Page 47 of A Duke to Undo her (The Husband Hunt #1)

Chapter Two

“N– no!” Iris found herself saying. Not intentionally, as Iris was not the type to speak out without recourse or cause for argument. That was not how she’d been raised. But in this instance… well, her tongue got the better of her.

“Iris!” her mother gasped.

“No?” the duke said, almost looking surprised by her objection. Not angry at least. But he was sure of himself, so in control and powerful in all that he did, he likely hadn’t considered that she would object.

Iris gave her head a shake, forcing herself not to get trapped by his dark eyes and the pull of them. “Your Grace…” A deep breath and she pushed down her anger and surprise. “I do not mean to be so… ungrateful. But surely, you cannot expect me to marry you. Not now.”

“And why is that?”

“Because…” She had a dozen arguments ready, but none materialized on her tongue. “Because I am not supposed to marry you. Your brother…”

“Is not here. Nor will he be.”

“It will look odd,” she tried next. “And it is wrong—when it is heard of, everyone will know the reason. It will make no difference.”

“I am not so sure that will be the case,” he said, still speaking calmly. “My brother’s reputation is known.” Behind his eyes she saw a flash of anger. “When it is asked, I will simply say that I thought you deserved better than him. That this was my decision and the plan all along.”

“I… I…” Iris looked to her brother for support, praying he would see reason. But her brother, ever the pragmatist, was biting into his lip as he considered the offer. Oh no… “Mother?” Iris tried instead. “Surely, you understand that this… it is not… it cannot be allowed!”

“It is strange,” her mother agreed. “But it is not completely unheard of.”

Iris could see it playing out before her eyes. Once again, her future being determined and decided for her, regardless of what she wanted. None of this was her fault but she would suffer the consequences. Such was the way of her life.

And it wasn’t that she had any objections to the duke per se.

Maybe he was kind? Maybe he would make a good husband?

Maybe she and he would learn to care for one another?

It made no difference! She did not know him, he did not know her, and this felt like a mercy given because he felt he had to, not because he wished it.

What was more… despite herself, Iris looked quickly at the duke.

Again, she felt that flutter in her stomach and her skin prickled further.

He was so damn intimidating. So dark and stern.

She knew little of the man, but she sensed in him a man who got what he wanted, did as he pleased, and cared not for anyone or anything other than how it suited him.

A happily ever after? I doubt he understands the meaning of such a thing!

“I won’t do it.” Iris looked desperately about. “And you can’t make me.”

The duke looked at her intensely. Not with amusement. Not with pity or a sense that he felt bad about what was happening. It was more with surprise, as if he could not comprehend that she would dare deny him.

“The legalities will be a problem,” her brother said. “The marriage license is for your brother.”

“I will take care of that,” the duke said, still studying Iris.

“You can do that?”

“I can do anything.” The meaning behind his words was clear and Iris knew right then that there was nothing she could do.

“Please,” she tried a final time. “I don’t… you can’t do this.”

“I can and I will,” the duke said without sympathy.

“My brother has erred and in that I might rectify his mistakes. It is not the outcome I wished for, but it is as things have to be.” He tore his eyes from her and looked at Daniel.

“Make your peace with it. See that your sister understands that this is happening. I will speak with the priest.” And with that, His Grace turned and strode from the room.

Not so much as a final glance spared for his soon-to-be wed.

When he left, the atmosphere in the small room softened and Iris felt as if she could breathe again—as if she was taking her first breath since he entered. She gasped and staggered, clutching her chest, the world turning around her.

“Iris…” Her mother was beside her. “He is right. His Grace…” She sighed. “This is for the best.”

“We have no choice,” Daniel said. “It is this or nothing.”

“And why is nothing such a bad thing?”

“Let me rephrase,” Daniel said with a bite to his voice.

“Marry the duke or do not marry at all. And not this Season. Not the next. But never. It is not right, and I hate that it has come to this, but if you turn the duke down no one else will have you.” He reached out and touched her gently on the shoulder. “Iris, I am so sorry…”

Daniel is sorry? How does he think I feel?

They were right, and that was perhaps the worst thing of all.

Iris knew she had no choice. She knew that she could huff and puff and complain, but in the end this marriage would go ahead.

And she knew most of all that whatever might come of this union, it would not bring with it the type of happiness she so very much desired.

It would be a marriage of convenience only, and as was almost always the case, it promised to be a most inconvenient thing.

The inside of the carriage was big enough to fit four people comfortably, but with the duke’s ample frame spread across the seat opposite Iris it felt small and cramped and suffocating.

Iris shifted awkwardly, caught between wanting to glare daggers at the duke while pretending he did not exist. The shock of the situation, how quickly everything had happened, had long since faded, replaced now with anger for the circumstance that she had been forced into.

What was worse, where she was reeling from today and what it would mean for her future, the duke appeared unconcerned and disinterested.

He had not spoken to her once since they climbed in the carriage ten minutes ago.

He had not looked at her. He had not given any indication that he cared one little bit.

I suppose he has no reason to. In his mind, I am likely little more than an inconvenience that he can ignore. His life will go on, while mine will never be the same.

“How long is the journey?” Iris asked eventually, for no other reason than to break the silence.

“What was that?” The duke had been looking out the window, but he turned to find her glaring at him.

“How long is the journey,” she repeated. “You have not told me.”

“Did I not?”

“No,” she said, anger sitting on the edge of her tone. “You have not told me anything. Other than we did not have time to attend the breakfast, just as I hardly had time to say goodbye to my family.” She raised both eyebrows at him.

And the duke, in the face of her anger, frowned with apparent amusement. Not concerned. Not put out. Perhaps curious that she would dare speak to him as she was.

It had all happened so quickly.

Once the decision was made, Iris was led back into the church where she was promptly married to His Grace in place of his younger brother. He did not look at her during the ceremony and when they were announced man and wife, he did little more than offer a curt smile of acceptance.

After that it was a matter of Iris being told by her sisters that this would not be nearly as bad as she imagined and that she needed to make the most of it before the duke was interrupting them, telling her family that they needed to get going because the journey home was a long one.

There would be no romance found in this marriage. No companionship. Certainly no love. The duke seemed determined to make it clear to Iris that this was a circumstance that was forced on them both and that he would not be going out of his way to change that perception.

Not that I want him to do so. Not that I want to be here! But what can I do? Complaining feels childish and pointless. But I can’t just bow down and accept it either. I can’t let it be that easy.

“My estate is to the north,” the duke answered finally. “It will take us until tomorrow to reach it.”

“And then what?” she asked hotly.

“I do not understand your meaning.”

She exhaled sharply, keeping him in her glare. “You have made it perfectly clear how you feel about me. As if I am the imposition here. Is that how it is to be from now on? Little more than an inconvenience that you will do everything you can to avoid?”

The duke continued to study her, his brow furrowing. “You are unhappy.”

“Well observed.”

“And you blame me for this.”

“I don’t blame you,” she snapped, unable to stop herself.

“I blame… everyone. I did not want to marry your brother, but I accepted it because I had no choice. Because my family needed it of me. More importantly, I had time to reckon with it. To come to terms with it. But this…” Her glare hardened and she felt her chin shaking.

“This is nothing like what I imagined. Nor what I wanted.”

“And you think I do?”

She scoffed. “I don’t think you care. Just as you don’t care how this will affect me – I doubt you’ve even thought about it!

” She widened her eyes at him. “Your brother might not have been the man of my dreams but at least he might have been kind to me. He might have accepted his own fault in what had happened. He might have…”

Iris felt her words catch in her throat then, the anger getting the better of her so she almost said some things that she should not have. Things that probably weren’t even true.

All Iris had ever wanted was to fall in love.

With five older sisters, she had been forced to watch as each of them managed to find such a state of being, not always easy for them, quite often starting at a point of disaster, but they were each now happy and besotted with the man who they called their husband.