Page 27 of The Duke and the Hellion Bride (Duchesses of Convenience #7)
Chapter Twenty-Seven
I t was hard for Diana to fathom how quickly her life had changed.
Just three days ago, it seemed that her life existed as if torn from the pages of a romance novel. It was not without challenges, there were hardships involved, and dammit more than once she hadn’t known if it could possibly work. But that was how the best romance stories always went, wasn’t it? True love wasn’t meant to be easy but when it was found, those hard times made the good that much more prophetic.
Now, it was no exaggeration to say that she had found herself in the middle of what could only be described as a horror story.
She sat in the back of the carriage as it approached Albury Estate, eyeing the large manor with a growing sense of foreboding that made her chest tighten. The day was sun-drenched and indeed a glorious thing to behold, but dark storm clouds sat on the horizon, and she was certain that before the day was done they would have blackened the sky and drowned the world as she knew it.
The manor was typical of modern-day estates, nothing particularly off-putting about it, but to her it looked like a castle in which a monster resided. And indeed, as the carriage turned down the drive and made its way steadily toward the front of the manor, she spied that monster in all his glory.
His smile was broad, teeth flashing in the light of the sun. But his nose was crooked, bent and ugly, and his posture rigged and stiff. He held his arms wide as the carriage came to a stop, his big eyes lighting up with triumph. So hard, he tried to appear magnanimous and caring, but Diana knew him for what he was.
He was her keeper. Her tormentor. Her captor. He was evil personified and there was nothing she could do to escape his clutches.
“Ah, my love,” he purred as the carriage doors opened and she stepped down. He rushed forward, taking her hand to help. “Could this day not have come any sooner. I do not know of you, but I did not sleep a wink last night.”
“Nor did I,” she said truthfully.
“I would hope not.” She was down from the carriage, but he refused to relinquish her hand. And as he spoke, he looked at her like a crazed lunatic, unable to believe his own luck – a prize won that he would rather die than let out of his sight. “And I predict that ahead of us are many more sleepless nights.”
Her stomach dropped and she felt might be sick. “Just promise me that...” She took a breath and forced herself to meet his eyes. “Promise me that you will keep your word.”
“My word?” he frowned.
“The girls, Josephine and Adeline. You will not harm them.”
“Oh!” he laughed and shook his head. “Are you still on about that? Truly, I had forgotten. But yes, yes, they will not be harmed. That is assuming there are no more surprises,” he added with a wink.
“I am here, am I not?”
“That you are.” He licked his lips and took a step back, still holding her by the hand. “Now, let me get a look at you...” His eyes flashed hunger, similar to the way that Magnus once looked at her, only the reaction she felt in her soul was nowhere near as amorous. “My, oh my. You are...” He clicked his tongue. “A pearl without price. Yes, I cannot help but think that the two of us will be quite happy together.”
“As you say.”
She would not pretend to love him. Heck, she would not pretend to even like him. She would stomach him, and even that would take every ounce of strength she possessed. Her life might be forfeit from here on out, but she would not do this man the curtesy of thinking that she felt anything for him whatsoever. She would rather die.
“You!” Lord Herrod barked suddenly at the coachman. “Do not go anywhere! I shall be requiring your services for the remainder of the day.”
“My lord?” the coachman said. “Lady Langham asked that I return as soon as --”
“I do not give a shit what she said,” he snapped. “We will be needing you to deliver us north. I own a cottage in Lanchester, and I plan on being there before sundown.”
The coachman looked like he wished to argue but clearly knew better of it. “Of course, my lord.”
“In fact...” He clicked his fingers at the coachman. “Help the staff with my trunks – and be quick about it! In the foyer, man! Go!” He clicked his fingers again and the coachman hurried to abide.
“Lanchester?” Diana asked. “Wh -- why are we going there?”
“Peace and quiet,” he purred as he reached out and stroked her face. Diana forced herself not to pull back. “My lawyers are busy drawing up the annulment papers – the legalities of the darn thing are taking longer than I would like. So, I figured we might scurry ourselves away for a few days until all is ready to be finalized.” He widened his eyes with that same hungry look. “Get a head start on this marriage.”
Diana’s stomach squirmed and she tried, oh how she did, not to curl her lip in disgust. There could be no misunderstanding what he meant. Worse that there was nothing she could do.
So, this is it. Done. No chance at redemption. Once we climb in that carriage and leave here, the end will have finally come. And what a wretched ending it is.
It was times like this when Diana couldn’t help but wonder if maybe she had done the wrong thing. That if she had told Magnus what Lord Herrod had planned, might things have turned out differently?
All fancies, she knew. Yes, she had hoped that Magnus would come and rescue her too. She had prayed that he might still care for her, enough that he would move mountains to see her stay with him. But she also knew that to be folly. He had already been pulling away from her when she had sprung the annulment on him so suddenly, so why would he bother fighting for her? Why would he waste his time?
No, no, this was it. There would be no savior. No escape. Magnus was who he had always been, Diana did not dare think otherwise, and thus her one chance at happiness was as likely as... well, as that courier she now saw coming for them being a letter from Magnus, demanding that she be returned.
She almost smiled at that.
“Ugh, who could this be,” Lord Herrod groaned when he saw the same courier racing down the drive. “And the timing!” He shook his head and turned to Diana. “My little angel, why don’t you get yourself comfortable...” He indicated to the carriage. “I’ll deal with this, and by then the trunks will be packed, and we can be off.”
“As you wish...” She bowed her head and started toward the carriage, not bothering to see who the courier might be, not daring to hope.
“Yes, yes!” Lord Herrod waved the courier over. “Over here, man! What is it!” Diana reached the carriage and was about to climb in when she heard Lord Herrod cry out in shock. “You!”
“Diana!” a deep voice like thunder rumbling over a vast ocean swept through Diana, lifted her from her reverie, and had her nearly tripping over herself.
She turned around, the smile already on her lips, because she knew who it was, she simply wasn’t ready to believe it until she saw it with her own two eyes. But there could be no mistake.
Sitting atop his horse, bearing down on Lord Herrod like one of the Horseman of the Apocalypse, his face set to fury, his lips curled back over his sharp teeth, anger in his eyes like coals burning in the hottest of fires, was the one man she thought she’d never see again but now felt like weeping because to see him, to know that he still cared and that he had come for her, was more than her heart could bear.
It was Magnus, and he had come to rescue her.