Page 37 of Adoringly, Edward
“Where are wereallygoing?” Edward croaked out as he leaned his head against the back of the seat and gratefully accepted the blanket his friend draped over his lap.
“To make a quick stop at the palace. Or not so quick. I haven’t decided yet.”
“That’s the last place I want to go.”
“Then it’s the first place we need to stop.”
Why, oh why, is this the man I will have to accept?Vivienne lamented, pasting a smile on her face as Duke Hastings’ long-winded monologue about his dedication to the Mother Goddess transitioned into another detailed explanation about why horses were measured in hands.
She had no qualms about her future husband being rather religious. She also possessed no misgivings about all the interesting facts spouting from the man’s mouth.
But what she immensely disliked was not taking a breath in his lengthy speech to give her a chance to reply. The man cared nothing about her opinions nor about what she might like to say.
The moment the duke paused to take a sip of his tea, Vivienne cut into the one-sided conversation, “Duke, let me tell you about—”
“—and the horse was a beautiful breed, imported overseas from the finest breeder in all the world.”
Across from her, Sophia’s eyes widened as if sitting through the visit was complete torture, and she mouthed,By the stars, won’t he ever shut up?
Marcella feigned stabbing her ears with an invisible object, clearly growing impatient herself.
Vivienne laughed at her sisters but disguised it as a cough as she covered up the sound with her hand. Their mother glared.
Duke Hastings was unfortunately confident that everyone around him was interested in hanging onto his every word. His conversational skills were weak at best, and she despairingly knew that as his wife, she would get pushed to the background and ignored, only to do her duty to bear an heir.
A smug part of her took heart in knowing the first child would not be his. She hoped the baby came out with hair as black as midnight just to spite him.
Internally, she chastised herself for such unkind thoughts. Duke Hastings was not a bad man. She would be lucky to become a duchess.
If only it was what she actually wanted…
But she pushed the heartbreaking thoughts away and replaced it with another tight smile as the duke changed thesubject yet again to drone on about a business trade he’d conducted with another kingdom.
Her eyelids were on the verge of drooping with boredom when a knock sounded on the door, and a servant announced another arrival. “Lord Barnaby Mavis.”
She immediately straightened, her gaze darting toward the door.
Moments later, Barnaby entered, giving a polite bow to each of them. Never in her life had she been so relieved for an interruption during a social visit, especially knowing that he might have brought Edward with him.
But as she craned her neck to glance into the hallway, she found it empty.
Her heart fell when she realized Edward hadn’t arrived with him.
“Forgive my intrusion,” he said, giving her mother and sisters a winning smile, enough for Marcella to snap open her fan and cool her heated face. When the man had married earlier that year, he’d broken many hearts, including her sisters’. “My wife, Ivette, is in the most dire straights, and has requested I steal Lady Vivienne for a few moments.”
“Right now?” her mother asked, clearly not pleased with the change of events. But when Barnaby flashed her another smile, the woman actually giggled and dismissed Vivienne with a wave of her hand. “Fine enough.” And then she turned to the duke. “You will forgive us for cutting this meeting short. Perhaps there is something you’d like to ask my daughter?”
No! Please, no. I’m not ready.
Nothing could ever prepare her for getting shackled to the duke. Therefore, she stood and curtsied, trying to slowly escape across the room. But then she tried not to grimace as he caught onto her hand and gave her fingers a kiss.
“May I call on you tomorrow morning?” he asked quietly. The intent in his eyes was unmistakable. Tomorrow, he planned to propose. Well, it was better than today. It at least gave her one more day to prepare for the inevitable.
Dread climbed her throat and turned to bile. It was all she could do to dip her head in what she hoped was an amicable nod. Once she was engaged to the duke, there was no turning back.
He deserves better than to be lied to,she thought to herself, guilt rising in her chest as she curtsied one last time and followed Barnaby out of the room. Although she didn’t like the duke, he wasn’t a bad man.
Barnaby stopped at the top of the staircase, and she glanced over the landing in search of a head of black hair. Disappointment rained over her when she only spotted servants quietly going about their tasks for the day.
