Duchess Beware (Secrets & Scandals Book 2) (11 page)

Silver faced Daniel.  Her turn to repeat the vows.  “Are you certain about this?” she whispered, not daring to believe it just yet, and held her breath.

His green eyes delved into hers.  Lifting his hand, he grazed his fingertips against her cheek, sending shivers along every nerve in her body.  “Yes.”  Then his eyes narrowed a fraction.  “Will you continue?”

She shivered with the feathery contact, and her heart picked up speed.  As unbelievable as it seemed, Daniel had chosen her.  Instead of marrying a true lady, one of unequalled beauty and high birth, he had come here to wed her, Silver MacLaren, an eccentric, half-Scot with the most horrid color of hair.  And the most unseemly thirst for knowledge.  Incredible.

Stemming further analysis of Daniel’s decision—for surely this was the miracle from God she had asked Him for—Silver nodded and spoke her vows.

At the ceremony’s end, she turned with her new husband to face the confused audience in the chapel.  And when the clergyman announced, “The Duke and Duchess of Huntington!” Silver couldn’t help but smile at the sight of so many jaws dropping.

Daniel led her down the aisle, although it felt more like she was floating.  Things were surreal, dream-like, and tiny pinpricks of excitement kept exploding in her chest.  What a difference between arriving and leaving the church.  She stepped through the timber doors, out in to the glorious mid-morning sunshine, and stopped short at the sight before her.  Two enormous coaches waited on the road, glistening in the sun like polished onyx.  An identical golden crest with a cross argent and a crown in the cantel, three green bends gules in the vertical blazed on both doors.  At the front of each vehicle were four large, black horses embellished to the nines with golden ornamentation and bridles.  A coachman and two grooms, wearing dark green and gold livery, stood at attention near each vehicle.  And just beyond the coaches were twelve outriders, each mounted on a fine black horse.

As Daniel led her down the steps near the entourage, Silver watched each of them gave a deep bow simultaneously.  She pressed shaky fingers against trembling lips and turned back to the church where everyone gaped in stunned disbelief.  She looked at each face, but didn’t see Katrina anywhere in sight.  Pity.  And then she noticed Prudence between Garrett and the clergyman, wearing a huge smile.

Silver faced Daniel when a sudden thought assailed her.  “Where are we going?”

“Home.” He nodded to one of the servants.  The middle-aged man leaped forward and opened the door of the first coach.

“Yours?” she asked without moving.

Daniel turned to her and shook his head.  “Ours.”

That one little word cracked something open inside Silver.  A multitude of tender feelings for Daniel, feelings she had been trying for so long to suppress, poured out and warmed her insides.  She hadn’t had a home where she felt accepted, as though she truly belonged, in a very long time.  But before she allowed herself to wallow in happiness, her previous thought surfaced.  “What about Prudence?  I cannot bear to leave her behind,” she whispered, terrified that Uncle Edward would pitch the dear old lady from his home out of spite.

Daniel’s features softened.  “She is welcome, of course.”

Silver smiled, the urge to throw her arms around his neck grew overwhelming, but another concern curtailed her swift burst of happiness.  She could not believe all this happiness was real just yet.  Surely, something waited around the corner to snatch it all away.  “You do have room for her, don’t you?”

His eyes widened, then he clamped his lips together.  After a deep breath, he glanced toward the man holding open the door.  “What say you, Godfrey?  Is there enough room for my wife’s aunt at the estate?”

Godfrey’s lips twitched.  “I do believe there is a room to spare, Your Grace,” he said with a bow.

“There you have it.”

Silver smiled with relief, and her heart burst open with joy.  Not only had Daniel called her his wife, the very sound of those words on his lips made her breath catch, but he had room for Aunt Prudence.  She no longer had to worry about her aunt getting thrown out.  Unable to resist the
faux pas
of showing affection in the presence of others, she leaned up and kissed his cheek.  “Thank you, Daniel,” she whispered into his ear.

“Thank me later, sweet,” he whispered back, seemingly undisturbed by her actions.

“Your Grace!”

Silver turned when she heard the baroness’ winded greeting.  She struggled to keep a straight face.  Lady Longley advanced forward at her fastest speed.  Her three chins jiggled in rhythm with the tear-shaped pearl swaying in the center of that awful, lime-green turban sitting askew over black and gray sausage curls.  Several paces beyond, the paunchy baron tried unsuccessfully to catch up to his wife.

Finally, the hefty woman halted before Daniel and sank into a deep, unsteady curtsy.  “I am…Harriet…Whitmore…The Lady…Longley,…Your Grace.” She paused between words for gulps of air.

When the baroness made no move to rise, Silver glanced at Daniel and found him frowning down at the woman.  “You may rise, Lady Longley,” he said.

The baroness’ green turban quivered.  “I’m afraid I am unable, Your Grace.”

Silver and Daniel exchanged confused looks.

“Unable, my lady?” he asked.

“I’m stuck!” Lady Longley’s voice cracked on the last word.

Silver turned away, lest she start to chuckle, and found it a mistake to look at Godfrey, who chewed on his knuckles to keep from his own laughter.  But when he realized she watched him, he paled, his mirth vanishing, and he jolted back to attention.

She smiled to set him at ease, and he immediately relaxed, looking relieved.  Perhaps a servant couldn’t laugh out loud.  And for the first time since Daniel came through the doors of the church, she felt fear.  She didn’t know all of Society’s miserable rules.  What if she did or said something to embarrass her husband?  Her chest tightened.  She usually didn’t give a ripe fig for what others thought, but now things had changed.  As a duke’s wife, she would be expected to know and follow all of the rules.

Silver watched Daniel assist the baroness to her feet, and some of the panic lifted.  She wasn’t ignorant, after all.  Surely, if she could master ten and two languages, she could learn some blasted rules.

Daniel then took the baroness’ offered hand and bowed over it as though the woman hadn’t just become
stuck
a few seconds ago.  “It is indeed a pleasure to meet you, Lady Longley.”  He turned to the baron.  “Lord Longley.”

The baroness flushed.  “Thank you, Your Grace.  I…er, we,” she corrected with a quick glance at her husband, “would like to extend to you an invitation to our home.  I know it isn’t as opulent as you are accustomed, but you may find it comfortable.”

Caroline, who’d come up beside the baroness, spoke before he could respond.  “Now, Harriet,” she said, her nose rising several inches in the air, “the duke is
my
nephew and must lodge with us.”

Silver blew out a sigh and crossed her arms.

“As you no doubt realize, Caroline, my home is much more suitable for a duke than yours,” the baroness argued.

“That is utter tripe,” Caroline insisted with stiff lips.

Silver lifted her eyes to the lazy white clouds strolling across the sky, not wanting to hear another word.  The two headstrong women could argue for hours without end.

The baroness plopped her hands onto her round hips.  “Caroline, you don’t even own a proper tea set.  Why, just three days ago, I nearly cut my lip on a chipped cup.  And that tea you serve,” she paused to shudder, “is quite intolerable.  The duke wouldn’t need above a sip of the ghastly stuff before he’d cock up his toes.  Then you’d be liable for the death of a duke as well as serving horrid tea from a chipped cup.”

Unable to help it, Silver smiled.

Caroline gasped but quickly recovered.  “Tea, ha!  The duke wouldn’t last a minute were he to breathe a tiny dose of those noxious odors that spew from your mouth every time you open it.”

“Pray, ladies, pardon my interruption,” Daniel stated, gaining everyone’s attention.  “We are not staying but must leave for Huntington promptly.  My trip to Scotland, where I met Silver, kept me from certain business matters that now need my urgent attention.”

Silver released her breath in a rush of relief.  Thank you, dear Daniel!

“Then you must return for a visit soon, Your Grace,” Caroline insisted, reverting back into a proper lady with alarming speed.  “After all, we are family now.” She gave the baroness a smug glance.

“And does that invitation include Her Grace as well?” Prudence asked as she neared the small assemblage.

Caroline hesitated, her pleasant smile growing stiff with discomfort.  “Of course Silver is welcome.”

“It would behoove you to address a duchess in the manner befitting her station, Caroline,” Prudence said, unable to mask the satisfaction in her eyes.

Caroline’s shoulders went rigid.  She shot Prudence a venomous look, then turned to Silver.  “Of course, Your Grace, you may visit as well,” she said, nearly choking on the title.

A sudden jolt of power shot through Silver, as though God’s own hands rested on her shoulders.  She also realized with abrupt clarity Daniel had freed her.  Freed her from her aunt and uncle’s harsh treatment.  Freed her from Katrina’s cruelty.  Freed her from Colin’s groping hands.

Freed her from a nightmare of a marriage to Victor Merrick.

Silver wanted to throw her arms around her wonderful husband once again.

With this newly discovered power flowing through her veins, Silver straightened her spine and leveled her aunt a look of pure satisfaction.  “Since you never could stand the sight of me anyway, Aunt Caroline, I most assuredly decline.”  She turned from the woman’s stunned face and marched toward the carriage.

As the horses moved down the street, Silver found the coach surprisingly smooth.  She sighed, then rested her head against the back of the padded, red velvet interior and closed her eyes.  An odd lethargy gripped her body.  And learning that Garrett, the clergyman, and Daniel’s solicitor would bring Prudence in the second coach after a hasty stop to gather her aunt’s belongings, only served to deepen Silver’s relief.

Watching Silver’s eyes slide shut, Daniel tried to quell the regret mounting within him.  He had given her little chance to refuse him, had given her no time to think things over, and practically forced her into finishing the ceremony.  Even though their marriage had been necessary.  He had taken her innocence.  That still did little to soothe his nettled conscious.  Afraid she would refuse him because of the ugly things he’d said in Scotland, he had trapped her into becoming his wife.  In a shoddy little church, surrounded by cold, uncaring people.

He griped his hands into tight fists.  At least he hadn’t been too late.

When he’d departed Kelmscott after learning of Silver’s betrothal, he believed she had tried to dupe him.  At first, he thought her a greedy upstart trying to secure a duchess title, having left Scotland in defeat when her little stratagem didn’t work.  His anger had raged hot during the first day of the three-day journey to reach his estate.  But on the second day, a pestering doubt wedged its way into his mind.  If Silver had been a money-grubbing pretender, why hadn’t she gone directly to her brothers with the news of their night together and force a marriage?  And why hadn’t she taken the small fortune in gold he offered?  Not only that, she had given him a very valuable horse.  She could have lived comfortably for the rest of her life from the sale of Fiona.

Troubled by questions and doubt, Daniel didn’t find answers until his arrival at Huntington where Garrett waited for him.  His friend knew of Silver’s betrothal.  Prudence had made mention of that plus a few other details of Silver’s unpleasant life in Kelmscott to Garrett in confidence on the way to the dock.

Daniel had been outraged when Garrett told him Silver’s guardian had forced her into a betrothal to a man she detested.  Then his outrage turned to fury when he learned her uncle had threatened to have her brothers killed if they attempted to halt the wedding or if she didn’t return to Kelmscott.  The bastard had made damn sure she couldn’t escape the ceremony.

But Daniel realized something else, as well.  Silver could have told her brothers about him, solving her problem completely.  Her brothers would have forced them to wed immediately, and with such a legitimate reason, her guardian would have had no means to protest a marriage to the Duke of Huntington, a much more lucrative arrangement.  Nor would the bastard have dared to have Silver’s brothers killed if she were a duchess.

But Silver didn’t tell her brothers.   He sighed.  No doubt she had remained quiet because of his insensitive comments to her in the drawing room.  She had been too angry at the time to want to have anything to do with him, and he really couldn’t blame her.  He was still mad as hell with himself for the offer of gold just to soothe his guilty conscious.

Shaking off the memory, Daniel turned and smiled when he noted some color had returned to Silver’s cheeks.  But his smile slipped when he recalled his first glimpse of her in the church.  Standing with slumped shoulders in some dull gray dress that looked like it belonged in a rag pile, her face had been the color of paste, and her lackluster eyes held no life.  It was as though her spirit had died within her.  Daniel gritted his teeth, the recollection sending an unnerving jolt of protectiveness through him, then he inhaled deeply and relaxed.  Silver was safe now, and he’d make damn sure it stayed that way.