She held back a shiver. He wanted to discuss their future tomorrow? What did that mean? They were married. Wouldn’t they have the same future as every married couple? Or did Damian have different plans for her?
She’d known something wasn’t right when he’d left the way he had.
But now wasn’t the time to begin this discussion.
Instead, she stood by his side as they attended their wedding breakfast and then climbed back into the carriage and they started for the house on the other side of the property.
When they arrived, he helped her down and tucked her arm into his as they made their way into the house.
She dug her fingers into his arm when he stopped in the foyer. “I have some correspondence,” he said.
She placed a hand on his chest. “Today?”
He grimaced. “It’s important.”
Cassandra squared her shoulders. “If you’re going to leave me to write letters, we may as well discuss our future now. There is little point in waiting until tomorrow.”
He grimaced, his features closing up. “Perhaps we should step into a sitting room.”
“Fine,” she answered, turning about until she saw the front parlor just at her back. She turned and entered the room. She heard him follow as she took a seat in a chair near the hearth. When he sat across from her, she folded her hands in her lap.
Damian said nothing. She wished he’d give her some indication of where his thoughts were. Why was he so distant and cold still? Was he angry? Had he lost his passion for her?
Inside, her stomach burned with anxious churning but outwardly, she tried to keep a calm exterior. This was not how she’d wanted to begin their life.
Finally, he sat back in his chair, folding his hands over his stomach. “There is a chance that you are already with child.”
She raised her shoulders in a shrug. “Unlikely, but possible.”
“I will not see you raise my child without my protection.”
She shook her head. “And if there is no child after a single night together?”
He leaned forward, his gaze intense. “Then we will make one.”
That made her stomach ease a bit. “Good.”
His eyebrows lifted. “I’m not certain what I expected you to say but it wasn’t that.”
“I’ve every intention of being your wife to the fullest of my capabilities. I’m not certain I’m fully prepared for the role of duchess, but I’ll do my best.”
He gave a terse nod. “I appreciate that.” She saw his hesitation, felt it in the air.
“But?” Her throat closed on the single word.
He shook his head. “Once a baby has been conceived, I think it best that we maintain a relationship with more…distance.”
Her heart stopped in her chest. She was being rejected again. “Because of a small lie that I told before we even knew each other?”
He looked away. “Because I cannot afford to open myself to you or anyone else.”
That, she understood. But she also could not
have a relationship like that again. Cassandra couldn’t be sorry they married. He’d saved her from the disgrace of being a fallen woman and provided a future for her that she’d thought she might never have.
Perhaps it was time to save him right back. “I reject your offer.”
“I beg your pardon?” He sat up in his chair then, his eyes narrowing in on her.