Page 26 of A Virgin for the Ton’s Wolf (Ton’s Wolves #4)
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
T he next few days passed by Scarlett in a blur of fabrics and flowers and questions of what kind of quiche she would prefer for the wedding breakfast. She had menus stuffed under her nose, and fabric samples and ribbons shoved in her face. An endless parade of tiny cakes for sampling.
And still, there was no sign of Hudson beyond their conversation in his bedchamber, where he had admitted to securing the special license so she could be married with all the pomp and tradition of all the Duchesses of Wolverton before her.
She did not know whether she should be elated or not.
“Oh, pishposh. Marriage is naturally confusing.” Her mama swept past her hesitation, waving a bit of ribbon. “I could barely remember my wedding.”
If she had married the sort of man her father had been, Scarlett would not have wanted to recall her nuptials either.
“My wedding was arranged by my mother and a bevy of her most attentive servants.” The Dowager Duchess smiled at her. “All I needed to do was get into my dress, walk down the aisle, and parrot out my vows.”
“Oh.” Were weddings always this underwhelming? “I had thought it would be a bit more… exciting.”
They were walking down to the next chapter of their lives, after all. Did they not feel apprehension? The faintest twinge of excitement? Scarlett had to wonder if she was truly expecting too much from her own marriage when all that preceded it was so terribly dull.
“Oh, believe me, it will be exciting for the rest of London.” The Dowager Duchess laughed. “They are forever wondering who will marry who, those nosy busybodies, and a duke’s marriage is a matter of great importance for many of them.”
Of that, Scarlett had no doubt. It had been so with all three of her friends’ marriages. She just did not know what to make of hers. She had not expected to marry the Duke of Wolverton, after all.
A mariage blanc . A white marriage.
The reminder felt like a boulder sinking into her heart. One without consummation.
Hudson was truly cruel to show her just how wonderfully wild the pleasure between them could be and then offer her a paltry white marriage. Scarlett felt as if she had been duped. Like buying an emerald, only to find it was nothing more than polished glass.
And despite it all, her foolish heart insisted on holding on tight to that polished glass with all of its sharp edges.
“I just think that we should consider what His Grace thinks of all of this, too,” she sighed. “It is his wedding, too, after all.”
She saw the two older women exchange glances. And then the Dowager Duchess laughed.
“Oh, my dear, no . You would not want Hudson meddling in wedding preparations. His job is done, for the most part.”
His job. As in securing the special license.
Her heart fluttered, much to her chagrin. Why, oh why, did it insist on such a complicated man?
“Her Grace is right.” Her mama nodded affirmatively. “Men are practically useless in this matter. Weddings are the realm of women.”
“I, for one, would not want their intrusion.”
In other words, Scarlett would have to suffer more hours of sifting through ribbons and flowers and tasting quiches and cakes. By the time she managed to climb into her bed that evening with Snowdrop, she was fairly done with wedding preparations.
“I never want to have to determine between ecru and eggshell again,” she complained to the poor puppy. “Or sniff another flower. Or taste another quiche.”
No wonder her friends hardly ate at their weddings. Scarlett had had enough of her own, and the day had not even arrived yet.
It would have been so much better if she could at least talk to Hudson once more. His dry humor would have been so much better than dealing with two excited dowagers the whole day.
If Hudson had been there, he’d have swept the ribbons off the table in one stroke , she thought to herself with a smile. And then he would have told everyone to get the hell out as he sat me on that table and ? —
Scarlett felt her cheeks flame in horror at the direction her thoughts had taken. Seated her on a table, indeed! To do that . How utterly scandalous!
And depravedly thrilling.
She buried her face in her hands and moaned. “There will be none of that now,” she muttered bitterly. “No bending over tables and chairs, like he’d said.”
Why did he even have to tease her imagination like that? Oh, he was the most cruel man to ever walk this earth!
“At least he never made any pretense at being nice,” she mumbled. “At least I have known what he was all along.”
A Wolf. A rogue. The very worst libertine of them all.
And strangely—and infuriatingly—enough, one who vowed to keep his hands off her.
If she had told herself this same thing a month or so ago, she would have laughed herself silly. Or declared she was going mad.
She still thought she was going mad sometimes.
Now, she was just incredibly disappointed to go along with it.
“You are a fool.”
Hudson glared at his friend over the billiards table—and missed his shot.
Ethan laughed at that. “Now, you are a fool and a poor shot. Damn, Wolverton—pick a struggle, will you? You cannot be miserable in all aspects.”
Daniel smirked as he took his place at the billiards table. He, on the other hand, did not miss his shot.
“I must admit we all expected you to announce your betrothal to Scar—Lady Scarlett,” Colin hastily amended when Hudson shot him a venomous glare. He turned towards the other two. “We all saw how he looked when she came down the stairs that night at the ball. It was only a matter of time.”
“Depending on how bad his denial was,” Ethan added.
Hudson growled. “You, my friend , have begun to overstay your welcome.”
But Ethan simply shrugged. “A true friend will tell you what needs to be said, especially when you need some good sense knocked into you.”
“Well, I am marrying the lady, am I not?” Hudson snarled. “What more do you want?”
“And yet you are unhappy and snapping at everyone in your vicinity,” Daniel remarked with a raised eyebrow. “Has the lady in question gotten under your skin?”
Under his skin. Into his very blood. Etched into the marrow of his bones. No one had ever come so close to him as Scarlett had dared.
And now she was trapped with him. Entangled in his darkness. Enmeshed in his guilt and the ghosts of Wolverton Estate.
Daniel’s eyes flickered with some unknown emotion. “Would it be so bad if she managed to get closer, Wolf?”
“Yes, it would.”
Because Scarlett was light and laughter. Warm kisses and sunlit afternoons. Innocence and fire.
Everything that he was not.
If he let her in, if he let her get any closer, he would only destroy her, because was that not what he was good at? Destroying. Killing .
“Then let her make the decision herself,” his friend replied. His stick shot out, and another ball rolled into the pocket effortlessly. “Or would you rather be like that conniving bastard who wormed himself into a betrothal with her?”
The Marquess of Colton .
Hudson clenched his hands into fists. He still had not decked the man for looking at Scarlett like she was some bauble on display that he could not wait to get his hands on. It was further proof of his restraint that the man was able to walk out of Wolverton Estate unaided. The Dowager Countess had even invited him to stay for the wedding.
If he was not so self-aware, Hudson would have called himself a saint for allowing such a travesty.
“It would be bad form if you were to call the man out,” Ethan mused with a smile. “What say we deal with him for you as a wedding present?”
Colin shook his head, while Daniel seemed to entertain the idea with great interest.
“Scarlett would not like that,” he finally said, after some consideration.
“Very well. We shall keep him in good health until the wedding.” Ethan snickered. “No promises after that, though.”
As much as they irked him, Hudson truly had the most loyal friends.
“So, what are your plans for the lady after your marriage?” Colin asked him.
“Are you asking for yourself or your wife?”
Colin did not even bother to look mortified. He simply shrugged and replied, “Does that even matter?”
Hudson pressed his lips into a grim line. “We have come to an agreement.”
“And you should know that these never work out in your favor,” Ethan quipped. “You have all three of us standing before you—each one having failed to uphold these so-called ‘agreements’ with our wives.”
Colin shook his head. “I have to say that Sinclair has a point. Once Alice has set her mind on something, even I cannot dissuade her.”
“Oh, I am certain that you have your methods,” Daniel pointed out. “As I do.”
The Duke of Blackthorn made a face. “There is no need to inform us of what you and my sister do behind closed doors. I still cannot imagine how you two…” he trailed off with a shudder.
Daniel’s smile was wicked. “Oh, you had better accept it now, dear brother , for you are going to be an uncle soon.”
“Well then, congratulations are in order!” Ethan clapped a hand on his back.
Hudson watched as his friends rejoiced over Daniel’s good news, even as Colin still seemed a little dazed.
“Congratulations, my friend,” he told Daniel sincerely. “I am truly happy for you.”
The Duke of Ashton simply smiled at him. A true smile. One that was not cunning or wicked or anything else but happy .
“Thank you, old friend,” Daniel replied. “And I hope you find your happiness as well—if you can allow yourself to enjoy it, that is.”
Hudson simply smiled. A tight smile.
Daniel had been through so much that he deserved everything he had now and more.
But happiness— true happiness—was not for people like Hudson.
He heard a familiar voice calling from outside the window, followed by cheerful laughter. He looked out, and the flash of bright red hair tugged at something in his chest. Painfully .
It had been days since he last saw her outside with her puppy. It was good to see her in the sunshine again, where she belonged.
He, on the other hand, was made for the darkness. The antithesis of everything she was.
And he would make sure that his shadow would never taint her light.