“Are you upset with me for some reason?”
Phoebe looked at him then. “Does it seem that way?”
A wave of irritation washed over him and he ignored it, along with her intention to act clueless.
“It does. Especially since it seems as though the reason lies with what I had told you, a few days ago. Do you think I was wrong to chastise you?” Her question, straightforwardly.
Phoebe frowned and folded her arms.
“It seems to me that you have surmised that something is wrong, but rather than try to figure out what might be the problem, you expect me to clue you in. What would be the point then?”
This was not going in the direction it was meant to.
“I am simply —” Edward grunted as the irritation began to boil beneath his skin again. “I do not understand why you are upset with me. You had no reason to have done what you did. Yes, you were right about the flowers. All you had to do was tell the housekeeper and she would’ve informed the gardener when he arrived the next day. I saw no reason why you needed to take it upon yourself to fix the problem. I know it has only been a few days since we were wed, but I expected you to be more conscious of your current status and title.”
“Do you not realize that you are asking for far too much at this time? I don’t need you to scold me like a child, but I would appreciate it if you were a little bit patient. I need to adapt and I will. I am doing my best.” She huffed, looking upset.
Edward immediately felt bad, because she was right. She had made a mistake and rather than show her grace, he was quickly to get upset over it.
“Why did you do it? Despite your situation, you are of noble birth. Why was it so easy for you to lower yourself to your knees and stick your hands into the soil without caring what anyone thought or saw?” he asked quietly, still curious about her motivations.
Phoebe shifted slightly in her chair and exhaled deeply, making him want to rescind the question. However, she responded before he could do so.
“That might have been the case when I was a child, but things changed at some point and I was raised in a household where my actions mattered as well. No one replied on just my words or commands, but what I did made a bigger impact than any of that. My siblings and I learned very quickly that we cannot hope for the things we wanted and we had to work hard for our dreams. So, I have always needed to do things myself, and as a result, it is my response to everything,” she explained quietly.
Edward nodded in understanding, because her words clearly explained what it was he had witnessed that day. However, it hardly told him why she had become that way.
“It sounds as though you and your family have been through quite a lot. What happened?” he asked gently.
Phoebe inhaled slowly, then she met his gaze, her demeanor soft.
“My parents died when I was a young girl, thirteen years of age, to be exact. We had a large tree right next to our hour that was very old but sturdy. My sister and I used to play on the swing our father had strung up from one of the branches and my brother had climbed it on numerous occasionally — despite my mother’s many warnings. It felt like a friend, that tree, because we loved it dearly. On a stormy night, it was set ablaze and struck down by lightning, which caused it to fall onto our house. I remember running to my parents with my sister in my arms once I noticed the fire and then we went to find Rowland… I had fallen down at some point, when we running down stairs to the front door and I fainted. The fire didn’t last long because of the rain but my parents died still, because they had tried to save us. A branch had struck me across the face on my way down and that was how I got this scar on my face.”
She did not seem sad, but rather resigned, as though she had long since made peace with the situation that was her life. And for some reason, it upset Edward greatly, especially because he did not know how to comfort her.
He frowned slightly, feeling unsettled at the very thought of even comforting her and he wonders when he grew empathic of others.
“It sounds as though your childhood was difficult,” he said after a long moment of silence.
Phoebe regarded him with a look of amusement, as if she wasn’t surprised by his lukewarm words.
“It was. We had to fend for ourselves because we had no relatives willing to care for us. Rowland became viscount and began to care for us as best as he could, but with my face ruined, there was hardly anyway way for me to marry well, like I was expected to. Not for lack of trying though, as I had attended a few events during my very first season. But I was made aware quickly that men preferred to have their future wives unmarred, regardless of whatever the cause might be.” She shrugged nonchalantly, as the final course was served.
“Those men are fools. Your scar is not as disturbing as they claim it is. I am not one to say things callously or for the sole purpose of offering some sort of meager comfort. So, know that I do not saw this as a shallow attempt to grant you relief. I truly do not find a single thing wrong with you. You are not flawed because of your scar, but rather it shows how strong you are. You and your siblings survived what many could not. Rather than find you unworthy, you should be commended for your journey this far. You are remarkable, Phoebe. So, you should think of yourself as much,” Edward advised, lifting his napkin to the corner of his lips.
The next second, he rose out of his chair and a startled look crossed his wife’s face.
“You are leaving already? You hardly touched your food,” she complained.
“I have important matters to attend to,” he informed her, because it was much safer than admitting he had only joined her because he wanted to see her and verify her well-being for himself. “Do have a pleasant evening, duchess.”
He walked over to where she was seated, took her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it, making sure to keep his eyes locked on hers the entire time.
“And you as well, duke,” she smiled as that lovely rosy color settled on her cheeks.
Edward nodded and left the room quickly, before he did something stupid like kiss her, already knowing he would be unable to think of much else other than that for the rest of the night.
CHAPTER ELEVEN