"Are you ready?" his father asks. "Yes", he says without hesitation, because he is ready to get this wedding over with. Neither he nor Cora is looking forward to it. They care so little about 'the big show' as Cora likes to call it, that they spent last night together in her new room. He can't remember whose idea it originally was, but when his mother kept telling her that the groom must not see the bride before the wedding and her mother kept talking about having to chaperone them until the last minute he just looked at Cora and rolled his eyes, a sentiment that was mirrored by her. By chance they were left alone for a few minutes right after dinner and Cora said to him that they should just break one of those 'stupid, constricting wedding rules'. "Let's have a drink together after everyone has gone to bed." So they met in the library. They didn't drink too much, but not too little either and his memory has gone fuzzy although he is not sure whether that was a side effect of the alcohol or something else. but he remembers kissing Cora, remembers how right that had felt at that moment. He can't remember them talking about what they were about to do and thinks that they were led by their instincts but he doesn't remember enough to be sure. He does remember the feeling of having her in his arms and the relief he felt when he realized that Cora certainly wasn't 'dutiful' when it came to her marital duties. She had her own ideas and he has no idea where from but they were good and as she put it when they woke up together in her bed this morning 'last night's escapades have taken the pressure of the wedding night".
He waits at the end of the aisle for the woman he doesn't love but technically already made his wife last night. When he sees her in her wedding dress he almost laughs out loud. She is beautiful, very beautiful, but she looks as if she has never been so uncomfortable in her life. They both repeat after the archbishop and he knows that the words have little meaning to her when she has to say that she will obey him. He can see her rolling her eyes the smallest bit and he smirks at her. He doesn't want her to obey and she knows it. They muddle through the reception and the male guests keep dropping so many hints concerning the wedding night that he almost says that he doesn't need any advice as the wedding night has already happened.
He knows that she is as relieved as him when they are finally out of their wedding clothes and on their way for their wedding journey. They will go to Paris first and then on to Marseille and Rome and he looks forward to it. He has seen all those cities before, but Cora has never seen them and he is sure that she will enjoy being in those cities tremendously.
They spend the days of their wedding journey walking around and sightseeing and most of their nights fulfilling their duty, although he certainly doesn't think of it as a duty and he is sure that Cora doesn't either. But what he likes most about this journey is that he spends so much time talking to his wife. He has never found it hard to make small talk but it has never been easy for him to have conversations that go beyond small talk, especially when they touch upon personal subjects. But it is different with Cora. He finds it easy to talk to her about everything and by the time they have reached Rome she has become the best friend he has ever had. It is also in Rome that they sleep in the same bed without having done anything but talking before falling asleep for the first time. He has made a habit of coming into her room every night to talk to her, but when they are not in the mood, or too tired to do anything besides talking, he has always retired to his room after a while so far. But her room in this hotel doesn't have a comfortable chair, so he sits down on her bed to talk and when he realizes that she has fallen asleep he decides to sleep in her bed as well because the door between their rooms squeaks and he doesn't want her to wake up again. He sleeps rather well that night.
A few days later he meets the Viscount Feversham who is on his wedding journey too. Apparently the Viscount has married an American heiress as well and when Robert asks him about her he finds out that he has actually married Sarah Meissner. The Viscount wants them to have dinner together that day and because he is a nice a person he agrees, although he knows that Cora won't be too happy to have to eat with Ms Meissner who is now the Viscountess Feversham. "Do we really have to?" she asks him. "I am afraid so." "Well then, let's get it over with." Dinner with them isn't exactly pleasant, the Viscount and Viscountess don't seem to be getting along very well and their constant bickering sets his teeth on edge. Cora's estimation that Ms Meissner was as dumb as humanly possible unfortunately proves true as well and he has never been so glad to have asked an intelligent woman to marry him as he is when he realizes how unnerving it is for the Viscount to be married to someone he has nothing to talk about with. After dinner Cora claims to have a headache and positively flees the dining room. The Viscountess leaves too and he is left alone with the Viscount Feversham who reminds him that they were only a few years apart at school and that thus he should call him Charles. "All right then, Charles. Should we go up too?" he asks because he really wants to get away. He is sure that Cora isn't really ill and their evening might still be saved. "I thought we could have a few drinks together. Have the evening off from our wives. Wouldn't that be a nice change?" He almost says "No" but keeps quiet.
"So, Robert, how do you like married life?"
"It is better than I thought it would be."
"You must have thought it to be horrible then."
"No. I didn't. I was just a little apprehensive of having to spend so much time in close proximity to someone I don't know well. Well, didn't know well because now I know Cora rather well I think." "Have you decided on where to keep your mistress? In London or closer to home?"
"What? I don't have a mistress. I don't want one either."
"Oh to be young again."
"Excuse me?"
"Once you are my age, you will want a mistress, trust me."
"You are only four years older than me. And I know what mistresses are for. I don't want one because I don't need one. Good night." He storms out of the room. How can this man whom he hardly knows tell him that he will want a mistress? Besides the fact that he would never have one because it isn't honorable, he couldn't do it to his wife. She deserves to be respected. And even if he doesn't love her there is no reason why he should take another woman into his bed. The thought makes him want throw up. Or maybe it is the liquor.
When he wakes up his head is killing him. "Oh my poor dear", Cora says to him. "Do you have to throw up again?" He wants to ask when he has thrown up before but can only reach for the bucket next to his bed. Cora holds his forehead without flinching and it makes the whole process a little easier. She takes care of what needs to be taken care of and brings him a cool cloth for his head. "What time is it?" he croaks out. "8 am." "Hm." "How much did you drink? You came back here at 10. It can't have been that much." "I wasn't lying when I told you that I couldn't hold my liquor." He hardly dares to ask the next question. "How often have I, you know?" She smiles. "I didn't count and it doesn't matter." She touches his hand and he wonders about her tenderness. "Why are you taking care of me?" "Because you are my husband. But if you'd rather Somers" "No", he sits up and that is not a good idea. His head feels as if it is about to split. "My father picked him as my valet. I don't want him to know" "Shh", Cora says and helps him to lie down again. "I don't mind taking care of you. And I won't tell anyone." He stays in bed for the rest of the day and Cora keeps him company. She doesn't laugh about him but helps him and makes him feel better. He wonders whether they will eventually be more than best friends but dismisses the thought because there is no reason for them to ever be more than that.
