Page 20 of Ravished By the Beastly Duke

Ava had yet to stop crying as they packed the rest of Eveline’s things into trunks. Tears also pooled in Eveline’s eyes at the thought of leaving her family behind for a new home, but she did not let them fall because they had warned her not to ruin their hard work.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror and had to admit that she looked beautiful—more beautiful than she had ever seen herself. It was only the fear of ruining the pink hue they skilfully applied to her lips that stopped her from biting her lip.

“When he kisses you, it will come off anyway,” Stella suddenly mused beside her.

The girl had been chattering excitedly as she watched them prepare Eveline, but she had gone surprisingly quiet over the last hour.

“Stella!” Ava scolded. “You should not speak of such things.”

“I’m sixteen now, Ava. I am no longer a child,” Stella responded with a pout.

“Still, it is no proper conversation for a young lady,” Ava reminded her. “Oh, Evie. I do not want you to go. I still do not know anything else about this young Duke.”

“There is no need to fret, Sister.” Eveline smiled, taking her sister’s hand. “The Duke seems very kind. I do not fear for myself.”

“I am not the beast everyone thinks I am, so you do not have to fear if you choose to refuse me.”

His words echoed in her mind, and she blushed as she remembered how intense his look had been. She was grateful to him for proposing, and even more so for giving her a choice in the matter. It attested to the fact that he was a proper gentleman through and through. A fact her sisters had yet to accept since they saw his face.

“I still cannot get used to the sight of his scars.” Stella shuddered. “They are so ghastly.”

“It is not polite to judge him so harshly, Stella,” Eveline scolded. “He earned those scars while defending our country.”

“Stella is not wrong, Evie. The scars frighten me too,” Ava admitted, wincing. “It only makes me fear even more for your safety. What if he is so given to violence that he hits you?”

Eveline had thought that her sister’s worry had dissipated, until she heard Ava trying to talk their father into ending the match. Ava had been persistent in her request, trying to play on their father’s empathy—which Eveline discovered was sorely absent.

“He will not,” Eveline assured her. “I do not think him that lacking in character, and…” She blushed. “I do not mind his scars. They are quite intriguing, and I think they add to his charm.”

Her sisters gave her shocked looks, which caused her to laugh.

“You two worry too much for my well-being.” She smiled at them. “I do believe him to be kind, and perhaps we might grow to love one another someday.”

Ava sighed, while Stella smiled mischievously.

“Have you fallen in love with your husband already, Evie?” Stella asked, squealing.

Eveline’s cheeks turned red with embarrassment. She would not call what she felt for the Duke ‘love’, but she did like him. After all, he was to be her husband.

When he had silenced her father so easily in her defense, she had been so moved by the gesture that she had been unable to sleep the whole night, replaying the encounter. She had wanted to kiss him again, but she had reined in the thought.

“I… I cannot deny that I have developed some affection for the Duke, but it is not so grand as to be called love,” she explained.

Stella squealed again and hurried over to hug her. “Though I do not understand it, I am happy for you.”

“And I thank you for it.”

“I am also happy for you, Evie.” Ava smiled, coming to join the hug. “It might not be the love match you desired, but at least you’re getting something better than what I could have hoped to secure for you. A duke!”

It was rather fortunate that it was not a lower-ranking nobleman Eveline had been caught with, or her father would have refused the match outright.

A knock sounded at the door just then, and they turned to see their father enter the chamber. He cast a glance at them, and for a second, he looked shocked, before he blinked the look away.

“I see that you are all ready,” he said. “The carriage is ready. We must leave now.”

They all rose, and Eveline cast one last glance around her bedroom. This room had seen her afraid and anxious about the future, and now it would see her happy in the match she had secured.

“I now pronounce you man and wife,” the priest announced. “You may now kiss the bride.”

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