It felt… just as hollow as the title.
“When he had offered to marry you, I thought Mama was going to faint,” Marigold gaped. “You came to marry the duke’s brother, but providence gave you the duke instead. It sounds like something I would read about in a story from the Miranda Press.”
While fixing a pin in her hair, Ariadne shook her head, “I do not want you to take too much stock in this.”
“What do you mean?” Celestine asked.
“I—” her words were cut off when her mother pushed the door in. She was standing there with Thaddeus, and Ariadne stilled at the sight of him. She had not expected to see him there, knowing what she knew of what he was doing to her family.
“Girls, please give us a moment,” Ophelia declared.
Once again, her sisters took turns hugging her before they left the room, and Ophelia hugged her tightly. “How are you feeling, dear?”
Flicking a look at her uncle, she said. “I…shocked. I suppose it's the best way to describe it.”
“I was surprised too,” Ophelia said, “But His Grace seems to be a good man.”
Except for the part about his dead wife, for which no one seems to know the truth. Have I jumped from the pan into the fire?
“Well done, dear girl,” Thaddues said while slowly clapping. “I had no doubt you, of all your sisters, would find a way to elevate your family, especially with our economic decline.”
A decline you brought about.
She reached for her matching coat. “I did not do it on purpose.”
“Did you not?” he asked, his brows lifting. “You could have fooled me with the way he was looking at you, even before your intended had run away. Your future husband is one of the wealthiest men in England. Your mother will never have to fear the debt collector, nor will I have to dare debtors’ jail ever again.”
Her soul went cold.
“Uncle, it’s not right of you to take advantage of him in such a way. I have no sway with him at all, and I am sure this marriage will be dissolved after the news dies down.”
Her uncle didn’t seem to hear her, “Yes, yes, such tender fears. I am sure your new husband will be generous to our family. There is no doubt that he will take your sisters in, brush them off, and ensure that they, too, have excellent marriages.”
Her mouth dropped at such a blatant avaricious statement. The duke was not a money bag; they could not use him for his funds—but then, that is what her mother wanted, wasn’t it?
It’s not the same. Your mother needed to save your family, and your uncle wants to find someone to exploit.
Someone knocked on the door, and all three of them turned to it as the duke stepped in. His sharp eyes swept over them, “I hate to disturb you, but we need to leave now if we have any hope of getting to the post inn in time.”
Post inn?
She turned to her mother. “I must go.”
Nodding, Ophelia replied. “Write to us when you’re settled in.”
To her uncle, she leveled him with a hard stare, “I hope Papa’s house is still standing when I visit.”
Chapter Seven
The carriage was waiting for them at the bottom of the small lane to the church; two men in livery were atop the dark polished panels. The set of four dappled greys, a set as magnificent as Ariadne had ever seen, were pawing on the ground with agitation to move.
The coachman sat high, while the footman descended from the seat next to him and bowed before opening the door. “Your Graces.”
Duke Holloway nodded to him but then pivoted to speak to a man with dusky blond hair. “Send me the details of your investigator by dawn. I will find Leander and drag his hide even if he has found the deepest hole on the furthest side of the moon to hide in.”
The man’s lips twitched. “May God have mercy on Leander’s soul because you surely will not.”
“No, I will not,” Cedric said.
