Trials of Artemis by Sue London

movement
and hot demand. He hardened at the memory of those occasions which served to make
him more irate.
    He
saw his footman move to hold out the chair on the other end of the table and
realized she had entered the room. She was wearing a morning gown the color of
freshly churned butter and the soft fabric glided over her figure to float in a
small flare around her feet. She had paused at the door and was looking over
the table.
    "Couldn't
I sit closer to my husband?" she inquired softly. The footman immediately
gathered up the place setting and almost stumbled in his haste to do his new
countess's bidding. She settled into the chair at Gideon's right elbow with the
delicacy and grace of a butterfly alighting on a bush. She appeared ready to
resume their campaign of convincing the staff that theirs was a love match, but
he wasn't sure he had the stomach for it just now.
    "Good
morning, Gideon."
    "Good
morning, Jacqueline."
    She
was selecting items from the trays that the footmen offered to her. Her eyes
looked shadowed this morning as though she hadn't slept. Gideon would have
expected her to have enjoyed the sleep of the righteous after her magnificent
show of temper followed by dragging some heavy piece of furniture in front of
her door. He had considered shoving it out of the way just to prove that he
could, but continuing a screaming match didn't seem like the best way to cap
off their first day together as a married couple.
    He
would do best to remember that he thought, looking at her more carefully. She
was his wife. No matter what else they might think, they were now together.
Forever. Even beyond death if the vicars were to be believed. She was his
responsibility and this morning she looked tired. But she was trying her best
to be cheerful and gracious.
    "You
could have had your breakfast in bed," he offered.
    "Oh,
no. I've always come down to breakfast. It's one of my favorite meals. It's the
best family meal."
    Gideon
felt a small lurch in his heart. A family meal. His family had rarely all taken
meals together and when they did it was always a formal dinner. The idea of
having a new family where everyone wanted to have breakfast together seemed odd
but strangely uplifting.
    "Also,"
she said softly while buttering her toast, leaning in as though she were
sharing a confidence. "I accept your apology."
    "You
what?"
    She
looked up at him and smiled, seemingly tickled by his surprised tone. "I
accept your apology. We are both in the habit of making horrible assumptions
about each other."
    He
frowned, not sure he was ready to easily let go of their confrontation from the
night before.
    "And
thus I must apologize myself for making assumptions," she continued.
"In addition to apologizing about the wine."
    She
went back to her breakfast, apparently content. What a riddle his wife was. But
he supposed he had the rest of their lives to figure her out. Provided they
didn't kill each other first.

Chapter Thirteen
    Gideon
gave her a tour of the house and grounds that day and within a week they
settled into a routine. Riding together early in the morning, breakfast, then
Gideon went to his office to work on his accounts while Jack worked with Mrs.
Gladstone on menus and other household chores. Lunch together followed by each
of them going off in individual pursuits, a time that Jack usually spent in the
library. Afternoon tea. Dinner. They remained warily polite to each other,
rarely talking about more than the weather or mundane household topics.
    Jack
used that time to study her new husband. His staff adored him and he was a kind
and considerate employer. He was diligent, usually using his afternoons to
visit his tenants with Phillip Gladstone in tow like an obedient puppy. Phillip
was, she learned, Mrs. Gladstone's son. It seemed the Wolfes had a tradition of
keeping as many members of a family in their employ as possible. She also noted
that Gideon received a steady stream of mail from London, many of the packages
looking