Page 1 of Her Runaway Duke
CHAPTER 1
“You cannot marry him. I will not allow it.”
Siena could only smile ruefully in response.
When Eliza crossed her arms and set her shoulders as though ready to do battle, it was very hard to say no to her declaration.
But the only other option was to deny her parents. Siena straightened from her slump and sent a regretful smile toward her friend, who stood a few feet away, her lips pressed together in determination.
“If only you were the one who was making the decision,” Siena countered as softly as she could.
“I have no idea how your parents could expect you to marry a man so… distasteful. Unsettling.Old. He must be older than your father. And the way he looks at you?—”
“Is how a husband is allowed to look at his wife, I would suspect,” Siena said, although she couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of Lord Mulberry touching her, let alone—no. She couldn’t think of it, or she would never get through this day.
It wasn’t his age that bothered her, although that didn’t help matters. It was how he unnerved her and the discomfort thatattached itself to her the moment he walked into a room. Eliza wasn’t wrong. His name alone flooded her with unease.
“I suppose the only positive of this situation is that he might not last much longer,” Eliza said as she stood from her seat in the armchair before the fire and walked over to stand behind Siena, meeting her gaze in the mirror of the vanity.
Siena’s lady’s maid had already come and gone, having prepared her for the morning wedding ceremony, and only Eliza remained, refusing to leave Siena’s side as they waited for the carriage to convey them to the church.
Siena’s eyes widened. “Eliza!”
Her best friend shrugged, her blue-green eyes alighting with mischief as her dimples played in her cheeks. “It’s the truth.”
She reached out and stole a lily from the bouquet sitting on the vanity top in front of them and tucked it into a pin that was holding Siena’s blonde hair. Eliza always described it as ‘the color of sun-kissed wheat’ and today it was swept up in an intricately braided style that was far more elaborate than she preferred.
But it didn’t matter, for who would ever see it but her family, her groom, and his children?
“Children” who were older than she was.
“How your parents could do this to you, I will never understand,” Eliza said, shaking her head with her hands on her hips now. Siena knew that Eliza meant well, but it was easy to say such things when she had parents who allowed her to do as she pleased.
“They are most concerned that I am well looked after,” Siena said softly.
“You are too kind. I suppose it doesn’t hurt that your new husband’s family is so well respected in social circles,” Eliza added in a jaded tone.
“I suppose not,” Siena admitted, looking up and meeting Eliza’s eyes, noting the pity in her friend’s gaze.
“You do not have to do this, you know,” Eliza murmured, and hope sprang in Siena’s chest before she could tamp it down.
“What other choice do I have?” Siena asked, throwing her hands up in the air. “I have asked my parents for more time to find another suitor, but my father and Lord Mulberry are old friends and he refused to deny his request. This is how it has to be, whether I like it or not.”
“There is always another option,” Eliza said slowly. “You just might have to take a risk.” She looked from one side to the other, as though someone might hear her. “If you want to escape, I will help you.”
“Escape?” Siena stood, startled. “How? And where would I possibly go?”
“Anywhere,” Eliza said, reaching out and taking Siena’s hands in hers, more fervent now. “But I do have a plan. I wasn’t sure if you would agree, but just in case, everything is prepared, including a horse with saddlebags packed. I do not live far, and my father won’t notice a horse missing from his stable for a time.”
“That would be stealing!”
“That is what you are most concerned with right now?” Eliza said with a sigh. “Honestly, Siena, do you always have do what others tell you, whether it is right or wrong? Your selflessness is to be admired, but it also drives me mad.”
Siena hated the shame that washed through her at Eliza’s words, especially as she knew her friend was right.
“If I do not marry Lord Mulberry,” she began, as that hope began to rise in her throat once more, “then no one will ever have me. I will be ostracized and then I will never have what I truly want.”
“Which is?”
