A Little Bit Sinful(59)

At least now she didn’t have to. No one would be watching her anymore. She could relax and simply be Clarissa, the wife of the gaming hell owner.

“I took the liberty of responding to your invitation to the Potterfield ball tomorrow night,” Justin said.

She nodded. “It will take some adjustment, I suppose, not attending such events, but I shall get used to it.”

Justin shook his head. “Chrissy, what are you talking about? Marrying me does not mean you can no longer attend parties. I didn’t bring you here as a way of telling you this would be your new evening pastime. You are my wife, I shall attend whatever party you wish to go to and Mr. Clipps will manage things here until I arrive.”

“You wish to take me to balls and soirees and the like?”

“I don’t want you to change your life because you’ve become my wife. You do still wish to be part of Society, do you not?”

She looked up at him, but said nothing for a moment. “Why would you want to do that?”

“Do you not want me to? I was under the impression that you enjoyed such functions,” he said.

“Of course, I’m merely confused as to why you would want to join me. Many of those people have been nothing but rude to you,” she said. Were it her, she probably would be glad to never see those people again.

“Are you ashamed of me?”

She swallowed the lump in her throat. “No, of course not. I merely meant that—” She waved her hand dismissively. “It is of no consequence what I meant. Of course we will attend parties together. I am your wife.” But this meant that she was not done trying to be the perfect lady, and to make matters worse, now she would have to do so for the both of them, which would not be easy. She’d heard people say wretched things about him before, but as his wife, she’d be damned if she’d allow that kind of talk.





Chapter Thirteen


Clarissa stood in the room that was now her bedchamber. Justin’s townhome was not much different than her family’s, but this was the adjoining room to the master bedchamber. This was where the lady of the house slept, where the wife slept.

She was the wife. The weight of everything that had occurred in the last few days hadn’t yet settled on her. Or at least she hadn’t yet been able to work through everything as of yet.

After her tour of Rodale’s, they’d come home, and had a delicious dinner in a small private dining room. After that he’d asked her to play for him again, but this time he’d kept his distance, preferring to listen to her from a chair. Admittedly, the playing had relaxed her some, but she did have to wonder if now that they were married, his desire for her had somehow waned.

The door opened and she jolted. But it was not Justin, instead a maid.

“Pardon me, my lady, my name is Mary and if you’ll follow me, Mr. Rodale thought you might enjoy the adjoining room better,” she said with a slight curtsey.

Clarissa nodded and followed the girl. It was odd that Justin would send for her to come to his bed, rather than simply come get her himself, but she was unsure of how these things should work. But instead of leading her into another bedchamber, the maid had brought her into a bathing chamber. It was a small room, covered in wood paneling and there in against the wall sat a large white tub with metal claw feet.

“I took the liberty of filling it with warm water for you.” She pointed to a small table next to the tub. “There is a tray there with scented soaps and hair rinses. Whatever you should need. There is also a bell if you find you require some assistance.”

Clarissa took everything in. Her family’s townhome in London was very nice, and Ashford estate in the country equally so, but she had never seen a bathing chamber before. “Thank you,” she said.

“May I assist you out of your clothes?” Mary asked.

“Yes, please. A bath sounds quite lovely right now.” It would seem that Justin had thought of everything. She looked around the room whilst the maid worked on her buttons. There was another door on the opposite side of the small room. “Where does that door lead?” she asked.

“To Master Rodale’s chamber.”

So this is what separated their rooms. A shared bathing chamber. Was that common among married couples? She did not know since most houses were not yet equipped with such rooms. After Mary had unpinned her hair, Clarissa swept it to the side and put it in one long braid.

Once she was undressed, the maid held her hand and helped her into the deep tub. Warm water lapped at her as she settled inside its wet cocoon. Tension melted off her. She tilted her head back against the metal edge of the tub and closed her eyes. After the door had closed, she took a peek at the various bottles on the tray. Rose water, lavender oil, lemon soap, whatever she could have wanted right at her fingertips. She took some of the lavender oil and poured a few drops into the water. The sweet perfume wafted over her, relaxing her further. Again she settled into the water.