Page 26 of A Wicked Duke's Redemption
Violet cast her friend an odd look, uncertain whypolitelyneeded to be said.
“I worry,” Liza clarified. “Somehow, he has learned of you, and he might not feel inclined to manage a rejection with grace.”
“Indeed,” Violet replied, shivering.
She had not considered that His Grace might react badly to a rejection, but now, she wondered if she even had a choice. Which would be worse, marrying the monster or drawing his anger?
“But the contract is real,” Violet said.
“Oh?”
“It stipulates the conditions of the marriage,” Violet said. “His Grace has agreed to provide my mother with her own physician to manage her health and to see that the hunting lodge is repaired. He also agreed to give me twenty-thousand pounds of my own.”
“Twenty-thousand?” whispered Liza, awed. “My word!”
“Yes,” Violet replied, “and because it is written down, those are promises he must fulfill. Even if the marriage is—is bad, he must ensure that my parents are taken care of.”
“But is that worth sacrificing your own happiness?” Liza asked. “Your hopes and dreams? This is not some shining knight sweeping you off your feet and declaring his undying love to you, and that is what you have always wanted.”
“I know,” Violet said softly. “But how can I refuse this? I have always thought that it would be better to be poor with a man I loved than wealthy with a man who I held no fondness for, but now that I am faced with that choice, I find it hard to hold to my convictions.”
“Oh, Violet…”
“I will feel so selfish if I do not wed for my parents’ sake,” Violet said, “and I fear that I shall always regret that. Every day will be agony watching my mother grow sicker.”
Liza’s face softened, and she squeezed Violet’s hand. “I wish there were something I could do,” Liza said.
“It would be far easier if my father were not so proud,” Violet said. “If he would accept help. He will not, but this is something he is willing to consent to. He understands marrying for something other than love.”
“It is unfair of them all,” Liza said. “Of the duke for asking this of you.”
“Indeed.”
Violet imagined wedding the duke. She had not the faintest idea what the man looked like. Was his appearance as monstrous as the gossip said his behavior was, or was it the opposite? Perhaps, the duke was a handsome man with features so guileless that no one would ever think he hid the most nefarious intentions behind that lovely façade.
If she married him, she would be expected to assume her wifely duties. Something which Violet had once thought about with burning curiosity now filled her with incomparable dread.
“Surely, His Grace would not murder a second wife,” Violet said quietly, “even if he killed the first. Would he?”
Liza’s eyes widened, and she helplessly shook her head. “I don’t know, Violet. I suppose I have never given much thought to the Duke of Farnham’s villainy. It has always been there, I suppose, at the edge of my awareness. I never had to worry as much about the truth of the rumors.”
Violet understood that all too well. It seemed unreal that His Grace had arrived from nowhere and devised a means of tearing down her entire world. It was unfair for this burden to be placed upon her, and yet this opportunity was not one she could possibly refuse. Even if the Duke of Farnham was not her beloved, he was a man who had the means to provide her mother with the services of a proper physician.
“Do you think I should marry him?” Violet asked. “Even if the man is dangerous, he is still bound by the terms of the contract. He must give my mother the care she needs, and he must see that our hunting lodge is taken care of. Even if my future will be uncertain, my parents will be safe.”
Liza drew in a sharp breath of air. She was quiet for so long that Violet began to think her friend would simply not answer the question, but then Liza hesitantly shook her head. “I cannot say, Violet. I do not know what I would do if I were in your situation, but I promise that I shall support your decision, whatever it may be.”
Violet swallowed hard and curled her fingers into the skirt of her gown. “I—I feel as though this is what is best for my family. This is not a situation where I can simply think of myself.”
She shivered when she thought of marrying such a villain, and her heart ached for that mysterious dancer—for Sir Gawain—to arrive and rescue her, to provide her with an equally wonderful option and spare her from such a terrible fate.
“I should return home,” Violet said.
She needed to inform her parents of her choice before her nerves abandoned her. Violet swallowed hard. Agreeing to this marriage felt like abandoning all her long-held fantasies of a love-match and a fruitful marriage which promised to introduce her to an entirely different world.
Liza squeezed Violet’s hand. Her eyes were wide with concern. “If anything about him distresses you at all, you must go to my parents. They can protect you.”
Violet forced a smile. “Thank you.”
