So much heat flooded Isabella’s cheeks that she feared her face would catch on fire.
Now that she had a moment to think about it, she had enjoyed every aspect of the encounter. His tongue had set her onfire, creating sensations on her body she certainly wanted to experience again.
Beatrice stilled a little. “You will see, once you are settled in your marriage, the two of you will have a great deal of fun!” Her own cheeks flushed.
Isabella could scarcely contain her embarrassment as she looked around her chambers for a distraction.
A gentle knock sounded at the door as if on cue. “Girls, may I come in?” Christine called out.
Snapping out of her daze, Isabella swallowed, her throat feeling too dry. “Of course,” she answered in a shaky voice.
The door creaked open gently, revealing a concerned Christine who shut it again behind her. “I know the two of you cherish your time alone, but I thought, just this once, you might like a bit more company?” She kept her gaze fixed on Isabella while offering a gentle smile of encouragement.
Thank goodness.
Isabella welcomed the distraction after the awkward conversation.
Realizing that she needed as much support as she could get, Isabella smiled. “I am glad that you are here. We could use your advice.”
Christine’s face brightened as she walked toward Isabella and took her hands in her own. “You will be just fine. I know this may not have been the way that you wanted things to happen, but you will be just fine. I cannot express that enough,” she said encouragingly.
Tears of uncertainty welled in Isabelle’s eyes as the weight of everything suddenly became far too real for her. “But how do you all know that everything will be fine? The duke and I hardly know each other.”
“Oh, my dearest,” Christine pulled her in close, hugging her tightly before letting her go again and looking her in the eyes. “I know because I have seen you together,” she paused to steal a glance at Beatrice. “We all have.”
Beatrice nodded eagerly in confirmation, but it did little to stem the fear in Isabella’s heart.
Reaching up in a motherly gesture, Christine tucked a loose strand of Isabella’s hair behind her ear. “Not only have we seen the two of you together, but I saw the way his grandmother was looking at you.”
Hope sparked once again in Isabella’s chest.
Lady Kendrick.
She had not even thought of her and how the duke’s grandmother may have felt about the announcement. Didshe even want Isabella as a granddaughter? She had seemed relieved, but was that only because the potential scandal was being squashed?
Christine shook her head as if she could read Isabella’s thoughts. “She loves you, Isabella, just as much as the rest of us do.”
Beatrice spoke up again, offering an encouraging squeeze of her sister’s arm. “Lady Kendrick would never have allowed you to run a club from her home if she did not trust you. And Christine is right; she dotes on you far more than she ever dotes on her own grandson.” Her words made Isabella laugh as a soft giggle escaped her throat.
It was true that Lady Kendrick seemed to be fond of her, but she just hadn’t given it much thought in the past.
“There now, you will see in time that things will work out as they should.” Christine touched her cheek in a loving gesture.
“Now, can we begin planning the wedding?” Beatrice announced excitedly.
“The wedding,” Isabella sucked in a sharp breath. No matter how much thought she lent to the matter, she always seemed to be at least two steps behind the situation with the duke.
She had said yes, there would be a wedding. They would need to plan, and guests would need to be invited.
“How long will we need to wait for the banns to be read?” She looked at Christine with a wide-eyed expression, but her stepmother did not seem to share her concern.
“Oh, I do not think that we will need to concern ourselves with that. Knowing Lady Kendrick, she will more than likely obtain a special license for the wedding. She had long been eager for the duke to marry. I have a sneaky suspicion that we may not even have to worry that much about the plans. If I have to put a time to it, I think we can expect a wedding within a fortnight.”
“A fortnight?” Isabella suddenly felt dizzy as she let go of her stepmother’s hands and wandered over to the bed, sinking onto the edge. “Can it be possible that I am to be married within a fortnight?”
Beatrice and Christine exchanged a pitying look. There was not much they could do to assuage Isabella’s fears, not when the marriage was looming over her head like a beast that would not be tamed.
Will we be intimate again on the night of our wedding?
