It was all a blur. The last hour or so of her life, watched by her as if she was not inside her own body… which made the whole thing easier.
Once she and the duke were found entangled around one another, the duke had been quick to separate himself and try to explain what had happened. The words had fallen on deaf ears, accusations were made, and before long, the duke simply turned and stormed away. The anger that poured from him still made Thalia shake.
Next, it was her turn. With a reputation like her own, there was no chance that she might justify her actions as a mere mistake and not what they seemed. Not that she wanted to do such a thing. But still, it was slightly annoying that the assumption had been made so quickly that she and the duke were committing a most wicked deed together.
She too left quickly after that. No idea what might happen next. Wondering if her plan, as spontaneous as it was, would even work. She rushed home and told her aunt everything.
And her aunt’s reaction? It confirmed to her that her plan would likely work the way she needed. But now she was wondering if that was such a good thing.
“I have not had a chance to speak to the duke properly,” Thalia told her. “He…” She grimaced. “He left rather quickly.”
Her aunt groaned. “Thalia, of all the men you had to collapse onto. Why him? You know who he is, yes? You know what people say? And I am sure that by now you have managed to figure out what this will mean for you.”
Thalia swallowed. “I assume it means that…” An awkward smile. “That he will have to marry me, lest his reputation suffers for it.”
Her aunt’s eyes widened. “Thalia! Do not tell me that you did this on purpose?—”
“What! No. Of course not…” She looked determinedly at her aunt, needing her to believe the lie. She felt terrible about it, but she could not bear to imagine what her aunt would say if she learned the truth. Chalk that up to one more lie she was forced to keep.
“Good.” Her aunt breathed with some relief. “That would be… if the duke was to assume such a thing...” She shuddered on the spot.
“It is just an unlucky coincidence,” Thalia said to confirm the lie, a stabbing pain of guilt prodding her insides as she did.“Although, now that it has happened, I prefer to see the positive. I wanted a husband, did I not? And it looks as if I will have one. So, let us call this…” She tried a forgiving smile. “Fate…”
Her aunt’s face paled. “Fate? Was it anyone else, I might agree with you. But the Duke of Westvale… Thalia…” She swallowed and her body began to tremble more than it had been doing. “Do you have any idea what this means?”
Thalia thought that she had. Although to be fair, she hadn’t had much time to think too hard on it. She had been desperate. He had been there. And in her mind, who did it matter who she married? Were not all marriages equal?Equally terrible, that is.
Now that some time had passed, Thalia was able to consider the implications of the man who she had tricked and what this might mean for her. She thought back to the garden. She pictured the duke clearly in her head, and remembered those things she had heard of him. And when she did…
“I think I need to sit down…” Her legs began to shake and soon she was seated beside her aunt.
She knew little about the duke and even less of his reputation. At least the full extent of it. Perhaps a good thing, because if she knew more she might not have acted as she had.
And what was she to do now?The only thing I can do.Ignore the rumors she had heard because, in Thalia’s experience, rumors were not always what they appeared. Vague whispers of the duke being involved in his own father’s death. Silly notions behind thereason he lived alone as he did… Why he had vanished from the public eye and purposefully locked himself away from the world as if trying to protect others from himself.
Most of it is false. There is just no way he can be what they say…
Thalia nodded her head, trying to confirm this belief inside herself. She had to. There was no going back and having trapped the duke in a scandal she assumed that he’d have no choice but to marry her as she needed. And once he did…
A cold shudder ran up her spine as her mind turned back to earlier. She pictured the duke’s hulking frame standing over her, darkness emanating from it, his cool green eyes staring her down lifelessly, deep pools that were without emotion and from which she could not look away.
She remembered the way Lord Farfield had fled as if his life depended on it. Hardly a word said, and the repugnant lord had very nearly burst into tears.
And most of all, she remembered how she had felt that first time she saw the duke. It wasn’t fear. It wasn’t a sense of danger. It was… something else. Her stomach flipping and her heart leaping through her throat.What was that?
“Perhaps nothing will come of this.” Her aunt stroked her hand in consolation. “Perhaps the duke… he is a strange one. Who knows what he will do?”
“No,” Thalia said. “I can’t allow for that to happen. The duke must marry me…” She looked at her aunt, her eyes pleading and desperate. “You know as well as I do that it is the only way.”
Ronan poured himself a glass of whiskey. Right to the brim, spilling a little on the table but caring not for the waste. He had bigger concerns to cause him worry.
This entire night has been a disaster. What was I thinking? Attending the ball in the first place. Allowing my curiosity to lead me outside. Getting involved when I should have turned and walked the other way. This is exactly why I have spent a lifetime in the shadows. Right where I belong…
He threw back the golden-brown liquid in a single mouthful, sucking through his teeth as it burned the back of his throat. And then, because at this point one drink would not be nearly enough to dull the worry that grew steadily inside of him, he poured another.
Not that drinking would solve anything.
As far as Ronan could see it, there would be no solving this catastrophe. No easy way out. No means to fix it. What was done was done and like it or not, he was left to pick up the pieces and pray the broken shards didn’t cut him.
