The Reason a Piano Tuner Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion novel · Chapter 23 of 24
Chapter 23: Wedding Night
By ten that night the house had finally stopped congratulating us.
The Dowager had gone to bed at nine with a glass of port and a look of deep contentment.
My father had danced one slow dance with the housekeeper in the hall, and then fallen asleep in a chair with his boots on.
Everard took my hand at the foot of the stairs and led me up.
He did not lead me to the east corridor.
He led me to the double doors at the end of the long gallery, which I had never opened.
"The duke's rooms," he said. "My mother had them aired on Tuesday. She said it was a hope, not a plan."
"She counted again."
"She always does."
The room was larger than my father's whole house and warm as bread.
Two lamps burned on the tables, turned low, and a fire was banked in the grate.
The great bed stood against the wall under a dark canopy, with the covers turned back.
It was not the bed I knew.
It had new white linen, and a bunch of glasshouse vine laid on the pillow, and somebody had tied a blue ribbon to the post.
"I like it," I said.
"The ribbon was my mother's idea."
"I was not talking about the ribbon."
He shut the door.
He turned the key, and set it on the mantel, and stood with his back to the room and his hands at his sides.
"Wife," he said.
It was the first time he had used the word alone with me, and his voice caught on it.
"Husband."
"I have never been so afraid in my life."
"Of what?"
"That I'll do it badly."
"This is the first night, and I want it better than the others, and I don't know how it can be."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The Reason a Piano Tuner Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
← Chapter 22 · All chapters · Chapter 24 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend