Page 12 of A Bride for the Cruel Duke (Claimed by Regency Devils #1)

Chapter Twelve

T he following weeks passed by in a blur as Caroline’s wedding day approached. She thought time might have gone more slowly, a ticking clock that never seemed to reach midnight, seeing as she was most certainly not looking forward to the day in question. Sadly, the complete opposite was true.

“There you are!” Caroline’s mother burst into her room two weeks after her sister’s wedding. “What are you doing?”

“Mother...” Caroline frowned. “I’m reading. What is the matter?”

Times were that it might have been strange for her mother to seek her out like this in the middle of the day. With four other daughters and a son to keep her busy, Caroline was rarely the subject of her attention and had always been glad for it. Why, she could have snuck out, tripped into London, gotten up to all sorts of mischief, and come home knowing that not a soul would be the wiser. Not anymore.

It seemed that every day now her mother was checking on her. Making sure she was well. Asking questions about the wedding. Ensuring that Caroline wasn’t going to do anything foolish that might ruin everything. And in truth, it was starting to get on Caroline’s nerves.

“His Grace is here!” her mother explained, rushing across the room and snatching the book from Caroline’s hands.

“Mother! I was reading?—”

“Later,” she waved her down. “I’ve had the staff direct him to the sitting room, but we are to join him immediately.”

Caroline sighed and started toward the door. “Fine. Did he tell you why he has?—”

“Caroline! What are you doing?”

Caroline stopped and turned back, surprised by the aghast look of horror that her mother fixed on he. “Er... going downstairs to see?—”

“Dressed like that! No, no. You have not seen His Grace in two weeks! This is as good as a first impression, Caroline, and you only ever get one!”

Under her breath, Caroline mumbled, “unlike in this instance...”

Nonetheless, her mother directed her to change into something more appropriate. Caroline had been half-dressed, seeing as she was to spend the day sitting around the house. By the time she made her way downstairs, however, she was in full dress, closer to being ready to attend a ball than a simple visit from her betrothed.

I might have liked to have not looked so dressed up. If for no other reason than to remind him of the circumstances of this marriage—that it is purely of convenience and nothing more.

The truth was that Caroline had come around greatly to her impending marriage, resigned to it now. She knew there was no chance of its cancellation, but conceded that it would not be as bad as she had originally feared on account of the assurance the duke had given her when she’d approached him. A marriage of convenience, this was to be, and nothing more.

This would allow her to avoid him. This would give her an excuse to not spend any time with him. It might be a loveless marriage, but it would not be one that saw her test the limits of her control...

She and her mother thus found the duke waiting for them in the sitting room. Caroline was unsure what she expected from this unexpected visit, conceding by the time it was over with that even she could not have foreseen how sterile it would be.

“Lady Grayhill,” the duke greeted Caroline’s mother as she and Caroline appeared in the doorway. “And Lady Caroline. Thank you for agreeing to see me.”

“Your Grace...” her mother purred as she crossed the room. “Think nothing of it. We are as good as family.” She reached the duke and dropped into a curtsy. “And we must begin to act like it. Shall I have some tea poured?”

“No,” he said. “There is no need for that. I will not be staying long.”

Caroline lingered in the doorway, admittedly taken aback initially because in the two weeks that had passed, she’d forgotten much of the duke’s physicality, and had been able to ignore what it did to her. But seeing him again in the flesh... he is just so big. And brawny. And intimidating. I should feel terror at the sight, knowing that soon he and I will be forced to live alone. Strangely, that is not even close to what I am feeling...

“Caroline!” her mother hissed at her and waved her over.

“Oh...” A shake of the head and she waded into the room. “Good morning, Your Grace.”

The duke looked her over, but quickly, and was then back on her mother. “I have come to inform you that the marriage license for your daughter and me has been procured. I was able to pull some strings, hence the suddenness, but I figured that, under the circumstances, haste is necessary.”

“You... you have?” her mother blinked in shock. “That is wonderful!”

“Two weeks hence,” the duke continued, still looking at her mother, seeming to be purposefully avoiding Caroline’s gaze. “A small ceremony, as discussed, which I will leave to your discretion.”

“Your Grace, that is...” Her mother still looked surprised by the forthrightness of the announcement. “This is very considerate, and it will be done. Two weeks, you say?”

“Two weeks.”

The duke left almost immediately after that. He said goodbye to Caroline’s mother, he nodded once at Caroline—barely making eye contact—and then he strode from their home and was atop his horse before Caroline had so much as a chance to blink.

“That was unexpected,” her mother said as they watched his horse trot down the drive.

“No,” Caroline said to herself, her gaze caught on the duke as he was swallowed by the gate and gone from sight. “Not that unexpected at all.”

The past two weeks had been a confusing time for Caroline. Although she and the duke had discussed the terms of their marriage and he had confirmed for her that all he wished for was a marriage of convenience, she hadn’t been able to say whether she believed him or not. Worse than that, she still couldn’t say if she believed it herself.

For weeks now, all she had been able to think about were those two nights when she found herself alone with the duke—and that wasn’t even counting the night they had slept in the same bed! She could not stop thinking about that kiss. She could not stop thinking about his hands around her waist. And she certainly could not stop thinking about what might happen once the two were married, alone, with no more excuses to stand between them…

It should not be this way! It should be the duke who I do not trust, not myself. And I should be happy that he has agreed to a marriage of convenience, not upset that he had said yes so easily. What is wrong with me?

Caroline could not allow even the most remote chance that the duke wanted more from her than a mere marriage of convenience. She feared that if she was put in a situation where her self-control would be tested, she would not be able to resist. And considering how little she believed the duke and his promise, she had every reason to fear that come the night of their marriage, he would do as she feared. And that I will not have it in me to say no.

Those next two weeks moved at a brisk pace.

During that time, not once did Caroline hear from His Grace. Her mother, she was told, had been in contact with him, merely to ensure that everything went ahead as expected. A couple of times too, Caroline thought to ask if the duke had asked anything about her... only to curb that notion because she did not care.

I do not care. The less he is thinking about me, the better.

Still, Caroline could not escape the nagging feeling that she was walking into a trap of her own making, and for that reason, she determined to speak with him one final time. To ensure that he was a man of his word and would not try anything once they were married… which also ensuring that if he did, she had it in herself to resist.

* * *

As Caroline rushed around the back of the chapel, she pontificated for a moment about how unlike her this was. Always, she was the well-behaved one. Never had she done anything that might cause alarm in her mother or even in herself. Yet these last few weeks, so much had changed in her. Changes she was yet to decide on whether they were positive or a trend which she needed to keep an eye on.

A worry for later as the necessity of it all means I have little real choice.

Her wedding was due to start at any moment. She was dressed in her gown; a canary yellow number with a billowing skirt, a tight bodice—always the case with her curves—and a modest neckline which she personally felt ran a little too deep toward her chest. The dress was hiked up as she hurried, her eyes on a tree which sat some twenty feet from the chapel’s entrance.

Keeping low, she darted for it, knowing she would not be seen as everyone was inside the chapel already waiting for the ceremony to begin. The only thing missing was the groom.

That is what Caroline was doing out here in the first place. She had left her mother behind, citing a need to visit the washroom alone. Her mother had fretted because the ceremony would begin as soon as the duke arrived, and she did not want to keep him waiting! Caroline assured her that would not be a problem. After all, she planned on intercepting the duke well before he reached the inside of the chapel.

Indeed, it was just as she ducked behind the tree that she spied the arrival of his carriage. Inside, she knew the duke to be contained, no doubt lamenting this entire day and wishing it to be over. She grimaced to herself when she pictured the shock on her face that was sure to appear as she popped up by his doorway. Desperate times, unfortunately...

The carriage came to a stop and Caroline acted.

She rushed the carriage like a bull at a red flag and it was just as the door was swinging open that she stuck her body between the open doorway and the exiting duke.

“Good morning,” she said with a sheepish smile.

The duke’s eyes widened in shock. “Lady Caroline! What are you?—”

“We need to talk.” She climbed into the carriage and closed the door behind her. Her heart was racing from the endeavor, and never had she felt more alive. That was until she turned to find the duke looking right at her; his legs spread, his hulking frame taking up nearly the entire carriage so that she felt tiny by comparison. Alone suddenly and this idea did not feel nearly as clever as she had thought. “… ah… if that is agreeable with you.”

“That depends on what this is.” The duke eyed her with curiosity as much as annoyance. “If this is another vain attempt to cancel the marriage…”

“No, no, nothing like that I swear.” She tried to meet his eyes but she found that she could not. Her mind flashed back to those nights in his bedroom, when he had stood over her, those same eyes locking her in place so that she could hardly breathe. “And I do not mean to cause alarm, but there is something I must ask you.”

“And it could not wait?”

“No,” she said. “It had to be now.”

The duke groaned and shifted in his seat. It was subtle, but it looked to her like he was moving back from her, as if he was the one who was worried. Why would that be? I’m the one who should be terrified to be alone with him.

“Tell me then,” he said. “And make it quick, because if this is how you plan on approaching our marriage, Lady Caroline, you would do well to remember that I am not one who cares for such immature nonsense as this. Peace and quiet, remember? Or have you forgotten?”

“That is exactly what I wish to speak of,” she said, forcing herself to look at him. She regretted it immediately, her breath catching in her throat. The duke’s hulking mass was shadowed in the confines of the carriage, such that she could barely make him out clearly, save for his sheer size and the breadth of his power which radiated from him like a hand wrapping itself around her heart and squeezing. She found it hard to breathe. Sweat began to form. And her body began to tremble...

“Well?” he said. “Are you going to speak? Or did you come here just to gawk?”

“This marriage,” she blurted suddenly. “I need to hear you say it again.”

“Say what?”

“That it is one of convenience only,” she said. “I know that we discussed it already. I know you told me that was what you wish for. And I want to believe you. I do. It is only...” She hesitated, looking away and biting into her lip. “I need to hear you say it one more time. I need to know it is the truth.”

He groaned and shifted again; the entire carriage swayed. “That is what this is about?”

“I had to see you again. I am sorry, I just could not walk down the aisle without you confirming it one more time.”

“This is...” He clicked his tongue. “Highly irregular. And the truth is, I thought better of you. I had hoped that you would be more...” He groaned. “Well behaved than this.”

“I am!”

“I find it curious…” The duke considered her for a moment. “That’s twice now you have come to me, determined to find out what I want from this marriage, but not once have you told me what you want.”

“What I want…” She frowned, caught by surprise from the question. “What do you mean?”

“As I said. I have told you that I want peace and quiet, which as things currently stand, look to be the opposite of what I have signed up for.” He breathed out sharply. “But what do you want?”

“I told you,” she said. “A marriage of convenience.”

“Which means what, exactly?” he followed up. “Do you intend to spend our entire marriage ignoring me? Fighting with me? Perhaps moving to the stables so you can avoid me altogether?” He chuckled at the notion. “I told you that when we are married, you will be free to do as you wish, but not once have you even suggested what that might look like. So, I ask you again…” The duke sat up and leaned forward and Caroline felt herself pulling back, careful not to let him get too close. “What do you want?”

The question should not have been so surprising. And it certainly should not have caused such shock. But it did. Growing up as she had, Caroline was never asked what she wanted, or given much thought to at all, because nobody ever seemed to care. It was so commonplace that in her mind it was normal. At least it had been.

Is this some sort of trick? A misdirection? Why does the Cruel Duke of all people give a damn about me and what I want?

“I… I don’t… I just want… a marriage of convenience,” she said stupidly.

“Yes, you said that already,” the duke sighed. “Which could mean any one of a dozen things. Personally, I suggest that you give it some thought so the next time you attack me like this, you might be better prepared.”

What did Caroline want? Truly, she could not say. She knew what she didn’t want—a marriage like what her parents had experienced. But what did she want ? What could she even expect from a marriage like this? She had no idea.

“Is there anything else?” the duke then asked.

She looked at him blankly. There had been. Her reason for coming here in the first place, that purpose had not been properly addressed. Only now, it felt redundant, her mind awash with a new question to which she could not fathom an answer.

“As I thought…” The duke leaned around her and popped open the carriage door. “I suggest you hurry, before anyone notices your absence.”

“Yes…” She nodded vaguely, climbing from the carriage.

“And Lady Hawkins…” The duke smiled, but she could not tell if it was genuine or meant to intimidate. “I will be seeing you shortly.”

With the carriage door closed, Caroline gave her head a shake and was then quick to rush back around the chapel and into the room where her mother was still waiting for her. Luckily, before her mother had a chance to chastise her, the duke’s arrival was announced, and she was being rushed into the chapel to start the ceremony.

Still, her mind was back in that carriage, unable to pull herself away from the question which the duke had asked her. What did Caroline want? She was not a romantic. She was not looking for a love match. Again, those were things she did not want. Not what she wanted. Why is this question so hard to answer?

That was until she saw His Grace standing at the end of the aisle waiting for her. He turned back and met her eyes, and her heart began to pound once more, just as her skin flushed, just as her legs shook. What did she want? In that moment, Caroline knew for fact that she wanted her husband… not, however, for reasons that any would dare misconstrue as being romantic or love inclined. Then again, that was the entire problem.