Page 53 of Trapped with the Forbidden Duke
“They shall soon be fixed,” Edwina assured him. “Do not fret too much, Brother. Lucien spoke to you about our… engagement?”
“He did. And I admit I was quite furious at first, but I am too tired to be angry. I am tired of… everything, admittedly. You are doing for our family what I should have always done—which is everything to secure our financial stability.”
“Everything will be better soon,” she promised, squeezing his hands. “You shall see. It will be all right. You shall settle in the estate, and you shall get better. We can be well again, yes?”
Nicholas nodded at her, his brow furrowed with guilt. “Of course. I am only sorry for the things I have made you endure.”
“Let us speak of it all when you have more strength,” Edwina said, her chest tight with emotion.
Tears blurred her vision as she looked at her brother, feeling closer to him for the first time in a long while. Not everything would be fixed overnight, but they were a step closer.
“Thank you, Brother,” she whispered, pulling him back into another hug. “Thank you for agreeing to the plan, to get better.”
“I am only sorry that I could not do it sooner.”
Edwina let her tears dampen her brother’s shirt, but he did not push her away. There had been so many sneered words and accusations, and she knew that he had a world of other things to say to her, but for now, they could just hug.
She had been craving this closeness for a long time.
“As much as I cannot make amends with Lucien yet, I know that you will be a fine duchess,” Nicholas told her, pulling away. “I was actually dressing to come downstairs and have tea with you. I have missed dinner, but I am rather thirsty, and I am feeling rather cooped up in this room.”
Edwina nodded eagerly. “I am sure Aunt Isabel will want to join?—”
Nicholas winced. “How about we only keep it between us? After all, I will miss you when I am exiled to the countryside, and you to your ducal home.”
Edwina could not help but blush at the thought of her future, and she nodded eagerly. “Of course.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Are you ready?” Nicholas asked.
Edwina’s wedding day came too quickly several days later, and she hovered in the hallway of Montgomery Manor. The carriage would be waiting outside to take her to the chapel where she was to marry the Duke of Stormhold.
Her stomach fluttered with nerves.
There had been only one incident between their reconciliation and that day. Nicholas had raged about wanting to escape the house, about being suffocated. He had shouted that nothing was all right and never would be and that a country retreat would not fix anything.
Without the Duke’s help, Edwina had struggled to keep him calm, but she had done her best.
She knew her brother felt enough guilt, and she would not heighten it with her doubts and worries about her wedding. So, she fixed a smile on her face and said, “Of course.”
Nicholas looked dubious, but he took her arm and led her to the carriage.
In the chapel, the guests were few and far between, and Edwina tried not to dwell on it. She had once imagined a grand affair with a beautiful dress, her parents smiling upon her, and a husband awaiting her after a successful courtship.
Although her wedding had none of those things—even though her dress was beautiful but simple, hastily picked for her—she stood at the altar as confident as any bride would be.
Beside her, Lucien was a silent statue that spoke when prompted in a firm, hard voice. With each word, Edwina fell into despair. She should not have expected a great deal, but she had hoped that she and Lucien had found some sort of common ground.
Now, he was acting as though marrying her was the very last thing he had ever wished to do.
“Edwina Vaughan, I shall protect you, and I shall keep you safe. Where there is uncertainty, I will provide knowledge. Where there is fear, I will provide protection and confidence.Everything of mine is yours, and I swear to ensure a secure future for you.”
His vows were clinical, unfeeling, all duty and nothing of their tentative closeness. Nothing of the embers that had sparked in the parlor.
Of course not.Do not be foolish and expect anything. This is a convenient arrangement, nothing more.
Still, she kept her head high, and her own words came out clipped as she spoke her vows.
