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He pointed to the spot where they’d been standing by the vicar whose eyebrows rose. “I’m sorry, my lady, but there’s no undoing what God has joined together.”
“But-”
“Don’t make a scene,” her aunt warned her niece in a gentle tone. “You’re married now. It’s time to act the part.” “Exactly,” Alexander agreed. “Now come along.”
When she continued to dig her heels into the rug as he attempted to escort her out the door, he picked her up in his arms and carried her out of the church. By the time they were in his carriage, she was crying.
As soon as the carriage stopped, she bolted out of it and stormed up the steps to the front door.
“What are you doing?” her husband asked in a mixture of shock and irritation as he stepped out of the carriage.
“What does it look like? I’m going into my new house,” she snapped before opening the door.
She ignored the butler and footman and stormed up the first flight of stairs she found. Despite the commotion going on behind her as a confused butler and footman asked Alexander what the problem was, she pressed on.
Had she not been so angry, she would never have acted in such an unladylike way. But she figured she had nothing to lose since her husband already loathed her and people were already laughing at her expense.
When she reached the top of the staircase, she pretended she didn’t hear Alexander demand she stop. Instead, she proceeded forward, checking each room along the way to determine where her bedchamber would be.
She heard his footsteps as he came up the stairs. Startled, she hurried to find the room meant for the lady of the house. To her dismay, he was already closing in on her when she finally found it at the end of the hall. She glanced back in time to see a scowling duke heading her way.
Refusing to let him intimidate her anymore, she scowled in return before darting into the room. It wasn’t a lady’s room, exactly, but it had a bed, a wardrobe and other items to make her prison comfortable.
She tried to close and lock the door before he could reach her, but he stuck his foot in the doorway. She tried to kick it out of the way, but it was no use. He was going to come into the room whether she liked it or not.
Groaning under her breath, she left the door, plopped down on the bed, and crossed her arms.
“This is my house,” he snapped. “You will not treat my staff that way.”
She shrugged as if she couldn’t care less what he thought. And really, at the moment, she didn’t care what he thought, good or otherwise.
“You have no right to be defiant to me. It’s done, and until you give me an heir, we’ll have to bear with one another.”
She cringed at the thought of him touching her. “I can’t be with you that way.”
"You can’t deny me my husbandly rights, so whether you like it or not, we’ll be working on getting that heir and we’ll start soon.”
Before she could voice her protest, he shot her an amusedsmile and left her alone.
As she looked at herself in the mirror, she hardly recognized the woman she saw. In a way, her old self had disappeared the second her lips had uttered the words "I do." Who was this woman who now looked back at her? A stranger? What would her life be like? As time ticked by, Emma’s mind was tormented by all sorts of questions, and before long, a headache started pounding behind her temples. Placing a wet cloth on her forehead, she lay down on the bed and closed her eyes. The thought that her husband might object to finding her this way crossed her mind, but was instantly pushed aside by the tiny spark once more igniting within her. If he didn’t like it, he shouldn’t have kept her waiting this long!
Eyes still closed, Emma heard the grandfather clock in the hall chime. Counting the strokes, she found that it was midnight already. What was he doing? Annoyed, she snuggled closer into the covers, trying to relax, and before long was fast asleep.
Chapter Seven
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"You look beautiful, my lady,” Bessie said as she brushed Emma’s hair next evening.
Emma refused to look in the mirror. She didn’t want to see everything Bessie was doing to make her presentable to that big oaf she was now condemned to spend the rest of her life with.
Her gaze unwittingly went to the bed and she shuddered. She knew it was her duty to be with him tonight, but every time she thought about it, she felt sick to her stomach.
Bessie finished brushing her hair and reached for the pins on the vanity table.
“What would you like me to do with your hair?”
“I don’t care.”
