Rogan turned onto his side, away from his brother, and grunted. “The girl has a head on her shoulders. She made the right choice.”
It was Severn’s turn to grunt. “There’s more to it than you’re telling me. You didn’t seduce the girl in private, did you?”
“I never laid eyes on her. I was too busy trying to seduce Neville out of his gold. Maybe he beat the girl and told her who she was to marry, just as he should have done in the first place.”
“Perha
ps,” Severn said. “But I still think you—”
Angrily, Rogan looked across the night at his brother. “I never met the girl, I told you. I was with Neville from morning till night.”
“Except when you went off alone before we went to Neville’s castle.”
“I didn’t—” Rogan began, then stopped and remembered the girl who’d complained about his clothes. He had forgotten about her until this moment. He’d have to remember to look for her when he returned in three months’ time for his wedding. “I didn’t see the heiress,” Rogan said softly. “Her father must have arranged the marriage. He’s a fool of a man and I could buy his soul for a dozen or so hawks.”
“I doubt if you’d have to pay that much,” Severn scoffed, then paused a moment. “Weren’t you curious about the woman? I’d want to see a woman I was to marry before I married her. She could be fat and old for all you know.”
“What do I care about a wife? It’s her lands I want. Now go to sleep, little brother, for tomorrow’s Wednesday and Wednesday takes a lot of energy.”
Severn smiled in the darkness. Tomorrow he’d see Iolanthe and everything would be the same. But in three months’ time Lady Liana Neville would enter their lives and things would still remain the same, for if she was anything like her father, she was a cowardly little thing.
Chapter
Four
No, no, no, my lady, good wives do not screech. Good wives obey their husbands,” Joice said. She was tired and exasperated. Lady Liana had asked her to teach her how to be a good wife, but Liana had had too much control for too long and it was almost impossible to make her understand how a wife was supposed to behave.
“Even when he is a fool?” Liana asked.
“Especially when he is a fool,” Joice answered. “Men like to believe they know everything, that they are always right, and they want absolute loyalty from their women. No matter how wrong your husband is, he will expect you to stand by him.”
Liana listened to this carefully. This is not what her mother thought of marriage, nor did Helen. And neither of them had been beloved wives, she thought with a grimace. In the last month she’d come to realize how different she wanted her marriage to be from the two she’d seen. She didn’t want to live in hatred for the rest of her life. Her mother hadn’t seemed to mind the fact that she despised her husband, nor did Helen, but Liana wanted her life to be different. She’d seen a love match once of a couple who, after years of marriage, still gave one another long looks and sat for hours talking to each other. Liana wanted that kind of marriage.
“And he’d rather have obedience than honesty?” Liana asked. “If he is wrong, I am not to tell him so?”
“Most certainly not. Men like to think their wives believe them to be next to God in everything. Take care of his house, bear him sons, and when he asks your opinion, tell him that he knows much more about such matters than you do, that you are merely a woman.”
“Merely a…” Liana said, trying to understand this. The only man she’d ever really known was her father, and she hated to think what the Neville lands would be like if her mother had refused to govern them. “But my father—”
“Your father is not like most men,” Joice said as tactfully as possible. She had been stunned when Lady Liana had asked for her advice about men, but she thought it was high time. Liana had better learn what men were actually like before she tied herself to someone like those Peregrines. “Lord Rogan will not allow you such freedom as your father has.”
“No, I guess not,” Liana said softly. “He has said he will marry no shrew.”
“No man wants a shrew. He wants a woman who will praise him, who will see to his comfort, and who will be eager in bed.”
Liana thought she could handle two of those points easily. “I’m not sure Lord Rogan believes in comfort. His clothes are dirty and I believe he does not bathe often.”
“Ah, now there is where a wife can have power. All men like comfort. They like a certain dish for eating, a certain cup for their favorite drink, and whether your Lord Rogan knows it or not, he likes an orderly, quiet household. His wife should take care of the servants’ quarrels, she should see that his table is loaded with delicious food. You can replace his scratchy, dirty clothing with soft new ones. These are ways to a man’s heart.”
“And if his lands are in a muddle, then I—”
“Then that is his business. It is not a woman’s concern,” Joice said sharply.
Liana thought it might be easier to run a hundred estates than to please one man. She wasn’t sure she could remember all the rules of what a man did and did not like. “You are sure of all this? Staying in the solar and tending merely to household business will win my husband’s heart?”
“I am sure of it, my lady. Now, will you try on this new gown?”
For three months Liana tried on new gowns. She ordered furs, Italian brocades, jewels. She set every woman who could hold a needle to embroidering. Not only did she order her own wardrobe, but she had a splendid set of clothing made for Lord Rogan. The only time her father took any notice of the proceedings was to remark that the bridegroom should dress himself. Liana took no notice of him.