She sunk to a seat, drained, sickened, and horrified. “My own parents would do such a thing to me.”
Jane embraced her. “I am so sorry. I never thought that they would do something like that.”
“Well, I suppose they thought that if I cannot marry for love, that is the only other option,” Rachel said tiredly. “I do feel sickened by it. Will you help me disrobe; I must lay down.”
She stood, and after they did away with the hairdo, then the dress. In her nightclothes, she slid into bed and pulled a pillow to her chest. The more she thought about her parents’ deceit, the more her heart grew heavy and her soul hollow.
How can I escape this?
OceanofPDF.com
Chapter 8
For the first time since he had been at the Hampton’s house, William heard raised voices—and one of them was Rachel’s. He came to the mouth of the sitting room to hear more.
“You knew!” she cried out. “You both knew that those men are not good for me but are best for you!”
“What on earth are you talking about?” the Duchess snapped.
“Last night, I heard two ladies speaking about these men, and I quote,ad verbatim, Thistlelake is a three-time widower, and to this day, we do not know how his wives died.”
“That is a lie!”
“Banbury has a scandal with a French lord’s wife that he is trying to keep hush-hush,” Rachel continued.
“Scandalous!”
“Lord Yardley has a secret gambling addiction a mile wide and three times longer,” Rachel said. “They are not lies, and you both knew it. Why would you think they would be the best husbands for me?”
“Listen here,” her mother said. “We are your parents, and we know what is best for you—”
“But chaining me to a debtor, an adulterer, and a widower isbest?” Rachel nearly screamed. “I am not marrying any of them.”
“Now, daughter,” the Duke’s stern tone cut in. “You must listen to what we are saying. Those men are staid choices for you.”
“They are at least twice my age,” Rachel said. “Why would you not choosea Lord that is somewhere near my age. A lord, a university graduate, a tradesman, something, but I willnotmarry a man who isthricemy age.”
“Rachel!” Her mother gasped. “How dare you!”
“No, Mother,” Rachel said calmly. “Why is that you need these men to get a connection with the Regent? Do you not have enough power?”
“That is it,” Mary said strictly. “You are out of order, and I am ordering you to go to your room and stay there until we goto church this evening. You will need to repent.”
“Just tell me the truth,” Rachel said. “Is gaining more connections the reason you need me to marry? Do you not think of my happiness and desires at all?”
A pointed silence rested in the room until the Duke said, “Yes, it was for political aspirations and more connections with the Regent, but we believed that these men would do right by you.”
Stunned that the man had admitted to the shocking truth, William decided it would be prudent to leave and go back to the room he was supposed to meet with Rachel in soon. He entered the library and placed the outline of her on the easel.
It angered him that the Duke and Duchess were only using Rachel as a pawn for their machinations. He burned inside at the feeling that she would be disrespected that way.
He realized that he might not see Rachel that morning, but he stayed in the room in happenstance that he would. He paced the library, reading the spines here and there, plucking out a few and replacing them. The hollow echoes of the clock’s chimes told him that he had been there for over two hours.
I suppose she will not be coming to her sitting today.
Ruffling his hair, William turned to the door only for it to be pushed in. Rachel came in first, looking a bit pale, but her eyes sparkled with life and - more evident—victory. He supposed that she had gotten her parents to listen to her about the marriage.
…a Lord that is somewhere near my age. A lord, a university graduate, a tradesman, something, but I will not marry a man who is thrice my age.
