Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
“ A re 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.
“Lucien Fitzgerald, I promise to be an honorable duchess. I swear to support your every endeavor and ensure that the dukedom continues to flourish. I promise to comfort you in darker hours, and to provide light among shadows, as you have done for me.”
She did not regret her words, or see them as foolish. Instead, she held the Duke’s gaze so that he knew that despite her not having romantic feelings for him as she had once envisioned having for a man she was marrying, they were together in this. She did not regret doing what she needed to do.
The remainder of the ceremony passed by swiftly and without a hitch, and there was a band on her finger, as cold as ice, grounding her in her new position.
“The Duke and Duchess of Stormhold,” the officiant announced.
Edwina’s stomach flipped as she heard her new title in full for the first time.
They faced the meager congregation, and as the ceremony came to a close, the Duke made his excuses to remove himself.
“We shall leave for the countryside within the hour,” he said. “I have spent enough time here, and I need to attend to estate matters.”
“Of course,” she agreed quickly. “You have sacrificed much to help us.”
Lucien only nodded before striding away.
She saw him speak with Nicholas in a hushed tone at the back of the chapel. But before she could question their exchange, Diana’s bouncing, blonde curls appeared in her field of vision.
“Edwina!” Diana cried, taking her hands. “You have kept such secrets!”
“There were none, I assure you,” Edwina corrected. “This was a rather… hurried arrangement.”
“I will not pry. Does it have to do with your brother and the trouble you mentioned?”
Diana could be a gossip, but Edwina trusted her friend not to make her the subject of gossip.
She nodded hesitantly. “I am glad you have attended.”
“How could I not?” Diana gushed. “My best friend is now a duchess. I do hope I will receive an invitation to Stormhold. Although I do not think your new husband will be amenable to the company.”
“I am sure he will,” Edwina said, knowing that Lucien would not deprive her of company.
After all, theirs was a marriage of convenience, and he had done this so she would not be alone. Surely he would not force loneliness on her by stopping her friend from visiting.
“I will write to you as soon as I can.”
“Please do.” Diana tugged Edwina into an embrace and lowered her voice. “Just be careful, please. I understand you may know him far better than others, but that could only be more dangerous. Keep your guard up, Edwina, and remember that you are very strong.”
The words were more than what Edwina needed to hear, and she hugged her friend tighter. “Thank you.”
Back at Montgomery Manor, Edwina stepped into the entrance hall with Lucien. It was strange how, scarcely a week ago, she had bargained with Lord Stockton over seducing the Duke, who was now her husband.
Her aunt was standing next to Nicholas, who appeared a little worse for wear but smiled at her tiredly.
By the door, her belongings were stacked up, as meager as they were. Seeing them in such stark light made her a little ashamed, for she had opted to leave behind old dresses and jewelry. Had it not been for Lucien buying her new gowns, she would have left behind almost all of her belongings.
Her brother stepped forward, his face solemn as he held out a hand to Lucien. “Safe journey to Stormhold, Lucien.”
“Thank you,” Lucien returned stiffly. The two had yet to fully reconcile, but they were not fighting, so Edwina had to consider that a victory. “I shall visit you the moment I hear you are settled.”
Nicholas jerked his nod in acknowledgment.
Edwina stepped forward to embrace her brother.
“You look beautiful,” Nicholas told her, hugging her tightly for a moment.
It hit Edwina that she was moving out of her family home, that she had married into another family—the very thing her mother had groomed her to do. To leave home and be a true lady of the ton. Yet, the very notion, as much as she had planned for it, made her emotional.
“Give the Duke a little bit of a hard time, will you?” Nicholas asked. “For my troubles.”
Edwina only laughed and pulled away. “I shall visit you with him.”
“I would rather it not be him at all, despite his generosity.”
“Please take care of yourself, Nicholas. It worries me, these days between my departure and your own.”
“All will be well, Edwina.”
He gave her an encouraging nod before stepping back, allowing Isabel to embrace her.
“Oh, my niece!” The old woman had tears in her eyes, and she sniffed as she pulled away and cupped Edwina’s face. “You already make a stunning duchess.” She blinked twice. “You have endured a great deal, Edwina, but your heart has remained strong and kind. Keep it that way, no matter what comes next. I hope that you find a life that is solely for you in Stormhold.”
Edwina’s eyebrows rose in surprise. She hadn’t realized that her aunt had been very aware of how she had been raised—parenting her parents, parenting her brother.
“I understand you well, Edwina,” her aunt added and kissed her forehead. “Your mother would have been proud of your match. So would your father.”
“Thank you,” Edwina murmured. “I hope you have a safe journey back to your estate. Do not get side-tracked by any gossip that you might hear about me, for I know you will boast about my new title.” She laughed a little as her aunt made a mock guilty face, both of them knowing she would indeed boast. “And I hope you know that I would have been so lost without you and Nicholas.”
“Ah, that boy. Sometimes I forget that you are both not as young as you once were. He is older now, yet he can still be looked after by his aunt Isabel—which he will be. I will help him get back on his feet. I only wish for you to take care of yourself, as I take care of him. Or perhaps let somebody else take care of you, for a change.”
Isabel gave Edwina a knowing look and one last hug.
“I will help him get back on his feet . ”
Edwina could not help but wonder if her aunt had known all along, if she had played up her ignorance of Nicholas’s true issues. Nevertheless, she pulled back and smiled again at her family.
“Goodbye,” she bid them, before Lucien guided her out of the door, towards the carriage that awaited to take them to her new home, Stormhold Hall.