She did not need to look at the postmark. There was none.
She broke the seal, and smiled, and began to read.
My dearest Clara,I was informed by my grandmother this morning that a gentleman does not disturb his wife before noon on the day after their wedding, lest he seem improperly impatient. I find that I am exceedingly impatient. I also find that I have a pressing need to dictate a letter to the Viscountess of Dunmere, and as she is the only person I trust with my correspondence, I must ask if she is receiving visitors.I love you. I loved you yesterday, I love you today, and I shall love you tomorrow when the clocks strike. If you look up from this paper, you will find me standing in the doorway, attempting very hard to look like a patient man.Yours in all things,Adrian.Clara did look up.He was exactly where he promised to be, leaning against the doorframe of the study. He wore a dark morning coat, his cravat tied with an elegance that suggested his valet had finally been allowed to do his job properly, but his grey eyes held the same unguarded warmth she had come to cherish."You are early, my lord," Clara said, carefully folding the letter. She did not put it on the 'Read' pile, nor the 'Answer' pile. Instead, she opened the top drawer of the great black desk—a drawer she had claimed entirely for herself—and laid it safely inside."I am punctual, my lady," Adrian corrected, stepping into the room. The familiar step and drag sounded different in the morning light—no longer the restless pacing of a ghost haunting a dark corridor, but a man walking with purpose in his own home. "And I believe I had an appointment with my secretary.""Your secretary was dismissed with a quarter's wages yesterday morning," Clara replied, her eyes dancing. "You are now addressing the Viscountess. Her fees for dictation are shockingly high."Adrian crossed the room, stopping just beside her chair. He rested his good hand on her shoulder, his thumb gently tracing the lace collar of her morning dress."I am prepared to meet her terms," he murmured, leaning down to press a soft kiss to her temple. "Whatever they may be."Clara closed her eyes, leaning back into his warmth. The study, with its snowdrifts of paper and towering ledgers, felt profoundly different. It was no longer a room of dusty obligations and cold history; it was a place where a new life was beginning.