasant appearance, "My Lady, Ivy will be your ladies maid. I'm afraid she's only been here a few days so she's still learning but she had good references so I'm sure she'll be a quick study."

"Thank you, Mrs. Crouch. Hello Ivy. Would you mind getting my things so I can change for dinner?"

"Yes, My Lady," the young maid was quick to comply. Delaney watched her, guessing the girl was younger than herself.

"I'll leave you to it then," Mrs. Crouch smiled before excusing herself from the room.

Delaney stood in the middle of her room alone then and made a slow turn, looking over everything and imaging Vincent picking things out for her. It was a beautiful room.

This would be her safe haven she hoped. The place she could hide and be alone. She imagined she would be spending a lot of time here.

Ivy returned then and helped her out of her beautiful wedding dress and into a deep purple gown she had brought with her. The maid plucked the jewels out of her hair, placing them in her jewelry chest so they could be returned to her Aunt.

"Would you like me to redo your hair, My Lady?" she asked shyly after brushing out Delaney's long locks.

"That's alright Ivy," Delaney smiled and pulled her hair into a braid hanging over her shoulder, "It's just dinner for Vincent and I so I don't need to be too fancy."

"Of course," Ivy nodded, and then she too excused herself.

Delaney sat in one of the plush couches and considered if it was a good idea to go down to dinner or not. She wondered if it would make Vincent angrier to see her there or her absence.

As the bell rung, announcing dinner was ready, she decided she would rather risk being there. She didn't want him to believe his statements about her missing her earlier meals were true.

His scars may be unnerving but her not eating had had nothing to do with them directly.

She stood at the door of her room and took a deep breath, gathering her courage, before stepping back out into the hall and down the stairs.

The dining room had high arching ceilings and a long table running down the middle that was currently set with the manor's finest silver and cutlery.

Far down at the end of the table, Delaney saw Vincent stand as she entered. His face didn't give away what he thought of her being there as she'd hoped it would.

He moved to pull her chair out for her, stepping deliberately to conceal his limp. She thanked him and sat quickly. He moved back to his seat but again kept his face and footing steady.

Delaney wanted to ask him how he was feeling after the pain he had been in earlier but dared not to.

She watched the servers move around them, carefully keeping their eyes up and not looking at either their Lord or Lady for too long. Delaney felt something strange about the stiff formality of it.

At her home, the servers had perfect manners but they also didn't look like they were afraid to be there. These men seemed perhaps more on edge than she was.

As she took a bite of the delicious food, she looked at Vincent from the corner of her eye. There was a hint of a frown on his scarred face and she wondered what was amiss that was bothering him. Was it her?

"This is wonderful," she said, trying to break the tension building in the room.

Vincent glanced at her plate and nodded, "Mrs. King is the best cook in the land."

Delaney forced a small smile and turned to the server, "Can you please thank her for me and send my compliments?"

The man glanced from her to Vincent and back nervously, "Of course my Lady. She'll be pleased to hear it."

"We don't need so many of you here for just the two of us," Vincent cleared his throat and looked at the man, "Why don't all but one of you return to the kitchen and we'll ring if we need you."

"Of-of course my Lord," the man bowed quickly before he and the other "unneeded" servers retreated from the room.

Delaney felt the tension between she and Vincent grow with the absence of others in the room. It fell silent except for the clinking of their cutlery against their dishes. Delaney grew more uncomfortable every passing minute.

"Would you prefer to eat alone?" she asked suddenly, unable to stop herself.

Vincent looked up at her, "I told you coming to dinner was your choice. If you don't wish to be here you can leave."

Delaney glanced at the server who seemed to be trying not to draw attention to himself.

"I didn't say I didn't want to be here," she spoke, controlling her annoyance, "It just seems like you might be angry that I'm here."

Vincent slowed and put down his fork, keeping his eyes on his plate now.

"I don't like having an... audience... while I eat."

Delaney sat back in surprise, "You mean the servants being here when you're eating? Or me being here?"

He took a deep breath, "Both I suppose. I know my chewing and swallowing sometimes makes the marks on my face and neck start to get more painful and thus redder. I tend to try to deal with it alone."

Delaney looked at his face and saw his marks did seem to be darkening. She swallowed and imagined that would make something for servants to stare at even if they were trying not to.

"Well," she said, "What if we just have our meals like this for now? With just one servant available if we need him but otherwise just us?"

Vincent looked up at her in surprise now, "You don't think it would be offputting for you to have your meals with me knowing this would happen sometimes?"

Delaney attempted a smile, "We are married. We should at least spend our meals together."

The slightest smile formed on his lips and he looked back down at his plate, "Alright then."

They ate their meal in silence but it was a comfortable one now.

Delaney felt relief at having navigated his anger. By the time they'd finished their meal she was starting to convince herself she was going to be alright.

The servants cleared away their plates and Delaney tried to hide a yawn with the back of her hand.

"You must be tired," Vincent said then, "Come and I'll walk you to your room."

Delaney's heart came to a crashing halt as he stood.

It was their wedding night and it was time to go to bed. Vincent was going to take her to her room.

Delaney's heart leaped to her throat. What would he want to do? She didn't want to go to bed with him!

What was she going to do?