Page 22 of An Orphan for the Broken Duke

A knock at the door had Violet turning.

“Violet…” It was her uncle, and he poked his head through the doorway. “He is ready for you.” Her uncle did not sound pleased, nor did he look it. While he had told her that he was pleased about her decision, she knew how angry he was.

Then again, that was further proof that she was doing the right thing.

The nerves came then, like a wave washing over her. Violet suppressed them as best she could, but she started to shake. It was real… it was happening… There was no going back.

“Let us go together.” Rose took her hand. “As you are always there for me, it is time that I am here for you.”

Again, the urge to cry came over her, and again Violet suppressed it. She had done so little right in her life, but to see her sister having grown so much, and into such a wonderful person, was its own reward. Still a child in Violet’s eyes perhaps, but in reality, a woman grown.

“I will always be here for you,” she said as she held her sister’s hand tight. “Uncle, tell His Grace we are coming.”

Her uncle nodded, again not smiling, and ducked his head from the door.

Once he had gone, Violet dusted herself down, took a final breath to find calm, and started across the room. Her life was about to change forever, and she had no idea what was to come or what to expect. What she did know, and what would help her through the hard times if they arrived, was that she was doing this for the right reasons.

She had always been one to do for others what they could not do for themselves, and she had always put her own needs second. It was as good a reason to smile as any other. So, Violet found that reason to smile, and she held it firm as she stepped out of the room and entered her new life.

Eight

Violet presented herself in the small church with grace, confidence, and a staunch determination to approach the ceremony as little more than a business transaction. She would not smile as if overtaken with joy. She would not scowl as if furious that she was being forced into such a circumstance as this. And she would certainly not give the duke anything to use against her in the future.

So, when she appeared at the end of the aisle, and then started down its length to the altar, she walked with a pronounced chin, straight shoulders, and an emotionless expression that did well to hide what she was truly thinking.

That expression almost faltered when she saw the duke.

It was a slight frustration that he was so handsome. A perfect face—those gray eyes that were not menacing or arrogant, but kinder than they ought to have been, if always a little sad. He watched her as she came; he too resisted the urge to smile or give anything away, but the look he held her in was one of relief as well as regret. At least that was how she chose to read it.

How much easier things would have been if he was a monster. Or if he was purposefully cruel, arrogant, and mean-spirited. If he was exactly what Violet expected, such a state might have made things troublesome going forward, but at least she would know where she stood.

But the duke… he was a mystery. Why did he want to save Lucy? What did he hope to gain? And how did Violet factor into it all?

Time will tell, I am sure. Until it does, I must be careful.

She reached the end of the altar and hardly bothered to look at the duke. That was partly because she wanted him to know that she was not there for him, and partly because she did not like how much she enjoyed looking at him. It made her heart flutter. It made her skin tingle. It made her thoughts more confused than they needed to be.

The church was not crowded, nor was it decorated to suggest a marriage ceremony was taking place. It was a simple affair, further highlighting the strict nature of this arrangement.

A marriage of convenience… even if they might have to pretend in front of Lucy that this was not the case. That would undoubtedly be awkward, but also necessary. And Violet was certain that she would have no difficulty in pretending while not mistaking her feelings.

And the duke better be the same.

When the priest started reading the vows, Violet looked past the duke, refusing to meet his eyes.

When the priest asked the duke to present the ring and place it on her finger, Violet offered her hand but still did not look directly at the duke. Even his touch, gentle and careful, was promptly ignored.

And when the priest announced them man and wife, Violet turned to face the small crowd; she did not smile, she did not pout. She offered them nothing.

“And it is done.” The duke stepped in beside her and rested a hand on the small of her back. She caught her breath and turned rigid.

“What are you doing?”

“I do not expect you to fall over yourself in an effort to present an air of romance and adoration,” he said quietly, so that only she might hear him. “But the least you can do is pretend not to hate me.”

Violet almost said that she did not hate him.

It would have been the truth, too. She wanted to hate him. She wanted to learn the truth of his actions, so that she could find a reason for that hate. But so far, he had given her nothing, which made her antipathy that much more difficult to stomach.