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“Where is Lord Hatherly?” her mother asked.
“Asleep.” Alice sighed as they walked down the path. “I think I’ve made a dreadful error, Mama. I may have married in too much haste.”
“Oh, my darling.” Her mother stopped walking and clutched Alice’s arm. “Did he... last night... did he hurt you?”
Alice shook her head. “No, he didn’t hurt me. Didn’t have a chance to. He never even came home last night.”
Mama’s squeezed Alice’s arm almost painfully. “Never came home? On his wedding night? Oh, this won’t do. This won’t do at all.” Her mother shook Alice by the shoulders. “We must do something, Alice. But what’s to be done? Oh, what’s to be done? This is a disaster!”
“Calm yourself, Mama.” Alice loosened her mother’s grip on her shoulders. “I only need some time to think things over. I could come home with you for the day.”
Run away,her heart urged. Before it’s too late.
“Oh no, dear, you couldn’t do that. Why, I have plans to convert your room into a nursery, for when Fred brings his bride to see us with the babe. Your father is still blustering and posturing, but he’ll come round. I know he will.”
Alice had longed to escape her parents’ house for so long, but she didn’t know how she felt about her chamber being put to use so swiftly.
“You’re only upset, Alice; you’ll think differently tomorrow. You can’t back out now; you can’t give up. A marriage is not something to throw away lightly. I know this wasn’t a love match but perhaps... with time, you’ll learn to care for one another.”
Exactly what she could never do. Care for Nick. But speaking with her mother wasn’t helping matters. “Don’t worry, Mama, I’m sorry I troubled you. Everything is fine.”
“It’s not fine. It’s a disaster.” Mama kneaded her hands together, staring up at the stern stone battlements atop Sunderland House. “Lord Hatherly must be accustomed to much more sophisticated ladies. Perhaps you’re simply too innocent for his jaded tastes? Oh dear. What’s to be done?”
“He wasn’t out last night with courtesans if that’s what you—”
“I have it!” Mama interrupted. “My sister-in-law will know what to do. Come, dear, we haven’t a moment to lose.” She pulled Alice with her and headed for the drive and her waiting carriage.
Alice knew it was useless to reason with Mama when she fixed upon an idea.
“You mean Aunt Sarah?” Alice had never been allowed to visit her Scandalous Aunt Sarah, as her mother usually referred to her.
“I don’t like asking for help from such an impious woman, but these are desperate times. This marriage must be legitimized, and quickly.”
Alice couldn’t very well say no to a visit with Scandalous Aunt Sarah, since she’d always wanted to meet her.
Jane had been slumbering peacefully when Alice left her this morning, and Nick would no doubt sleep the day away.
Leaving the house would give her time to think about what she truly wanted.
Mama wanted her to consummate the marriage so there could be no danger of an annulment.
But what did Alice want?
Everything had become so much more complicated than she’d anticipated.
The duke’s orchids may not have whispered any secrets to her, but they had made her listen to her own heart.
Acknowledge her own secrets. The tendril of caring taking root in her heart, threatening to bloom despite her resolution to maintain a scholarly detachment.
She must find a way to control her emotions... or she must find a way out of this marriage.
