Page 84 of Foolish Bride
“Father, you cannot.” It was unbearable.Where was Michael?She would have screamed if a blade hadn’t been threatening her life.
The priest spread his hands and looked hopelessly down the steps at Elinor. “I cannot be the cause of a mortal sin.”
“So you would be party to a forced marriage—a sacred oath that I cannot keep. How is it that this pig’s immortal soul is of more value than mine? I would rather die than allow that piece of dung to touch me.”
He pressed the blade.
Blood tricked down her neck, staining the low collar of the yellowed dress.
“Don’t test my patience.” Roxton blew stale putrid breath in her face.
“My child, please,” the clergy begged.
Any fear Elinor might have experienced had been overshadowed by rage. She would plunge that dagger into Roxton’s heart if she had the chance. “Is there nothing I can say, Father? Nothing that will save me from this person?”
The priest sighed and shook his head.
“Good.” Smiling, Roxton removed the blade and slipped it into his boot with practiced ease. He nodded to the guard, who released her arms.
A cry escaped before she could stop it, and Elinor slumped forward, rubbing her aching shoulders.
Roxton pulled her upright. “I am sorry for all of this unpleasantness, my dear.”
She wouldn’t be able to count the bruises by the end of this insanity. She was about to be married to a complete madman, and there was no way out of it. Running wasn’t an option with his hired guards looming over her.
Not even the priest would help her.
The ceremony began, and bile rose in her throat. She did not have any idea whose ancient gown she had been swallowed up in, but she begged their forgiveness.
“Do you, Lady Elinor Arabella Burkenstock, take Carter Smythe Roxton, Duke of Kerburghe, to be your lawfully wedded husband…”
Her ears rang. The walls closed in like a nightmare.
Perhaps she had become pale, because the priest stopped and asked, “Are you all right, my child?”
She vomited the lovely bread from her morning meal all over the gown and the priest.
After that, everything blurred. Hands gripped her, and there was shouting. She tried to focus on what was going on, but nothing made sense.Why was Michael not charging in to save her?
More shouting.
The priest was again refusing to continue.
The room righted itself and stopped spinning.
“I now pronounce you man and wife.”
She never said, “I do,” but it didn’t seem to matter.
“Take the priest and lock him in the dungeon until after Rollins is dispensed with.”
Maybe she was in the midst of a nightmare and would soon wake up and realize she was still at Marlton and Michael was just down the hall. Then her biggest problem would be convincing Mother she should marry Michael rather than Preston.
Roxton wore a catlike smile, and she almost vomited again. The urge to sprint from the church and run until this nightmare was over almost overwhelmed her.
“Take her to the ladies’ chambers and have her cleaned up. I plan to make this marriage official before the sun sets.”
The beefy guard dragged her from the church.
