That evening, dinner at Blackwood Manor was a study in barely contained tension. Victoria had appeared in the dining room dressed in a gown of midnight blue silk that clung to her curves and displayed her décolletage to perfection. She had positioned herself across from Adrian, where every gesture, every smile, every flutter of her lashes would be impossible for him to ignore.Felicity, seated in her usual place to Adrian's right, felt positively dowdy by comparison despite the elegant rose-colored gown Annie had helped her select. Victoria's beauty was the kind that commanded attention—bold, sophisticated, and utterly confident in its power."The pheasant is divine, Adrian," Victoria purred, her voice a silky caress. "Do you remember that hunting party at Ravenshollow? You brought down three birds with three shots, and we celebrated afterward in that little inn by the lake?"Adrian's expression remained carefully neutral as he cut his meat with precise movements. "That was a long time ago, Victoria.""Not so long that I've forgotten." Her blue eyes sparkled with mischief and something more intimate. "You were wearing that forest green hunting jacket that brought out the color of your eyes. I told you then that green was your color."Felicity noticed that Adrian was indeed wearing a dark green waistcoat this evening, and she wondered if the choice had been deliberate—either to please Victoria or to torment her."Lady Victoria," Felicity interjected quietly, "how long has it been since you visited Yorkshire? The countryside must seem quite different from London."Victoria's smile could have frozen wine. "Oh, I haven't been to this dreary corner of England in ages. There's so little here to interest a person of refinement. Though I suppose," her gaze swept meaningfully around the opulent dining room, "one could become accustomed to the isolation if the compensations were... adequate."The barb was clearly aimed at Felicity's humble origins, but before she could respond, Adrian set down his fork with enough force to make the crystal ring."Victoria, you are a guest in my home. You will conduct yourself accordingly, or you will find yourself returning to London sooner than anticipated."Victoria's laugh was like silver bells, but there was steel beneath the musical sound. "Oh, Adrian, always so protective of strays and wounded creatures. It's one of the things I've always adored about you."The casual cruelty of referring to Felicity as a wounded creature made heat rise in Felicity's cheeks, but it was Adrian's reaction that truly surprised her. His gray eyes went cold as winter frost, and when he spoke, his voice carried a warning that made even Victoria pause."My wife is neither a stray nor wounded, Victoria. She is the lady of this house, and you will treat her as such or our acquaintance ends here and now."The silence that followed was deafening. Victoria stared at Adrian as though she had never seen him before, her perfect composure finally showing cracks. Felicity found herself studying her husband's profile, struck by the fierce protectiveness in his voice when he defended her."I... I didn't mean..." Victoria stammered, clearly shaken by the vehemence of his response."Yes," Adrian said quietly, "you did mean it. Just as you mean every calculated word that falls from your lips. The question is whether you're prepared to face the consequences of your malice."Victoria rallied quickly, her smile returning though it no longer reached her eyes. "You're quite right, of course. I apologize, Lady Blackwood. The journey has left me rather... overwrought. I sometimes speak without thinking when I'm tired."Felicity inclined her head graciously, though she doubted Victoria's apology was sincere. "Think nothing of it, Lady Victoria. Travel can indeed be exhausting."The remainder of the meal passed in stilted conversation about neutral topics—the weather, the latest fashions from Paris, the condition of the roads between London and Yorkshire. But beneath the polite veneer, Felicity could feel undercurrents of tension and unresolved emotion that made the air in the dining room thick as treacle.After dinner, Victoria excused herself claiming fatigue, but not before delivering one final, loaded glance to Adrian. "Perhaps we might speak privately tomorrow, darling? There are so many things I'd like to discuss with you. Old times, mutual friends... the future."When she had swept from the room in a rustle of silk and expensive perfume, Adrian turned to Felicity with an expression she couldn't quite read."I apologize for subjecting you to that performance," he said quietly. "Victoria has never been one to accept defeat gracefully.""She sees me as defeat?" Felicity asked, surprised by how much the notion stung."She sees you as an obstacle to getting what she wants." Adrian moved to the sideboard and poured himself a generous measure of brandy. "Would you care for some sherry?"Felicity nodded, accepting the delicate crystal glass he offered her. The golden liquid burned pleasantly as it slid down her throat, warming her from within."Adrian," she said carefully, "may I ask what happened between you and Lady Victoria three years ago? She seems to believe you ended things because of your supposed injuries, but...""But you know my injuries are fictitious." He moved to the window, staring out at the moonlit grounds. "The truth is more complicated than Victoria's romantic narrative suggests."Felicity waited, sensing that he was deciding how much to tell her."Victoria and I had an understanding," he said finally. "Not a formal engagement, but an expectation that we would eventually marry. She was beautiful, well-connected, everything a man in my position was supposed to want in a wife.""And you didn't want her?"Adrian was quiet for so long that Felicity began to think he wouldn't answer. When he finally spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper."I wanted to want her. I tried to convince myself that desire and compatibility were enough, that love was a luxury men of our class couldn't afford." He turned from the window to face her, his gray eyes reflecting the firelight. "But when I began planning my revenge against your family, when I realized what kind of deception I would need to maintain, I knew I couldn't involve Victoria in it.""So you ended things?""I told her I was too damaged to be the husband she deserved. That she should find someone whole, someone who could give her the life she wanted." His mouth twisted in a bitter smile. "She didn't fight very hard to change my mind."Felicity set down her sherry glass, her mind working to piece together the implications of his words. "But if she had fought for you, if she had insisted she didn't care about your supposed injuries...""Then my carefully constructed deception would have been much more difficult to maintain. Victoria is many things, but she's not stupid. Living in close quarters with her, sharing a bed..." He left the sentence unfinished, but Felicity understood."She would have discovered the truth.""Almost certainly. And Victoria has never been able to keep a secret that didn't serve her own interests."They stood in comfortable silence for several minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Felicity spoke the question that had been nagging at her since Victoria's arrival."Do you regret it? Ending things with her, I mean?"Adrian considered this carefully before responding. "I regret the necessity of it. Victoria, for all her faults, understood my world in a way that..." He paused, seeming to catch himself before he said something he might regret."In a way that I don't," Felicity finished quietly."That's not what I meant.""Isn't it?" She moved closer to him, close enough to see the flecks of silver in his gray eyes. "She's beautiful, sophisticated, from your social circle. She knows how to be the wife of a man like you. Whereas I'm just a merchant's daughter who was scrubbing floors six months ago.""Felicity—""She's right, you know. About me not belonging in this world. I don't know the rules, the expectations, the proper way to behave in society. I don't even know how to be a proper wife to you."The last words slipped out before she could stop them, and she felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. But Adrian stepped closer, close enough that she could feel the warmth radiating from his body."You think I want a proper wife?" His voice was low and rough. "You think I need someone who follows society's rules and expectations?""Don't you?"Instead of answering, Adrian reached out and cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs tracing the line of her cheekbones. "Felicity, you sat through dinner tonight while a woman who considers herself your superior insulted you repeatedly. You responded with grace and dignity, never stooping to her level. You defended yourself without attacking her, maintained your composure without retreating into meekness."His gray eyes held hers captive as he continued, "Victoria would have created a scene, demanded satisfaction, made the entire situation about her wounded pride. But you... you were magnificent."The sincerity in his voice made her breath catch. "I was terrified.""You were brave. There's a difference." His hands were still framing her face, and Felicity found herself leaning into his touch despite her better judgment. "Victoria understands my world, yes. But you understand something far more important.""What?""Honor," he said simply. "Real honor, not the polished veneer that passes for respectability in society. You've been tested by hardship and emerged with your integrity intact. That's worth more than all the social graces in England."Before Felicity could respond to this unexpected declaration, Adrian dropped his hands and stepped back, the spell broken."You should retire," he said, his voice returning to its usual controlled tone. "Tomorrow will likely bring more of Victoria's dramatics, and you'll need your rest."As Felicity made her way to her chambers, her mind was spinning with everything that had happened. Victoria's arrival had revealed new depths to Adrian's character—his protectiveness, his capacity for genuine emotion, his complicated relationship with his own past.But it had also raised new questions about her own place in his life and in his heart. Was she truly just a pawn in his revenge plot, or had she somehow become something more?And perhaps most troubling of all: did she want to become something more to a man whose entire life was built on deception?As she prepared for bed, Felicity caught sight of herself in the looking glass. Her cheeks were still flushed from Adrian's touch, her eyes bright with emotions she didn't dare name.Whatever game she had entered into when she married Adrian Blackwood, she was beginning to suspect that the rules had changed when she wasn't paying attention.The question was whether she was brave enough to play by the new ones.
