5. Caroline

5

Caroline

C aroline didn’t know if the dull, aching pain in her chest would ever leave her. It was wrapped in layers of humiliation and heartbreak, clawing its way deeper inside with each beat. Every time she blinked, all she saw was Harry naked in bed with Florence, giving her everything and Caroline nothing.

But it wasn’t just Harry she was mourning, it was the life she’d been planning, the love she’d been dreaming of, the children she’d been yearning for.

Her mother’s voice was there to whisper in her ear. Idiotic girl. What self-respecting man would want a pig for a wife?

Harry may not have had much, but all she’d wanted was to be loved and cared for. She didn’t need money or riches, just love. And, as a result of that desire, she’d gone from a family that loved her to an empty castle in the middle of nowhere.

Castell Du'r Arddu, as it turned out, was on the island of Anglesey off the north-west coast of Wales, surrounded by crashing waves and devastating scenery. Back at Scarlett Castle, the estate’s money was in farming, horses, and property, but Castell Du'r Arddu’s moneymaker was its mines. Copper mines, specifically. One of the largest in the world, if her new maid Pretoria was to be believed .

“Would you like to walk into town with me?” Lord Menai—David—asked, three days after her arrival at Castell Du'r Arddu. He stood in the doorway, shouldering on his overcoat.

Sitting in the music room overlooking the rugged cliffs, Caroline blinked. She was starting to feel cooped up; she hadn’t stepped foot outside the castle since she’d entered it. Pretoria had taken her apologetic telegram to Emmeline to the post office for her the morning after she arrived; Caroline hadn’t felt up to it then, but now…

“Are you sure I should?” She bit the inside of her cheek. “People will ask who I am, and then you’d have to explain the marriage, and then you’d have to explain why Harry’s not with me, and then…”

Then, she’d have to bear the judgement of others.

His gaze was soft with compassion. “Perhaps we should simply say you’re a family friend for now,” he offered.

She let out a dry snort—and regretted it a moment later. Her mother would have been disgusted to hear her make such a sound. “A walk does sound nice.” She stood, smoothing the lines of the thick winter dress she’d been given. Pretoria had to take it in a few inches, but it was as respectable as any of her other clothing, and she had been given a coat she hadn’t used yet.

A coat which, as it turned out ten minutes later, was quite comfortable. The driveway’s gravel crunched beneath their feet as they began their stroll. “I forgot to ask, Lord Menai,” Caroline started, “how far is it into town?”

“Call me David. And not far,” he responded, holding her arm in a gentlemanly fashion that her mother would have approved of—for once. “Holyhead is about a fifteen-minute walk from here.”

Surprise heightened her voice—her father had always insisted on being called by his title, not even her mother had used his first name. But that hadn’t been what caught her attention. “ Holyhead ?” She laughed. “How funny. That’s the name of my father’s estate.”

Her father-in-law came to a standstill, blood leeching from his cheeks. “Estate?”

Caroline nodded, a hint of confusion in her movement. “It’s not far outside Edinburgh.”

“I didn’t realise you came from a similar background,” he said, his steps slowly resuming.

Oh. “A very similar background, actually. My father was a marquess, the same as you, and the cousin I mentioned staying with is a duchess.”

A fact that she had never acknowledged whilst living with Emmeline. Not after the way Caroline’s father had abused Emmeline so terribly.

“In which case, I should offer my apologies, Lady Caroline.”

She glanced up at him, her lips tilting into a smile. “How about I call you David if you call me Caroline?” They were family.

His laugh rang around them as they turned off the driveway onto the main road. High green hedges blocked them in on either side, a countryside mainstay, but it offered little in the way of scenery. “That sounds like a deal.”

She smiled back at him. Above them, the cloudless sky lifted her mood, and in the late winter sun Caroline couldn’t help thinking how handsome he was. It was easy to see where Harry got his good looks; the broad shoulders, the dark hair that took on an almost maroon quality in the light, although David lacked his son’s curls. Harry must have got those from his mother.

They walked in silence most of the way, but it was the most comfortable silence she’d ever been a part of. By the time they crossed the proverbial border into Holyhead, Caroline found herself feeling lighter than she had in days.