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Her mother pursed her lips in the display of vexation Cassandra remembered all too well. In the three hours since she’d arrived at Gateshead Manor, she’d already been treated to that look several times.
“That when Lord and Lady Thornton visit next week, it would be acceptable to host a small musicale in their honor.”
“Of course, if that is what you wish. Why wouldn’t it be acceptable?”
“Because of you, of course.” She shot Cassandra’s black gown a pointed stare. “Your state of mourning.”
Cassandra had to press her lips together to contain the bark of bitter laughter that rushed into her throat. “I won’t be the least offended, Mother,” she managed in a dust-dry tone.
“Damn mourning period,” her father said in his gruff voice. “An inconvenient nuisance is what it is.” He pi
“Arranged? What do you mean?”
“Your next marriage.”
A deafening silence filled the room. One that seemed to suck out all the air. For several seconds Cassandra could do nothing save stare at her father. Surely she had misheard him. She had to swallow twice to find her voice. “I beg your pardon? It sounded like you said, ‘your next marriage.’”
“That’s precisely what I said. The Duke of Atterly has expressed interest. I recently purchased an estate in Kent he covets. In exchange, he’s agreed to settle a good sum on you and a nice bit of land in Surrey on me. His first wife, rest her soul, provided him with three sons, so your barren state is not a deterrent, thank God. The only possible problem is this bothersome mourning period of yours. What with the duke’s advanced age, being forced to wait these next ten months is a gamble. Hopefully he won’t cock up his toes before the deed is done.”
The wave of stu
Stomach heaving, she returned her attention to her father. After clearing her throat she said carefully, speaking each word very precisely so there would be no misunderstanding, “I’m afraid you’ve made a mistake. I have no intention of marrying again.”
Her father’s eyes turned from frosty to frigid. “Your intentions do not enter into this, daughter. You’ll marry Atterly immediately upon the end of your mourning period, provided he’s still alive. If he should die in the interim, Lord Templeton-whose first wife also provided him with sons-is my second choice.”
Cassandra pressed her hands against her midriff in a vain attempt to calm her jittery insides. Then she raised her chin and met her father’s glare. “I will not marry either gentleman.”
Crimson flushed her father’s cheeks, and his eyes narrowed further. “You will do exactly as I say. The arrangements have already been made.”
“Then you’ll need to unarrange them.”
“I’ll do nothing of the sort.” He rose and crossed the short distance between them in two angry strides, then glowered down at her. “A match between you and Atterly is more than you deserve. You’ll be a duchess.”
Cassandra’s insides trembled, not with fear, but with revulsion and icy rage. She slowly stood and faced her father, locking her knees so he wouldn’t detect their trembling. “Thanks to the last marriage you arranged for me, I’m already a countess-a title that has not brought me a moment of happiness.”
“Happiness?” The word exploded from her father in an incredulous bark. “This has nothing to do with happiness.”
“Obviously. It has to do with you gaining the piece of land you covet. Just as my first marriage you arranged had to do with several thousand acres in Dorset.”
“Which is precisely the sort of advantageous mergers marriages should be based upon.”
“Advantageous for you, but not for me.”
“Making you a duchess is certainly an advantage. Whether you want to marry him or not doesn’t matter. You will do as I say. God knows you owe me that much-you’ve not been of any other use.”
She’d heard various themes on those words so many times, first from her father, then Westmore, that they should have ceased to hurt by now. And although they still stung, they mostly filled her with an icy, quiet calm. “I paid whatever debt you feel I owed you by agreeing to the first marriage you arranged. I’ll not agree to another.”
His arctic eyes bored into her with pure disgust. “You are living in my home, without any means, and will therefore do as I say. I’ll not hear any further arguments regarding the matter. You have ten months to accustom yourself to the idea, and you’d best do so, as you have no choice.” He jerked his waistcoat into place and raked a scathing scowl over her. “You’d best retire to your bedchamber until di
For several seconds Cassandra remained frozen in place, scarcely able to breathe, her heart thundering so loud she could hear it pounding in her ears. Her gaze shifted to her mother, whose countenance bore the same look of utter unconcern as her father. Not that she’d expected to find an ally in the woman who’d never once taken her side against her father. Still, it just brought to the fore with bone-jarring intensity the stark realization that she was, once again, completely alone.
Feeling as if her blood had chilled to ice, Cassandra forced herself to hold her head high and walked stiffly from the room. She made her way down the corridor to the foyer, each step tightening the coil of misery and anger twisting inside her. By the time she gained her bedchamber, her breathing had hitched into broken, furious sobs, and tears ran down her face unchecked.
Why had she not anticipated this turn of events? How was it possible that after all she’d been through, she possessed enough naïveté to believe she’d be able to return to her childhood home and quietly live out the rest of her life?
You have no choice. Her father’s words rang through her mind like a funeral knell, the most hated words she’d ever heard. Words she was sick to death of hearing. Of living by. Words she never wanted to hear again.
She paced across the Axminster carpet in small, jerky steps. Dear God, how was it possible that only a few hours ago she’d felt so euphorically happy, and now she felt such profound emptiness and despair?
Because a few hours ago, you were with Ethan.
Ethan. She halted her pacing and squeezed her eyes closed. Dear God, she loved him so much. He made her happy. Made her laugh. Made her feel wanted. Needed. In a way no one else ever had. While she wasn’t certain of the depth of his feelings, he obviously cared for her. And desired her. She didn’t doubt she’d made him happy, at least for one night.
She opened her eyes and drew in a shaky breath, her mind suddenly racing. You have no choice. But she was filled with the realization and hope that perhaps she did have a choice-if she had the courage. The courage to consign convention to the devil, to disregard the rules of society that had governed her entire life, and return to the Blue Seas I