Page 1 of Wedded to the Forbidden Duke
Chapter One
“Oh dear!” Nancy cried out as her ball sailed neatly past the hoop. “Not again.”
“If you are not having fun, Nancy, we can stop,” Cecilia called over, though she was loath to. Even against a player as sweet-tempered and uncompetitive as her best friend, it was difficult not to enjoy a game of pall-mall on such a beautiful day.
“No! I shall soon improve. I am merely out of practice. They did not play pall-mall in Venice.”
“I’d imagine not,” Cecilia teased her. “You’d hit the ball straight into a canal.”
“I would, would not I,” Nancy said mournfully.
With her light brown hair, blue eyes, and petite figure, she looked almost like a porcelain doll—even while pouting. Of course, Nancy never did pout for long.
“Oh, but it is just as well. We were much too busy. I was always accompanying Aunt Mary to some event or the other. Operas, museum outings, monuments. And then in Paris, there was so much shopping to be done—oh! I cannot wait for you to see my new gowns!”
“Nor can I! I expect you’ll be the very height of fashion when the Season begins. You will be setting all of the trends. All the young ladies of thetonwill dress according to your fashion, and the men will be swept away by your worldly European beauty.” Cecilia sighed. “Oh, Nance, it sounds just wonderful.”
“You would have loved it, Celie.” Nancy gave her a sympathetic look. “It is not fair, you know. You being stuck here, while your brother gallivants across the continent.”
“Fairness has nothing to do with it. And besides, it has only been two years since Father’s passing. I needed to be here to take care of Mother.”
True, she often was jealous of her older brother’s freedom. But there was no use complaining about it—even as she dreamed of the life she might lead abroad if she’d had the means and motive to go beyond the English borders.
She shook her head and turned back to her friend. “In any case, I have you to regale me with your stories!” She plastered a brave smile onto her face. “When you describe your adventures, you do it so vividly, I feel as though I am seeing it all for myself.”
Nancy placed a gentle hand on her wrist. “You will see it all for yourself,” she said. “I am certain of it.” She brightened, the moment of seriousness passing as a wry smile crept onto her features. “Perhaps on your honeymoon!”
“Nancy!” Cecilia could not help but giggle herself. “I should think that is far off.”
“Not very far off. Celie, you are beautiful, clever, and accomplished. Any man would be pleased to have you as his wife.”
“The question remains as to whether either of us will find a man who we would be pleased to have as a husband,” she replied. “I am both more and less optimistic about my brother’s chances than my own. I promised my father to marry an honorable man, and that I would ensure Zachary found a respectable match of his own. But there is such a shortage of honorable men in town—my brother included—that I doubt either of us will be able to satisfy such promises. I see no options to marry but rakes. And Zachary, it pains me to say, is unlikely to attract an honorable and respectable lady on his own.”
“You worry too much, Cecilia,” Nancy tutted. “I have heard you speak quite fondly of your brother. He cannot be all that terrible, for you to care for him so. And I am certain there are other gentlemen in thetonwho will surprise you yet.”
“I hope you are right.”
Though she tried to keep a calm and practical head, Cecilia could not stop hope from fluttering up in her heart. Of course, there were bound to be at least a few gentlemen of honor. But what really ate away at her—what she could never admit to anyone, even Nancy—was that most secret desire: that she should find not only a respectable match but a love match.
Foolish, she knew. In her mind, she held her duty firm and clear. Her father had raised her to be as practical-minded as any man—giving her books, teaching her chess, and even taking her hunting on a few occasions.
Still, she could not stop herself from tumbling into romance novels night after night, when she was sure no one could see.
Cecilia knew it would be difficult enough to find a husband worthy of fulfilling her first promise to her father, without trying to complicate matters further with love. What were the odds she would be able to find both in one man?
“Nancy! Cecilia!” called a voice from the garden entrance.
“Hello, Mother.” As she walked in Susanna Forbes, the Dowager Countess of Lindbury’s direction, Cecilia noticed her mother was not alone. Shielding her eyes, she looked more closely—and then immediately broke out into a run. “Zachary!” she called across the garden.
Her brother hugged her tightly. “Afternoon, sister.” Stepping back, he held her at arm’s length. “I see you haven’t gotten any taller in the year since I have left. Though—” He pointed at hernose, pretending to squint at something. “Dear me, are those freckles?”
She swatted his hand away. “Stop it.” Immediately she broke back out into a smile and hugged him again. “Oh, we all missed you so very dearly!” She pulled back. “How was Europe? Did you have a favorite city? Did you write anything interesting in your travelogue for me to read? Oh, and Nancy is just back from a European tour, as well, and we were just saying that?—”
“Cecilia.” Lady Lindbury cleared her throat, and nodded her head sideways, towards the second new arrival. “Would not you like to greet His Grace, as well?”
With no small amount of reluctance, Cecilia turned her attention to the second newcomer.
Tall. Dark, thick-haired. Every feature was infuriatingly well-formed. Though they had only met once—and though that meeting had hardly been a pleasant memory—there was no denying the power of that strong jaw, and those deep blue eyes. His were the sort of looks that could haunt a woman’s dreams.
