Page 98 of Once Bitten, Twice Mine

When she heard her father’s voice, she turned to see him in the doorway. She was sure they were quite the scene, her hunched over in her mother’s arms for the first time since childhood.

“What happened?” he asked gently, placing a hand on both of them. It only made her not-cry harder.

“I told her I would support her no matter what, and she told me it was too late.”

“It certainly isn’t too late if you don’t want to marry him. We can take the carriage anywhere, just the three of us. We can wait for it all to blow over. It wouldn’t be the worst scandal this family has weathered.”

Caroline snorted. “Your brother would be furious he came all this way for nothing.”

“He can go to hell for all I care. He’ll be thrilled when he realizes it means the Andrews boy won’t be part of the family.”

The petty part of Caroline wanted to smile at that. “But I have to marry him. We need his income, and I need an heir, and we can’t let our home fall into foreclosure. The crops are failing, and families are moving to London, and we can’t afford to have more leave because who knows if anyone else will even move in.”

Her voice was still frantic even though her dry sobs had slowed. Her father tensed for a moment before relaxing into the hug he gave her and her mother.

“Oh Caroline, you’ve taken on far too much. This isn’t a burden you need to handle.”

“But you’re not doing anything to fix it! Edgar’s been paying for so much around here already. His rooms have been built across the hall.”

“All of those are things we can handle,” her mother murmured.

“I would never make you marry anyone you didn’t want to. This isn’t medieval times. There are plenty of young men out there. We can casually put the word out, and maybe your uncle knows someone better.”

It was Caroline’s turn to tense. This was the real question of the moment: could she be honest with her parents? They said they would love her no matter what, but was there a line? Both sets of her grandparents clearly had a line, and she didn’t imagine they knew that before it happened.

The worst part was that she didn’t know what she would do if her parents decided not to accept her. If they then told Edgar and he refused to marry her, and her parents threw her out. She wouldn’t know where to go. She couldn’t even find Valeria and beg her for help because she was probably in America with The Count.

Even if she wasn’t half the world away, there was a good chance she wouldn’t care. Or The Count would decide to rip her throat out or do any of the other horrific things he threatened when she last saw him.

“I don’t want anyone else. Edgar is good to me, to all of us. This is just nerves. You know how I am with change, and this is a massive change. I’ll be fine. We’ll all be fine.”

It was what she had been telling herself for days—weeks—even when it felt difficult, she had to believe it would all work itself out in the end.

“Caroline, sweetheart,” her mother started.

“No,” she interrupted, “I promise you this is what I want. And if you were being serious before about only caring for my happiness, then you want me to marry Edgar as well. He’s my choice.”

She pulled back from her parents and prayed she looked convincing. None of what she said was a lie; Edgar was her choice. Maybe it was a little preemptive, but they weren’t the only house with problems. Pretty soon, Edgar would have been snatched up, and she would be left scrambling for someone she could stomach.

“Caroline, sweetheart, you don’t need to⁠—”

“Grace,” her father said kindly, putting a hand on her mother’s back. “We have to trust that she knows her own mind. The carriage is out front, so if we are going to the church, we should leave now.”

She smiled, thankful for her father and his uncanny ability to mediate. He loved them fiercely, and that was good enough for her. Her nerves followed her to the carriage and to the church, but somewhere between the carriage and the aisle, her spine straightened. She trained her entire life to be a wife. She wasn’t moving, and her day-to-day wouldn’t change much; she would still watch over the house and her parents. She was even keeping her bedroom.

Still, her father asked her if she was sure before they walked down the aisle, but instead of being annoyed, she only smiled. She imagined many fathers had posed that very question to their daughters, so it was less a question of her conviction. Instead, she gave a sharp nod, and the church doors opened before them.

* * *

Caroline Mary Blythe was now Caroline Mary Andrews. Or some other configuration of her name since she really didn’t want to lose the Blythe, but she could figure that out later. The important thing was that she was now a married woman.

Halfway through her waltz with Edgar, she decided he was handsome. He had largely healed from his time with The Count; his cheeks had filled back out, and the bags beneath his eyes were gone. His eyes were less squirrely, and he didn’t twitch nearly as much as he did in those first few days.

Though some changes were permanent, the most glaring being that his hair was now threaded with grey. The new lines by his eyes remained as well. They aged him, but she thought he wore it well. He still didn’t inspire urges in her, but he was more pleasing this way.

Mentally, he was also altered. He was easily startled, and she caught him speaking to himself more than a few times. He would stop whenever he realized he was no longer alone, but she still found it peculiar. Though that could have been a habit he always had and she had never spent enough time around him to know. Like his fascination with insects.

“I saw four beetles on the way to the church today. I knew it was a good omen. My Gran always said that beetles meant abundance was around the corner.”