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Chapter 11
Caroline—thealwayscalmandcollected Caroline—paced on the carpet before the trio of her friends in the cozy library.
“There’s going to be a wedding,” she finally said. She then turned to her friends and stilled. “I am going to marry Kensington during the closing ball of this party.”
There was a long pause filled with thick tension.
“No,” Olivia said in turmoil. “You can’t marry him!”
Caroline frowned at her. “Why not?”
Olivia turned a helpless look at Lavinia, but the latter just shook her head. She wasn’t about to speak up. Well, Olivia was.
“Because, because… I know how miserable you are here, but you shall be even more miserable forced into a marriage with Kensington. Is there a way you can break the betrothal?”
“I am afraid there isn’t,” Caroline replied with a sad smile.
“But your uncle is dead!”
Gasps of surprise came from Lavinia and Annalise.
Only Caroline was still calm and didn’t betray her emotions. “And it was his last wish.”
Olivia licked her dry lips. “But what if it was imperative to someone living? If someone you loved was hurting because of your marriage to Kensington, would you give him up?”
“Olivia, please,” Lavinia implored.
“No, I am not going to sit quietly and let you be miserable because it’s impolite o-or insensitive. You both could be happy if Caroline would just not marry him!”
Caroline’s puzzled gaze turned to Lavinia, but the latter lowered her head.
“You never wanted to marry,” Olivia continued, plowing on. “If you break off the engagement with the duke, it will create enough scandal for you never to marry, just like you always wanted. You have your inheritance, your friends, and even the new marquess is on your side.”
“Caroline, dear,” Annalise finally spoke up. “Olivia has a point.”
Caroline looked at her friends’ distraught faces, and her gaze became horrified for a moment before it took on the chilling, uncaring facade.
“I am sorry, there is nothing I can do,” she finally said.
“Why? You care nothing for him!” Olivia cried.
There was a pause. “That is not exactly true.”
“What?” Lavinia’s head shot up at the words.
Caroline turned toward her. “Listen to me, Lavinia. You might think that you love Kensington, but you do not know him. He is not who you think he is. Trust me when I say this, I am doing you a favor by marrying him. I am sorry, but this is my final word on this.” With a slight nod, Caroline turned and walked out of the room.
There was a long and awkward pause after the door shut behind Caroline. Olivia tried to breathe evenly, but it was getting difficult in the suffocating corset, and more importantly, with the suffocating feelings. She stood and walked to the window, trying to regulate her breathing all the while.
“Are you all right, dear?” Annalise asked from behind her.
“Yes, I—”
“I shall be all right,” Lavinia answered.
Olivia turned and saw that Annalise had scooted toward Lavinia and held her hand. She wasn’t addressing Olivia. Olivia wasn’t the one who was the most distressed in this situation. Lavinia was.
“I shouldn’t have said anything,” Olivia said just above a whisper.
