Chapter 7
Afew mornings later, Evelyn sat in front of her vanity, staring at herself in the mirror. Same dark hair. Same blue eyes. Same high cheekbones.
But there was a difference within her. A heaviness, as her jaw seemed tighter, her forehead furrowed.
The life she had previously known had been taken from her for no foreseeable reason, and now here she was, preparing to marry a man she barely knew.
He was handsome, at least, that much she could admit. It wouldn’t be a hardship to look upon him every day.
It was kind of sad, actually, that she was being forced to marry because of a ruination she hadn’t even had the opportunity to experience.
But she couldn’t allow herself to go too far down that road. The duke already half-suspected her of having something to do with arranging their marriage. She didn’t want to feed into that narrative, nor did she want to develop any feelings that were sure to go unreciprocated.
After a soft knock on the door, Evelyn’s maid entered and began helping her dress. Evelyn didn’t bother to go downstairs for breakfast — she didn’t think she could eat.
It wasn’t long before another knock sounded, and relief filled her when she found Verity at the entrance.
“Oh, Evelyn,” Verity said, looking at her with such understanding that Evelyn nearly dissolved into tears.
“Apparently, there was one puzzle I couldn’t solve,” Evelyn said when she pulled back to look her friend in the eye. “How to extricate myself from this situation.”
“There are worse men to tie yourself to,” Verity said, tilting her head to look Evelyn’s simple gown up and down.
Evelyn didn’t have anything more bridal, but her choice of a light-blue dress emphasized the rushed, uncelebrated nature of the wedding.
“You will certainly be the envy of every young lady of the ton.”
“I’d rather be ignored by them all,” Evelyn said wryly.
“I can understand that,” Verity agreed. She far preferred to walk in the shadows than to be noticed by anyone, especially those within their own circles.
“Are you curious?”
“About what?”
“About him?” Verity perched on the edge of Evelyn’s bed as the maid began to pin Evelyn’s hair into its usual style.
Verity selected a few formal hairpieces from Evelyn’s top drawer and placed them on the vanity, and the maid nodded in understanding as she tucked them in here and there between Evelyn’s dark strands.
“I think I know enough. He became the duke a couple of years ago after the deaths of his father and his brother, which, I can imagine, was a significant change. I also know he does not want to marry. What else is important?”
Verity looked at her in shock. “Evelyn. If there is anyone I know who loves to solve puzzles, it is you, and the duke is most certainly a puzzle. Do you not wonder about his life before inheriting the dukedom? About how that shaped him? You do know he used to be a rake of the highest order, running around with Lord Julian, having his fun, when they were both second sons. That must have been quite a shock for someone to have everything change so suddenly. Since he became duke, I’ve barely heard a whisper of him causing any sort of scandal – until now. ”
“I can imagine,” Evelyn agreed slowly. Verity wasn’t wrong. Evelyn hadn’t allowed herself to consider all of the complexities of the man she was marrying.
Her chest tightened.
Verity was right. She knew nothing.
She tried to take deep breaths, but it was no use. Her chest was tightening, and when she met Verity’s eyes in the mirror, her friend seemed to understand as she rushed over.
“Evelyn. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause you any concern. I only wondered if you were curious, but all will be fine. He’s a good man. He’s Lady Thalia’s brother!”
Evelyn nodded slowly. “I know. I just… I am still mourning the life I thought I would lead. I do not suppose a duchess can solve puzzles at the British Institution every morning.”
Verity raised a brow.
“Do you know, Evelyn, I think a duchess can do whatever she wants to do.”
That perked up Evelyn slightly. “We shall see, Verity,” she said, turning to look at herself in the mirror one last time, to say goodbye to her previous self. “We shall see.”
It took Asher three tries to knot his cravat properly.
“Your grace, are you certain I cannot—”
“I can do this, Roberts,” Asher said, waving his valet away.
“Of course,” Roberts said with a slight nod. “Are you quite well?”
“I am,” Asher answered brusquely, hoping Rogers would realize without his own interjection that he had no wish to be so questioned.
He wondered if he should bring anything for his bride. Flowers, or a token, perhaps?
He considered it for but a moment before deciding it would only complicate things. She would likely bring her own flowers, and he didn’t want to offer anything lest she get the wrong idea — that this marriage would be more personal than he had planned.
Secretly, he had always hoped to find a love match. Someday, when he was ready.
But that time had never come, and he had allowed himself to become trapped before the day arrived.
A slight sense of guilt crept through him that he had basically forced Lady Evelyn into this once he had seen no way out, but it was not as though he had done this purposefully.
He would ensure that all was in order, that she would feel as comfortable as she possibly could once she moved into Ravenscar House, today, after the wedding.
His mother was not exactly pleased at the abrupt change in direction.
It seemed she had always imagined that he would follow her plan, even though he had never given her any assurance.
And Thalia would be here. His sister could be a companion for his wife.
His wife.
How foreign that sounded.
He promised himself he would shoulder this honorably, that he wouldn’t expect anything of her that she wasn’t prepared to give.
While he had discussed all of the business aspects of the marriage with Lord Stratford, Asher now wondered if he should have spent more time reviewing the practical facets of their marriage with Lady Evelyn — what would be required of her and what he would provide for her.
But he supposed it was too late for that now. They would just have to learn as they went.
He stayed in his chambers for as long as he possibly could until he finally realized he could no longer delay the inevitable and went downstairs, surprised to find not his mother and sister as he had been expecting, but Lord Julian awaiting him.
“What are you doing here?” he asked his friend after the butler had led him into the front parlor. “We were supposed to meet at the church.”
“I thought I should probably come here first, make sure you actually left the house for the church and followed through,” Julian said with a chuckle. “I know that I, for one, would have a hard time forcing my feet to find their way to an altar.”
Asher started. “I told her we would marry. I’m not a man to back down from my word nor my responsibility.”
Julian sobered and studied him. “No, I do not suppose you are anymore, Asher, are you?”
While their lives had changed, the two of them not being in the same situation as they once had been, there was no one else that Asher would want standing up next to him.
“We should go get this over with, should we not?” he finally said, and Julian stood, clapping his hands against his thighs.
“We should,” he said. “All will be fine, Asher.”
Asher only wished he held the same confidence.
Evelyn and her father had always preferred this small parish church tucked away in a quiet corner of Kensington to any Mayfair church where everyone went only to be seen.
Evelyn’s request to be married here had likely surprised the duke, but he didn’t seem opposed to a ceremony that would hopefully go mostly unnoticed by the ton.
Unlike on a crowded Sunday service, today the chapel was much colder and slightly echoey, with only a few people present.
Evelyn’s father stood next to her while Verity, Lady Thalia, the duke’s mother, Lord Julian, and the vicar waited at the front amid the wooden altar and the candles flickering in the early light.
It all seemed almost clandestine, adding to the concern that she was doing something wrong.
Evelyn looked over at her father.
“Are you sure this is the only solution?” she asked him, hoping he would provide her with a last-minute alternative, but his face was grim as he nodded, and she swallowed hard.
Likely concerned she was about to change her mind, her father tugged on her arm and led her down the short aisle to the front of the church.
Evelyn was sure she was expected to appear demure, but she couldn’t stop herself from lifting her head and staring nearly defiantly at the front of the church as she made her way down. She would face her future head-on.
When they arrived before the altar, her father shook hands with the duke, leaving Evelyn to stand beside the man who was about to become her husband.
She looked up, her eyes locking with his dark, intense stare, and she nearly stopped breathing.
There was an intensity to his gaze. An intensity and…
an apology? Something passed between them, something she didn’t entirely understand but still made it difficult for her to find her breath for some time.
The vicar didn’t seem to notice, and with warmth in his voice, he began, repeating the words he had likely spoken one thousand times before.
The duke was the first to repeat his vows, his response quiet, strained, but, strangely, sincere.
He surprised Evelyn when he reached out and took her hands in his.
“I, Asher Fairborne, take thee, Evelyn Landsdowne…” His voice was steady but low — almost intimate, and she couldn’t help the slight tremble that raced through her from where their hands were joined. The duke covered her fingers lightly with his thumbs, steadying her, just as he had the other day.
Her own words were more collected than she had expected them to be, and the rest of the ceremony passed so quickly that when the duke began to lead her toward the exit of the church, she was shocked that it was already over.
It hadn’t escaped her how early they had planned for the ceremony to take place, and she wondered if part of it was to escape notice.
Even the carriage was waiting near the doors of the church, and while Evelyn had arrived separately from the duke, she noted two ducal carriages as well as her father’s waiting in a line.
“We are the first,” the duke said, his voice a low rumble beside her as he led her up into the carriage.
She nodded, her eyes meeting Verity’s for a moment as Verity stared, biting her lip, as though equally as shocked that it was all over. Finished. That now Evelyn was climbing into a carriage to ride home — her new home — with a stranger who was now her husband.
Suddenly, Verity’s eyes shifted beside her, her mouth widening, and Evelyn cringed when she heard a cry, “It’s the Duke of Ravenscar!”
They had been discovered.