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Elaine smiled faintly, revealing yellowed, damaged teeth. “Ayr,” she murmured. “I visited Ayr once, right after I married my husband. We took our wedding trip there. It is a beautiful town.”

Josephine nodded. “It is,” she said. “And you shall see it someday again, very soon. Mayhap Andrew will take us to visit one day.”

Elaine couldn’t really grasp leaving the dungeon much less being allowed to travel freely, but the concept was exciting.

Her smile broadened because Josephine was smiling so broadly at her.

She rather liked the young woman who suddenly appeared in her cell, as if from a dream.

She still wasn’t entirely convinced that Josephine was flesh and blood.

Perhaps, she was going mad and this is where it all started.

But if that was the case, she could think of no sweeter madness than sitting on the floor of her cell, holding hands with a beautiful young woman.

It was too good to believe. But all of that hope, that joy, came crashing down when a familiar voice spoke from the doorway.

“They had told me you’d come down here, but I did not believe it,” Alphonse said, his big body filling up the tiny doorway. “Soldiers told me they saw you come down here, but I accused them of lying. She would not be so foolish, I told them. But I see that I was wrong.”

Josephine had never felt so much fear in her life as she did when she heard his voice. She heard Elaine gasp as she turned to Alphonse, whom she could barely see in the darkness. All she could see was his face; his ugly, evil face.

Oh, God , she thought, feeling that, perhaps, she was about to be severely punished.

In fact, she was terrified he was going to beat her to death right in front of Elaine.

It was a struggle not to cower, or to plead for mercy, because she suspected either of those things might make the situation worse.

Instead, she did the only thing she could.

She pretended not to understand the severity of her actions.

It was her only defense.

“Did I do wrong?” she asked, sounding as innocent as she could. “I wanted to walk and stretch my legs, and I recalled that you told me of your mother. I came down here to visit her. We are to be married, after all. Should I not introduce myself?”

It was an answer Alphonse had not expected. He couldn’t decide whether he was furious or whether he truly didn’t care. He watched Josephine as she stood up, pulling his mother to her feet, and then helping the woman over to her bed so she could sit down.

“You should not have left your chamber,” Alphonse growled. “If you wanted to walk about, you should have asked for permission. You are not free to go where you wish, Lady Josephine. It is I who gives you permission to even breathe at Haldane. Is this in any way unclear?”

Josephine thought she was quite fortunate if this was the worst he was going to do. But she felt as if she were walking on thin ice, waiting for it to shatter at any moment. Now was the time for her to ask for forgiveness.

“Then I apologize,” she said sincerely. “I did not know. I am used to being able to move about freely, so please forgive me. I will ask the next time I wish to walk about and visit your mother.”

Alphonse stepped into the low-ceilinged cell, bent over as his gaze moved between Josephine and his mother.

The older woman was sitting on her bed, wrapped up in a lovely cloak that, upon closer inspection, Alphonse realized he’d given to Josephine as a wedding gift.

With a sigh of exasperation, he moved over to his mother and snatched the cloak from her, all but throwing it at Josephine, who caught it deftly.

“That is not for my mother,” he said to her. “You will not give her anything I did not tell you to give her.”

Josephine felt very sorry for the frightened woman on the bed. “Aye, my lord.”

She was being very obedient, not wanting to tweak Alphonse’s anger any more than she already had.

She especially didn’t want him to take it out on his mother.

She put the cloak on, trying to at least appear contrite, as he glared at her.

But that glare soon turned towards his mother, sitting tiny and frail on the bed.

“Now you have met the mother of my sons,” he said to her. “If she displeases me, she will end up in this cell with you.”

Elaine simply kept her head down, nodding to her son’s statement but not replying.

Josephine watched the woman, thinking that she behaved like everyone else at Haldane– head down, tail between their legs…

like beaten dogs. Her gaze drifted to Alphonse, who was standing over his mother in a threatening manner.

He’s enjoying this , she thought.

“I hope I will not displease you, my lord,” Josephine said, trying to draw his attention away from his frightened mother. “Now that you have made clear the rules, may I ask you to show me your grand castle? You have an impressive empire, my lord.”

Alphonse turned to look at her and she was struck by the sheer evil in the man’s eyes. Every time he looked at her, that evil became deeper and darker. At this moment, it seemed worse than she’d ever seen it. There was something so terribly black and wicked inside him.

“You will see it soon enough,” he said. “For now, you will return to your chamber and you shall remain there until our wedding.”

Josephine didn’t like the sound of that at all. “Have you decided when that shall be, my lord?”

He moved away from his mother, grabbing Josephine by the arm as he went.

“I believe I told you in a fit of madness that I would not touch you until our wedding night,” he said.

“It was stupid of me. I was thinking during the entire journey from Edinburgh, how very stupid it was of me to tell you that. It must have been the drink talking. In any case, I have decided that I will wait no longer. We shall be married tonight.”

Josephine was seized with fear; tonight!

She had no way of knowing where Andrew was, or how close he was, or if he would even come in time.

God, could she put this off? Could she delay?

She’d already delayed at Edinburgh with excuses of her menses.

She couldn’t do that again, not so soon.

She couldn’t run from him and she couldn’t hide; there was nothing she could do to escape this.

God… help me!

“As… as you say, my lord,” she said as he practically shoved her out of the cell and yanked the door shut behind him. “Will… will it be in the hall? Is there anything I can do to help with the arrangements?”

Alphonse still had a good grip on her, as if afraid she might try to escape him. They headed up the slippery stone stairs.

“You will go to your chamber and you will prepare for me,” he grumbled.

“Wear the white gown I gifted you with, the one you refused to wear in Edinburgh. Do not lie to me and tell me the gown was ruined, for I know it was not. You will wear it tonight. And do not wear anything underneath. I do not wish to have any encumbrances when I consummate our marriage.”

They were reaching the top of the stairs and Josephine was feeling ill at the mere thought of what he was suggesting. The mental image was too horrific to entertain. All she could think to say was the obvious response, the response he would be expecting.

“Aye, my lord.”

They were out in the sunshine now, beneath skies she’d once thought to be beautiful. Now, it was the ugliest day she could ever recall, a day full of fear and horror, the day she would meet her end unless Andrew arrived in time.

But he had no way of knowing the wedding would be this evening, no way of knowing she was in mortal danger.

Dear God, was it really going to end this way?

Would she be forced to marry this beast of a man and then spread her legs for him, only for him to tear her apart with his size and watch her bleed to death?

Women are like chickens; a penny for a dozen, so I shall never go hungry.

That was what he’d told her. They were words nightmares were made of.

Oh, God… Andrew… where are you?