The initial announcement had caused much surprise, as well as relief. Her mother, especially, was thrilled that her troublesome daughter had seen the light and gone back to the duke. Even her younger sisters, while not as determined as her mother was, believed the marriage to be a love match. After all, what other reason could there possibly be for Celestine taking the duke back?
And Celestine, not wanting to upset anyone, continued to play the role that she had grown so accustomed to. The loving bride, the adoring wife-to-be, the dutiful daughter who was finally doing as she was supposed to do.
And it is all a lie…
As her sister had rightly pointed out, Celestine was hiding in her room, while using Emmet as an excuse in case she was found out. She was hiding from the wedding preparations, because she could not find the enthusiasm to get involved. She was hiding from her mother, because she was sick of lying to her face. Most of all, she was hiding from herself.
“Celestine…” Her sister’s voice was soft and filled with concern. She leaned over and rested her hand on her knee. “What is wrong?”
“Nothing,” Celestine said a little too quickly “Why would anything be wrong?”
“I am not Mother,” her sister said. “Nor am I Marigold or Isolde. Since I married and left, you have had to take on responsibilities that I know you did not want but rose toward, nonetheless. But I am here now, and I know that something is wrong.” She looked pleadingly at Celestine. “Truly, I feel I should apologize.”
“What? Ariadne, you have done nothing wrong.”
“I have not been there for you,” she said. “But I am here for you now. So, please stop lying to me, acting as if all is well. Remember, I know the truth about your engagement, meaning I was perhaps the only person not surprised when it ended. But that also meant that I was the only person truly surprised when it started again.”
Celestine winced, shame taking her.
“What is going on, Celestine? Why did you agree to marry His Grace so suddenly? As if from nowhere?”
“It was not from nowhere,” Celestine tried. “It…” Her throat tightened. “Yes, our initial engagement was false, as you know. But we spent so much time together, learned so much about one another, that it became as if it were real. When it ended, that was what felt false. Forced, even. If anything, us marrying makes perfect sense.”
“Do you truly believe that?”
Her throat tightened, the words a struggle to speak. “I do.”
“Then why are you acting this way?” She did not push, but she spoke with gentle command. She knew Celestine as well as anyone, and she could see the pain behind her sister’s eyes. “If this is what you want, I would think you might be happier.”
“I am happy.”
“And yet here you sit, staring out the window as if the world is about to end.” She squeezed her knee. “If you tell me again that you are happy, I will leave it be. But if there is anything you need to tell me, anything at all, I am here for you, Celestine. Never forget that.”
Celestine had spent the last few years putting everyone in her family first. Her two sisters, especially; they were who mattered most. It was because of this that her own needs were forgottenand ignored, made to be insignificant so that even Celestine hardly considered them.
But they did matter. They were important. And now that a new chapter in her life was about to start, she could not escape the feeling that she had made a grave mistake.
I do care for Edward, as I know he cares for me. But is that enough? Why does this feel so wrong?
“I… I am happy,” Celestine started, her voice wavering with a lack of certainty. “And I do believe that this is the right decision.” She looked at her sister. “Mother will insist I marry soon, no matter what I want. So why not to Edward?”
“But you are unsure,” her sister said.
“I am…” She considered her answer as thoughts from the last two days whirred through her mind. “I am unsure of what I expect. I know I must do this, just as I know it will likely be for the best. But I cannot escape the feeling that… that…” Her chin began to wobble. “That Edward is not what he seems and once we marry I will realize that I have made a terrible mistake.”
Ariadne nodded as if she expected the answer. “You speak of Lord Edmonton, and what he did to you.”
“He is not Edward,” she said. “Then again, I did not think such things about Lord Edmonton until it was too late. What if thisis the same? What if I am walking into another trap, one I see forming before me, and one I cannot run from?”
She turned again and looked out the window, those same thoughts and fears that had attacked her the last two days coming back.
When Celestine was just eighteen years old, she had fallen in love. His name was Lord Edmonton, a man who had seemed too good to be true. Handsome. Charming. The type who other men looked up to and worshipped. He was everything that Celestine had ever hoped for in a man, and she had opened her heart to those feelings without fear that she might be hurt.
As she had soon learned, Lord Edmonton was not what she had thought.
It was silly, really, as Lord Edmonton had not courted her. Nor had he pursued her. Rather, it was Ariadne who he pursued, tricked, and then ruined until her true love came along. He was vile and vengeful, petty and manipulative, and nothing like what Celestine had dreamed.
Nonetheless, the effect of his sudden transformation had devastated Celestine. She could just not believe that a man who she had loved so deeply, who she had dared to trust, could do something to her and someone that she loved.
