Page 44 of The Duke's Indecent Match
For her father.
Even for the duke, for she knew he needed her dowry.Desperately.
“Yes, Your Grace, I accept.”
16
Kalina
Everything was moving in a whirl around her, so fast that Kalina’s head felt like it was spinning.The contracts had been signed.The Duke of Ormonde had been dispatched back to London to retrieve a special license from the Archbishop.Hereford had disappeared from the library without a second glance, muttering something about needing to write his family.
The idea of having to eventually face his family made Kalina’s stomach turn over again.
Despite Lady Astrid’s clear displeasure with the circumstances, she and her mother had jumped into action.The household was bustling with footmen and maids scurrying about, readying the manor for a ducal wedding.
Whispers followed Kalina through the house wherever she went.
No one believed that Hereford had ended up in her bed by chance.
Everyone but her mother and father seemed to believe she was at fault.Once Hereford had left the library, her mother had demanded to know what he had done, and her father had confessed what they already suspected.
He’d led a drunken Hereford to Kalina’s room and left him in her bed.
He was the one who had trapped the duke into marriage with her.
Now, her mother was angrier at her father than she’d ever seen.So was Kalina, but she did not want to make matters worse between her parents, so she could not vent that anger.She was afraid if she were to show her upset, her mother would do something… drastic.Kalina did not know what.But with her whole life in turmoil, she needed her parents not to be entirely at odds with each other.She needed them to be the steady support they had always been.Which meant bottling up her own emotions rather than giving her mother more fuel for her fire.
Ashwin was hiding out with Rupert Blackstone, keeping well away from all the ruckus, and she could not blame him.His friend, at least, was standing by his side.
Though she could not blame her friends.They had known Hereford for far longer than she had known them.They knew he was an honorable man and had not actually ruined her.By now, the duke had surely told them what her father had done.
Wandering to the window of her room, Kalina stared at the long drive leading up to the manor.It felt like an entire lifetime ago that she’d ridden in the carriage along its length, to be warmly welcomed into Lady Astrid’s home, full of hopes that she might impress a duke enough to gain a proposal.That life felt like it belonged to someone else.
Once again, she was an outcast.
Now, she would be leaving her parents’ home for Hereford’s, but he did not truly want her there.
Once again, she belonged nowhere.
Her eyes and throat burned, and she leaned forward to press her forehead against the cool glass.She felt almost feverish.
“Kalina, come help us choose your wedding gown,” her mother said gently, putting her hand on Kalina’s shoulder and drawing her back away from the window.Turning Kalina in place, her mother’s warm, dark eyes traveled over Kalina’s expression, searching for something.“You do not have to do this, you know.We can go back to India.English society is not everything.”
Had she been any happier in India?
She had not felt like she belonged there, either.
If she did not belong anywhere, then what did it matter where she was unhappy?
At least here in England, she would marry a duke, then her father could be happy.In India, he had been unhappy, her mother had been unhappy, and she and Ashwin had been unhappy.Now, her grandfather would be forced to acknowledge them, giving her father what he’d hoped for.Ashwin had made at least one friend, who was standing by him.And her mother… well, at least here she was not being ignored by her family.They were too far away for them to ignore her.
“I want to stay.I want to marry the duke.”She managed to push a tremulous smile onto her lips again.It did not fool her mother, who frowned at her, then sighed.Behind her, Margaret was hovering with a worried expression on her face, wringing her hands.“Do not be mad at Father, please.He was trying to help.To give me what he thought I wanted.”
Mother pressed her lips together in a thin line, breathing in through her nose.Her nostrils flared, and she gave her head a little shake.
“Your father…” She took another deep breath.“Your father likely had good intentions; he often does.That does not excuse the questionability of his actions.”
“I do not want you fighting while at my wedding,” she pleaded.“The situation is difficult enough if you are not getting on… I need both of you.”
