“Of course not,” Aunt Tabitha said. “She is a sweet young lady, and I want nothing but the best for her.”
“Then how can you suggest I not go through with it?”
“Because I want the best for you too,” his aunt said gently. “I care for you, Norman. You know that. You should listen to your own heart. What does it tell you? Do you want this wedding to takeplace? Because if you don’t, it isn’t too late. We can find Lord Crownway and tell him. We can come up with something to say that will protect Lady Susan’s reputation. If we must, we’ll tell everyone that she left you, instead of the other way around.”
“Well, that isn’t going to make her look very good either,” Norman pointed out. He gritted his teeth—how could he explain to his aunt that the whole reason he had gotten into this—the whole reason Susan had gotten into this—had been for the sake of their reputations? After the time he’d spent trying to convince everyone that he was in love with her, would he even be believed?
“Aunt Tabitha,” he said, “you know perfectly well that I need a reputable marriage to cement my place in society.”
“I know you believe that,” she said. “But we can find another way, Norman.”
“What other way?”
“There’s always another way. I just don’t want to see you enter into a marriage that isn’t what you truly want for yourself,” she said.
He shook his head. “I think what I’m beginning to understand is that doing things you don’t want to do is a part of the life of a nobleman,” he said. “I might have been less well off before I inherited this Dukedom, but I was certainly much more free. No, it’s too late to change anything now. I have to go ahead with this the way we planned it.”
Aunt Tabitha sighed, but she didn’t protest further, and Norman supposed that even she knew it was a lost cause. He had to face the facts—this marriage was going to happen, little though he might have wanted it to.
He went into the church.
The moment he stepped inside, things became a blur. He took his place at the altar, but he wasn’t able to focus on any of the details around him. Everything seemed very far away, very unimportant. He wanted to get through this and get home, for all of it to be over.
It wouldn’t be, of course. He knew that. Even though the ceremony would come to an end, his life would be forever changed. Susan would be going home with him after this, and from now on, she would be his wife. His responsibility. Even though it wasn’t something he had wanted for himself, he did take that responsibility seriously.
The music began to play, and the doors at the back of the church swung open—and there she was.
She was beautiful.
He had noticed her beauty before, but today it took the breath from his lungs. And he couldn’t have said what it was about her that provoked that dramatic response. It wasn’t the gown she wore—pale ivory and done with ornate embroidery. He hardly registered that, and he had been much more taken by the simple gown she had worn the day they had met in the park.
It was something about the expression on her face that did him in.
She held her chin high as she walked down the aisle. She hadn’t wanted this, and he knew it, but she needed no coaxing or persuading. This wasn’t the same lady he had faced across the chessboard. That day, she had hung her head, and her spirits had obviously been low. But today she was the fiery, determined lady he had met when her family had come to stay for the engagement party. She was the lady who had so captivated him with her determination and grit.
Wasn’t I determined not to marry her because of those things?
And yet, now, he found he had missed them. He was glad to see her recover those aspects of herself. He could admit that he would much prefer to be saying his vows to this spirited version of Susan than to the dejected, defeated version of her.
Thank goodness she came back to herself in time for the wedding. I have to admit, this is off to a better start than I’d expected.
“The staff will show you around,” Norman said as they walked into the foyer.
A wedding breakfast would have been customary, but neither he nor Susan had really wanted one. Perhaps Lord Crownwayhad decided to take what he could get, for he hadn’t pressed the issue.
And now, at least, they were able to spend the rest of the day as they liked. Norman intended to retire to his study and pour himself a glass of scotch, with which he would do his best to forget the day’s ordeals. He would have to cope with the truth that he was married at some stage, but for today, it would do to set that aside and pay attention to his own thoughts.
“I don’t need to be shown around,” Susan reminded him. “I’ve been here before. I stayed here for the engagement party, for several days. I know where everything is.”
“Perhaps, but you won’t be staying in the same room now as you did then,” Norman said. “I’ve decided to give you your own wing of the house—I think you’ll be more comfortable there. Your father has sent your lady’s maid over, and she’s unpacking your things right now. But Mrs. Hastings will show you to your wing.”
“If I’m to have my own wing,” Susan said. “That means… I suppose I assumed you would have my bedroom near to yours. But it sounds as if that isn’t the case?”
“No, you’ll be on the opposite side of the estate,” he confirmed. “I want you to have as much space as possible to yourself. After all, that’s what we agreed upon when we played chess together—that your life would be your own, and that I wouldn’t disturb it.”
Her cheeks colored, and he wondered whether she was remembering her defeat at the chessboard. “Forgive me, Your Grace,” she began.
“You can still call me Norman.”
