Page 25 of Raising the Duke’s Unexpected Twins

Helen, you were mad for thinking this a good idea. We will grow to loathe one another! Even more than we already do.

“Yes, you are.” Danae touched her on the shoulders and gave her peck on the cheek. “And His Grace will think so as well.” She wiggled her eyebrows, and Cordelia blushed deeply.

It had been a week since she’d seen him but that did not mean she hadn’t spent nearly every waking moment thinking about their kiss, thinking about the last time they’d spoken in the garden. Cordelia had spent one feverish night after another dreaming of blue eyes and a rough chin and expert lips, feeling heat move down her core and below. The ache of desire kept her awake and frustrated. She went to sleep exhausted from a day of being with the children to then exhausted in the morning after dreams of the desperately handsome and infuriating Duke of Meinster.

“It is just a business arrangement. You know that, Danae,” Cordelia said, standing up and not looking at her sister. She walked to the wardrobe, where her wedding dress hung awaiting her. She touched a finger along the fabric.

Danae chuckled, and Cordelia spun around to look at her. “What? You don’t believe me?”

“Believe you about what?” Emma entered the room, but she froze in the doorway when she saw Cordelia.

“Cord, you look lovely!” Emma’s eyes brightened and she rushed over to her to pull her close. “You are a beautiful bride.”

Cordelia felt a little tension ease. It was much better they focus on her being a beautiful bride rather than on what her being a bride would mean.

Pulling out of Emma’s arms, she went back to her gown. “I will need a little help to get this on.”

“But of course,” Danae said. “And then the duke shall help you to get it off.”

“Danae!” Emma cried with a groan. “Even on such a day as this you find a way to be crass!”

“It is not crass; it is only the truth.”

Cordelia didn’t turn around, her face on fire. She touched the gown again. It was made of fine muslin and so soft, with lace on the sleeves and the bodice. Deep in her heart of hearts, she had dreamed of marrying someone she loved, someone who loved her in return just like her parents. But it could never be, and certainly not with the duke of all people. Her parents had found true love, but that was one in a million, one in a billion. It could never happen to her, and now she was disgracing the memory of that love.

“It is a fake marriage, remember, Danae,” she said softly. “I know you are endlessly the romantic, but you must remember this.”

She pushed aside thoughts that she must remember it too. The duke was already under her skin with that foolish kiss of his. She would have to do her utmost to avoid anything of that sort in future.

It was a mistake. That’s all.

“I don’t understand,” Danae said with a huff, plopping herself onto Cordelia’s bed. Cordelia turned around and leaned against her dressing table. “This man has never spent a night alone, but now he has chosen you. He is going to marry you! Certainly, there is something to that. And do you think that you can resist his charm forever?”

Cordelia’s ire rose. “I do not find him charming at all. He may be handsome, but he is a loathsome, odious brute, far too conscious of his own pleasing face and practiced charms. I wouldn’t be surprised if he took another to his bed as soon as we are wed.”

“Cordelia, surely you don’t think that,” Emma told her, looking surprised.

Cordelia grit her teeth. Her sister Emma was the most prudish of all three of them and hated discussing things of any sort of a romantic or sensual nature. She would have to find a way to explain it to Emma.

“I know this man. I have known him for three years, and I know, as Danae said, that he has hardly spent a night alone. He is only marrying me for the sake of the children and to do a bit of honor by his old friend. It does not mean that he will forever be loyal to me. I am sure that once the newness of the marriage has faded, then well, he may return to some of his old mistresses. I only hope, as I’ve asked him, that he should not humiliate me in public.”

She turned away and returned to sitting in front of the dressing room mirror, pulling out the necklace she would wear that day and holding it against her chest. It was better to think of foolish things than to think of this.

Besides, he doesn’t want me to think of him as honorable. Therefore, I will not.

“Well, while I understand that he is a rake in every sense of the word, you must find a way forward. Surely, there is some good in him if he is willing to do this. I cannot understand why he would do it otherwise, even for a bit of meager honor.” Cordelia could see Emma looking to Danae for aid.

She grimaced, fastening the necklace but feeling the rage pool within her. It was a sudden thing, something she did not recognize fully until it settled in her belly. She swallowed, trying to retain her composure.

“Perhaps, if you gave him a chance –” Danae began, but Cordelia burst forth.

“Do neither of you remember Father?” she asked, far more starkly than she had intended to. “The most benevolent and kind man that ever lived?” She spun around from the dressing table to look her sisters in the eye. Danae had sat up on the bed, her expression surprised, while Emma looked on with calm understanding. “He loved our mother more than he loved life itself. You saw how they were, how their love was. There was nothing like it. I could never expect to find a love such as they had. It was so rare compared to what we see around us, men keeping women in cages until they have become old and fragile and afraid.” She shook her head and rose to her feet, the energy rising in her so greatly that she had to move.

“Can’t you see? The duke is nothing like our father – he is vain and prideful. He has not an ounce of decency. And I wouldn’t dare disgrace the memory of our dear father by allowing myself to be swayed by a dishonorable rake.” She blinked at herself in the vehemency of her words, but she was frustrated and afraid.

It doesn’t make a lot of sense. The man I’ve known all these years hasn’t a decent bone in his body! I would be just like all the other foolish women if I allowed myself to be swayed by him.

And yet, he is marrying me and taking the children in, and not taking the money for himself, her conscience prodded.