Page 34 of The Duke's Treasure
“My brother, Arthur,” Edward murmured as they climbed up the steps, Arthur saying nothing until they approached and Edward introduced Mariana as his future bride.
“I’m sorry,” Arthur said, peering down over his glasses, “but did you just say that you will bemarried?”
“I did.”
“Oh,” Arthur said, looking back and forth from one of them to the other. “Oh, dear. You should have written.”
“Why—”
“Edward!” A woman who looked very much like an older, feminine version of Arthur stood on the other side of the doors. Edward must look like his father had. His mother stepped out into the early evening, her hands cupping Edward’s shoulders as she kissed him lightly on one cheek and then the other. “You are finally home. What wonderful timing. I have a surprise for you.”
“Edward has a surprise for you, too, Mother,” Arthur said softly, but she waved him away, apparently still not recognizing Mariana’s presence or perhaps not, at least, thesignificanceof her presence.
“You must come greet Lady Jane,” she said.
Edward suddenly looked pained, his expression matching the twisting in Mariana’s belly as she recalled just who Lady Jane was. “Lord Melton’s daughter?”
“Yes,” his mother said, clapping her hands together in delight. “She is here!”
“Here?”
“At Castleton. Yes.”
“Why?”
“Why?” his mother repeated, looking at Edward askance. “For you, my dear.”
“Mother,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, “I really wish you hadn’t done that. All you have done is set the woman up for disappointment.”
“Edward, I know you have no wish to marry, but it is time. You promised that?—”
“Mother,” he interrupted her. “This is Mariana.DoñaPalencia. And I am incredibly pleased that she has agreed to be my wife.”
The familiar strainhad crossed Edward’s shoulders the moment he had stepped through Castleton’s doors. It was as though just being here added the weight of responsibility that he so enjoyed shrugging off when he took on another adventure. Suddenly he realized, in a moment of clarity, that it wasn’t so much the adventure that he sought, but rather, being free from here.
Despite all of that, however, this time was different than it had ever been before.
For this time, he didn’t have to do it alone.
He reached out, taking Mariana’s hand as his mother stared at him in shock until finally, the politeness of her breeding – icy though it was – took over.
“Lady Palencia,” she said, “It is lovely to meet you.”
She took a step back in the foyer, before motioning to the housekeeper. “I’m sure you are tired after your journey. Mrs. Cooper will prepare a chamber for you and show you to it. In the meantime, Edward, perhaps we could have a word – alone?”
He leaned down, murmuring in Mariana’s ear. “I’ll handle her, not to worry.”
She nodded, stiffly following Mrs. Cooper, and he could only hope to put a quick finish to this, for he had a fairly good idea of just what Mariana was thinking – that this was exactly what she had feared, that his mother wouldn’t accept her, that she would be fighting for her position here in England after leaving behind everything she knew.
He watched her go, wanting nothing more than to follow her, to lose himself in what they shared.
But then his brother elbowed him, leaning in to speak quietly to him. “Sometimes, Edward, you must live in the life you were born to.”
He nodded, remembering, knowing that he should be grateful for what he had been given and all that his brother had done for him – and that wishing things were different was not going to help anything.
“Let us go to my study,” he said to his mother, already walking toward it.
“I was thinking the drawing room,” she said.
