Page 4 of The Beast’s Duchess (Duchesses of Inconvenience #1)

Chapter Three

V eronica began walking down the aisle.

It was hard to keep a serene expression on her face when everything inside her wanted to run. But then she made it to the end, all that stood there was Christopher and the Archbishop and she didn’t have to pretend anymore.

She felt Christopher’s fingers brush against her own, though the meaning of the gesture was lost on her.

She could barely hear the words of the ceremony over the ringing in her ears. She couldn’t keep her eyes from darting to the man who would be her husband. The man who had shunned her for two years.

She knew how her last prayer for the wedding ceremony to cease resolved, so instead of another escape she prayed for her sisters.

Let them be well.

Let this all happen for a reason.

And please, allow me to one day find happiness in this marriage. Veronica forced herself to repeat after the priest’s marriage oath and seal her fate.

Finally, it came to an end, and as the Archbishop announced them as husband and wife, Veronica felt herself walk out of the church beside her husband.

She couldn’t pull in enough air to satisfy her lungs. Sounds and sights blurred around her until the soft touch of upholstery beneath her hand brought a soothing silence. She was in a carriage, it’s interior lavish and comfortable.

But she could still not pull her attention to focus on her surroundings. Not even when her husband joined her in the vehicle.

By the time she could finally snap out of her own panic and look outside she was met with stunning rolling hills and plush trees.

“We are not in London.”

“No, we are not.”

“We must turn back then! The wedding breakfast will happen any minute and we cannot be late!”

“I’m afraid we don’t have time.”

“What do you mean?” Veronica demanded, gripping her fists tight enough to hurt.

“Because we need to get back to the manor. I hate even being away this long.”

“If you’ve already been away longer than you like, then you can return and let me go to my family’s house.”

“You know that I cannot, it would invite even more scandal, and our wedding has caused enough gossip to last us a lifetime. Besides, I already cleared it with your family.”

“And you didn’t think to ask me first? I did not even get the chance to say goodbye. I will likely not see my sisters for months!”

His gaze hardened. “There’s nothing to be done now. They can visit once we are settled.”

“How dare you!”

“You keep asking ‘how dare I’, but I haven’t gotten a chance to demand how dare you!”

Veronica was stunned. “How dare I what?”

“Marry another man.”

“You were the one who abandoned me! You ignored me. You shunned me. And then you try to punish me when I attempt to move on with my life.” When I try to save my family.

“You do not move on from me!”

“I had to think of my family! Do you have any idea how destitute we were becoming? Or did that bit of news also fail to reach the castle where you have secluded yourself all this time. And after the scandal Lord Gallmore was the only one who would have me.”

“Excuse me?”

“Me knocking the candelabra... and setting the ballroom on fire, it caused quite a scandal, and no matter how hard my parents tried to control the damage, people got hurt because of it.”

“It was an accident,” he said, but his face assumed a hard and closed off expression. He turned to look out the window. “You cannot be blamed for it. Just like you cannot blame your choice on the fire.”

“My parents lost half a fortune by offering to fix the damages! It was why I had to marry someone with money and why when you ignored me I had to look elsewhere! I wasn’t about to live my life as a spinster just because you didn’t want to marry me.”

“We were engaged and yet you assumed I would not keep my promise to you.”

“How could I believe in you? You never made an effort to move forward, or to even let me make the first move and talk to you. You shut me down, just like the entirety of the ton did after the fire!”

Christopher let out a growl, pounding on the roof of the carriage, signaling for it to stop. Before it had stopped, he jumped out of the carriage, leaving Veronica alone.

Only when he had slammed the door behind him did she allow her bitter tears to fall.

It wasn’t fair, any of it.

She thought she would have more time with her sisters.

That she would get to eat the meal her family’s cook prepared with her in mind.

She didn’t get to pack her things. Would they even make it to me now, or will my husband even deny me that comfort?

Perhaps he will insist I have all new things now that I am a duchess in my new home.

No, she couldn’t even think the word home .

The place she was going to could never be called home. It was a prison at best.

She wept bitterly, alone and isolated.