My Once Handsome Husband

Delaney curled up in bed and felt her heart ache. Vincent slept with his back to her and for the first time in a long time, she didn't feel like she could reach out to him for comfort. Something was wrong with him but she didn't know what it was and he clearly wasn't going to tell her. If this kept going she would have to ask him point-blank soon and she didn't know if his reaction would be a pleasant one.

She could only take comfort in the knowledge that whatever was upsetting him, she didn't think it was something she had done. Until her unwelcome suggestion this evening he hadn't seemed unhappy with her at all. Just sort of... disconnected... Like his mind was somewhere else even when he was there with her.

The next morning she woke early and was very careful not to wake him. She slipped from their bed and rang for her Aunt's lady's maid who was quick to arrive and quiet when Delaney pointed out her sleeping husband. The woman helped her dress and did her hair well although not nearly as well as Ms. Bird would have done it.

Delaney had thought she would be fine traveling without her maid for this part of the journey but she already found she missed the woman. It would have been nice to talk to her about things with Vincent and see what she thought. Ms. Bird seemed to always have good advice.

Once the woman was finished and Delaney had dismissed her she looked over at Vincent again to make sure he was still asleep. She opened the small bag she had started carrying with her while they traveled and took the dose of her potion.

She had recently discovered she was again, not pregnant, and blamed herself for not being more consistent in her taking of the potion. There had been mornings she hadn't been able to sneak away to take it or had simply forgotten. She had been taking it religiously ever since however.

Sitting there and studying her handsome husband as he slept, she wondered if that might have something to do with his recent strange behavior. She never told him when she learned another month had gone by with nothing to show for it but she thought now that maybe he kept track himself. Certainly, he would be able to add up the days and know. Perhaps that was the cause for the urgency recently, knowing their year was slipping away and there was still no baby.

Delaney bit her lip and dashed tears from her eyes. She knew he blamed himself but she couldn't help but feel it was something wrong with her. Even the witch's potion wasn't working. Her mother had only ever been able to produce one baby and that was her. Maybe there had been something wrong with her mother that was now wrong with her too. She wished the woman was alive to talk to about the matter.

-

Downstairs, Delaney sat down for breakfast with her Aunt and Uncle. She explained that Vincent was still quite tired from the travel the day before so she was letting him sleep in. Flora and Felix nodded with forced smiles but when Delaney looked down at her plate they met one another's gaze with worry.

They asked their niece about her summer and about visiting the royal court. Delaney happily told them all the good details and was careful to leave out anything bad which of course meant she left out a lot. She didn't want to give them any reason to worry for her or what would happen to her.

"Have you had word from Selina since you were here last?" Flora asked after a time.

"No," Delaney answered simply, "And I don't expect I ever will."

"What about Vincent?" her Uncle asked, "Has he heard from Duncan?"

"If he has he hasn't told me about it," she answered before taking a sip of her tea, "I believe if he had he would have mentioned it though."

The couple was quiet for a moment, considering whether or not they should continue. Finally, Flora decided to go ahead.

"Well, so you don't hear it from someone else, her parents had dinner with us some time back and told us she was expecting."

Delaney nearly dropped her cup. Her blue-green eyes snapped up to her Aunt in surprise.

"Selina is pregnant?"

"She is," Flora smiled hesitantly, "It seems like it must have happened shortly after they were married. She only discovered it herself a week or so after you saw her."

Delaney's eyes dropped to her plate as she processed this. Selina was pregnant. And had been for months. She and Duncan had managed to create a child of their own in such a short time. Olive had gotten pregnant soon after marrying Bernard as well she remembered. Delaney swallowed hard. Maybe there really was something wrong with her.

"Are you alright dear?" her Aunt Flora asked in concern.

"Yes," Delaney answered although her voice came out rough, "I think I've just had enough to eat already."

She moved to stand and the server nearest to her hurried forward to pull back her chair.

"I just remembered I have some business I want to attend to in the village," she said to them with a forced little smile, "Do you think you can tell Vincent where I've gone when he wakes up?"

"You don't think you should wait to tell him yourself?" her Uncle Felix asked, his mustache twitching and giving away his worry, "I'm sure he would want to go with you. You probably shouldn't go alone."

Thankfully at that moment Delaney looked out the window and saw Ian strolling towards the stables.

"I won't be alone," she assured them, "I will take Ian. He is my personal guard after all."

"You're going to go out with another man?" her Aunt asked in surprise, "And a pirate at that?"

Delaney gave an exasperated sigh, "He is my guard. It is his job to go places with me and look after me. Now I will be on my way so I can return soon."

She swept from the room then without giving them another chance to argue. She grabbed her little purse from where she left it sitting on a table by the door and headed outside. Following the gravel path around the house towards the stables, she met Ian walking back.

"What's wrong?" he asked when he saw her face.

"Good morning to you too," she frowned, taking his arm and pulling him around, back towards the stables with her.

"What's wrong Delaney? Why do you look upset?"

"It's nothing," she answered quietly, "But we have to go somewhere."

"Where?" the pirate demanded, "If you're planning to try to run away again I won't help you with that. I'll stop you myself."

"I'm not running away," she rolled her eyes and looked at him in annoyance, "But I have something I need to do in the village."

They walked into the stables then and she was relieved to see the Adair men were close at hand. She told them to ready the carriage as well as a horse for Ian and that they were leaving. Like Ian, the men seemed nervous this was another escape attempt and hesitated. They looked to the pirate who sighed but nodded. Assured that this was not something that would cost them their jobs, the men then hurried to do as she'd ordered.

"I should have them replaced," Delaney snapped to Ian, folding her arms over her chest, "I'm the Duchess and their mistress. They should follow my commands immediately once I've given them."

Ian rolled his eyes, "You can't blame them for being worried you're trying to put them between you and Vince again. You've done it before."

Delaney frowned and looked away.

"My God Delaney are you doing it again? Is this going to cause a fight? Do I need to go talk to him first before we..."

"No of course not," she glared at him, "I told my Aunt and Uncle I was going into the village and they're going to tell him when he wakes up. I might have told him myself had he not gone to bed angry with me."

"Wonderful. So this is a fight then?"

"No Ian!" she threw her hands in the air, "This is not because of a fight! I simply have a private matter in the village I want to attend to and I don't feel I should have to explain it to everyone."

"Not everyone but you should explain it to Vince," he argued.

"And I will," she snapped, "As soon as we've returned."

The carriage pulled around to the front of the stables and another man led a saddled horse. Ian groaned and ran his hands over his face.

"You may be more like Ilona than I realized," he frowned, "You are both stubborn and do nothing but cause me trouble."

Delaney rolled her eyes at him as she marched towards the carriage.

"You can't expect strong women to be easy."