Page 68 of Married to the Icy Duke
There was a brief silence. Madeline cleared her throat after a moment had passed.
“So, is it a good hand, or a bad?”
“I … I don’t know,” Charlotte confessed. “It says that I’ll get a husband, which I know that I shall, by this time tomorrow. But it also talks of love and tragedy. I don’t expect to find love in my marriage, and I certainly hope not to find tragedy.”
The awkward silence continued. Madeline, clearly hoping to lighten the mood, snatched up the cards, hastily shuffling the hand back in with the others.
“Well, it’s a silly game, isn’t it? And if you don’t fall in love, you’ll know that the tragedy is all made-up, too. You aren’t upset, are you?”
“No, of course not, I …” Charlotte trailed off when movement caught her eye out of the window. Glancing down, she saw a figure strolling across the lawn beneath her window.
It was Isaac. He walked with a bouncing step, his head tilted back, face angled towards the sunlight. The wind rippled through his hair. Broad-shouldered and handsome, he made Charlotte’s heart ache.
The cards predicted love for me,she thought, a flash of panic rushing through her.But Sybella never said whether those cards meant that I will be loved in return. She only said thatthey meantIwould fall in love. Perhaps I am doomed to unrequited love. And if the cards are right about that, what about the third one? The Jack? It meant tragedy, so what waits for me?
She shuddered, pressing back against the wall. Isaac had changed his clothes, she noticed, and was now wearing black velvet and a red silk waistcoat underneath. Devil colors.
Madeline shifted beside her, peering down at him.
“Is that he?” she asked, sounding rather surprised.
Charlotte forced a smile. “Yes, that is the Duke of Arkley. He insists on my calling him Isaac. I suppose it’s right, as we are engaged to be married. Tomorrow, I’ll be his wife. Lord, what a strange thoughtthatis.”
Madeline chuckled. She seemed rather impressed by Isaac, watching him closely until he strode out of view around the corner of the house. Charlotte imagined that he had gone for a short walk and was now entering the house again.
“He’s very handsome,” Madeline said at last. “You’ll look well together, the two of you.”
Charlotte managed a feeble smile in response.
“If you say so. Well, I suppose I ought to introduce you to him.”
Horror crossed Madeline’s face. “Must I?”
Charlotte smiled a little more sincerely this time and climbed up from the window seat.
“Yes, my dear, I’m afraid you must. Come along, I promise he won’t bite. Well, probably not, anyway.”
CHAPTER 20
Isaac’s house was slowly but surely filling up with guests. After returning from the park, he had retreated to the library and hoped that Perling and Mrs. Ribb were taking care of them.
He had almost thought that Charlotte should be taking care of them, too, but then he remembered that she wasn’t yet the Duchess of Arkley.
Isaac’s walk had freshened him up, and now he felt brighter and more energetic.
So, I’m getting married,he thought, settling himself into an armchair before the library fire.That’s perfectly ordinary. Mine will be an easier marriage than most. I won’t be expected to share the marital bed or produce heirs. All I will do is go on the way I have been with Tommy, and nothing else in my life will change.
It will be as though she isn’t here.
No matter how firmly he told himself that, he could not make himself believe it. Tristan had retired to his room an hour or so ago, having suggested one last time that Isaac should bed Charlotte to get her off his mind.
“It’ll restore your tranquility,” he’d added, as if Isaac had ever possessed any such thing.
Closing his eyes, Isaac slid down lower in the chair, stretching his feet out towards the fire.
Of course, he hadn’t told Tristan about the incident in the washroom. There were some things that one did not share with one’s friends.
Besides, he knew what Tristan would have said.
