“I have told you what I want,” he said. “One month is all I require. One month and your life will be your own. You want freedom? You want the right to do as you wish and how you wish it? Tell the world that we are engaged. Do as I ask.”
“No,” she said, but again, it was without conviction. “I will not be used by you.”
“Let us use one another…” He took another step toward her, and then another. Celestine tried to hold her ground, just as she tried to look up and meet the Duke’s eyes, but her knees trembled with fear… and something else.
Her mind flashed back to last week. She wanted to believe that she hated how the Duke had forced himself on her. She wanted to cry out and scream for help! But deep down, in places that she refused to admit, her body yearned for a touch that was as powerful as it was…no! Do not think that way, Celestine! Do not be so weak.
“How can I trust you?” she found herself asked. “How can I know that if I say yes, you won’t change your mind and for me to marry you? To trap me.”
“Because I want to marry you even less than you do me.” He took another step forward, towering over her like a mountain that blotted out the sky. “To fall in love? To live happily ever after? These are dreams wasted on the idealistic.”
Celestine looked up at the Duke. She met his eyes. She searched for the lie in them, the deceit that she knew had to be there. Only… she could not find it.
There was a good reason that this last week had been so utterly tragic. Time and again, Celestine had been reminded of how wrong she had been about her place in the world. She was not her own person. She had no power whatsoever. And like it or not, her life was not hers to control.
The Duke’s words were a little too convenient. They were, in truth, exactly what she wanted to hear. And if he was telling her the truth, then doing as he asked might just give her what she always wanted…
“I… I…” She stammered as she felt her walls crumble. “I only want to know that you won’t go back on your word.”
“All I can do is give you my word,” he said. “But say yes…” He took a final step into her. “You want this, Miss Celestine. I know that you do.”
She felt him piercing through her final defense. It shattered and fell and left her exposed so that she had nowhere else to hide. He stood over her, she was completely in his power, and try as she might, she could not fight it.
“All right,” she sighed and bowed her head. “I will… I will do as you ask.”
“Good,” he said. “I am glad to hear it.”
“Please, just don’t make me regret it.”
He reached down and his finger found her chin. He raised her head so that she looked up at him. That same smirk was on his lips, one of utter satisfaction and while Celestine wanted to hate that look, and despise the man who wore it, she felt something else burning deep within…
Her eyes flicked to his lips. She caught her breath. Her body trembled. Alone as they were, now engaged, she started to wonder if the Duke might prove to her just how much power he truly had…
“You will be hearing from me, Miss Celestine,” he said in a whisper. “Know that this was a good decision, one that you are sure to not regret.”
Then he dropped her chin, straightened, and stepped around her.
Celestine gasped as he walked away, the feeling as if something was being torn from her body. She turned just in time to see him vanish around the corner, and while she was glad to see him go, she was just as disappointed.
Celestine did her best to convince herself that she had done the right thing. She had no choice. This was the only way. Yet, she could not escape the feeling that she had walked just willingly into a trap of some kind.
Worse still, that there was no way out.
Chapter Four
“Istill do not understand how this has happened?” Celestine’s mother cried out as she threw her hands in the air. “You told me that His Grace’s visit was on account of an apology. You said –”
“I know what I said, Mother.”
“Lies!” her mother continued. “And why, Celestine? That is what confuses me the most. Why lie? Why not tell me so that I could be better prepared?”
Celestine shrugged. “I do not see what difference it would make. The result is the same. I thought it was better to not get your hopes up.”
Her mother looked at Celestine as if she did not recognize her. Also, she looked at her as if…is that pride? No, certainly not.
“Either way, it is done,” Celestine said as she looked back to the mirror. “Now, if you are done chastising me, I need to get ready. His Grace will be here at any moment, and it is best not to keep him waiting.”
“Yes, yes.” Her mother swept toward her and began to adjust her gown. “No, no. Not like that. Here…” She pushed down Celestine’s hands and straightened out the neckline of the garment. “Like this, Celestine. Honestly, how you managed to catch His Grace’s attention at all is beyond me…”
