Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Jackie had never lived in a large manor house, not even when they were wealthy.
Her family’s estate was sizable, certainly, and the gardens were vast, but it all seemed miniscule in comparison to that of the duke. She had always loved ivy, and the way it scrawled across the walls and nestled into its cracks caught her attention in an instant.
Not only that, but everything was pristine, straight out of a fairytale book. It was vast, almost intimidating, and Jackie could see that her father was equally as affected by it as she was, perhaps even more.
“It is magnificent,” Elizabeth breathed. “Oh, Jackie, could you imagine living in such a place?”
“We are going to be doing so for a while,” Jackie reminded her. “So I do hope that you become accustomed to it soon.”
“Believe me, I shall find a way to.”
Before they could say another word, an older lady stepped outside. She was small and thin, but she appeared to be deceptively young. Had it not been for the way she ambled over, Jackie could have been quite easily fooled.
“Welcome, all of you,” she greeted warmly. “I am Lady Anne Churchill, the Dowager Duchess of Creighton. It is so lovely to meet you at last.”
“The pleasure is ours,” Jackie’s father replied. “My daughters have spoken of nothing but this trip for weeks now. Frankly, I am pleased to have at last brought them here so that they might find another topic of conversation.”
The dowager duchess laughed brightly, and Jackie and Elizabeth followed suit, but Jackie couldn’t help but feel confusion. After all, she had been told with a mere day’s notice, not weeks like her father had said.
She looked over at Elizabeth, who did not seem to have caught onto it. Regardless, it was not the moment to ask about it and so she continued to smile and nod and agree to the tour of the household that Lady Creighton had offered.
The opportunity to ask her father what he had meant would require an even longer wait, for he was whisked away by the butler to see his room, leaving Jackie and Elizabeth with the duke’s mother, who was only too pleased to show the girls to their bedchambers.
They were separate, on opposite ends of the hallway. Elizabeth was shown hers first, and Jackie felt strange walking so far from her; they were never too far from one another unless Elizabeth was attending a ball.
“I hope it is to your liking,” the dowager duchess said gently, opening her door. “It has been decorated quite recently. My son said it was his favorite, and so I thought it best that you are the first lady to stay in it.”
“That is most thoughtful of you,” Jackie replied, marveling at the pale blue walls and light green curtains. “Though there is no need to favor myself over my sister. I assure you, I do not require such a thing.”
“Oh, no, it is not that we thought you required it,” she laughed. “No, I simply—well, I never truly thought that my son would marry, not after what happened to him. I am so grateful to you for agreeing to the match, and you have it on my honor that if you only give him some time, then you will see that he truly is a good man.”
Jackie blinked, alarmed but still aware that it was not the time nor place to disagree with the lady; she seemed so hopeful that it would have been unfair to dash said hopes. Instead, she waited until the dowager duchess left her to her own devices, at which point she sat on her bed and looked at the painting on the wall, thinking.
This was the same duke that had been unkind to her all those years before, and now he apparently was hoping to marry her? In the years since their altercation, they had not spoken, not even seen one another. Quite simply, it did not make any sense, but the one thing Jackie continued to think about was how her father had known, for weeks as far as she could tell, and he had not said a word about it.
“Oh, wow!” Elizabeth gasped, entering Jackie’s room. “This room is far larger than mine, no wonder it is so far away! Fear not, Sister, for I do not mind at all. It certainly makes a change from our rooms at home, at least, because your room there is so small and—”
“I am to marry the duke.”
Suddenly, everything made sense. Elizabeth’s face changed in the exact same way that it had done every time that Jackie had asked her if she was hiding something from her. She turned scarlet, and Jackie knew at once what had happened.
“What do you know about this?” She demanded.
“Nothing!”
“Do not lie to me, Elizabeth. You have never been one to do that, and I refuse to have you start doing it now. Tell me everything, whether you think I wish to hear about it or not.”
“Well,” she grimaced. “Letters were exchanged between the duke and our father. Father told me that they have come to a deal of sorts. We are here to visit, and should you be compatible with the duke, and it is a good match, then the duke will pay all of our debts, and give me a dowry so that I can marry—”
Again, she froze.
“Marriage?” Jackie echoed. “You are not even in a courtship.”
“Erm, well, that is another thing… I have been in a courtship with Lord Greene for a while now.”
Suddenly, Jackie’s own match meant very little to her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it was never going to go any further,” she sighed. “I knew that I had no dowry, and it was simply a matter of time until he found out himself and refused to marry me anyway. I was simply enjoying it while it lasted, but now… I have a real chance at happiness.”
“And so you lied to me in order to secure it?”
“It has been destroying me since the moment I learned of it. I cannot apologize enough for what I have done, but you have to understand. I wanted to save our family from ruin, and when I found out that I could also marry the man that I love… I had a moment of weakness and Father knew it. He told me that, if I told you, then you would run away, and I would never see you again and it would all fall through anyway. I did not know what else to do.”
“What you should have done was talk to me,” Jackie argued.
“I couldn’t. The longer I kept quiet the harder it was to tell you until I could no longer say anything at all. Truly, I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid.”
By that point, the younger sister was in tears and the older sister was trying with all her might to maintain her composure. She had never been one to make outrageous displays, but at that moment she was unsure of how long she would be able to keep control.
“I wish to be alone,” she said coldly.
“Sister, I—”
“I need to be alone for a while,” she repeated.
Elizabeth seemed to understand at last, and left without another word. Jackie left the room herself after a moment, knowing that she needed some time alone in the gardens before she could face the others for dinner.
“Excuse me,” she asked a servant in the hallway. “I am sorry for bothering you, but might you be able to point me in the direction of the garden?”
“Of course, my lady. The stairs are just there, and then from there the quickest route is on your left, down that hallway, and through the fourth door.”
Jackie nodded quickly and thanked the servant before going on her way. She couldn’t help but feel watched, but she scolded herself for being superstitious and told herself that it was simply because of what she had discovered.
The gardens were magnificent, perfectly cared for. It was the best place for a walk so that she could think about what had happened. Deep into the garden came a dense thicket to navigate, and Jackie welcomed it as it gave her some privacy.
It was dark from all of the shade cause by the tall trees and long branches, but soon enough she spotted a clearing and headed toward it. The sun on her face, warming her skin, she at last allowed herself to think things through.
She did not know whether or not she could forgive Elizabeth. After everything she had done for her younger sister, it was a betrayal greater than she could ever have foreseen, and yet she pitied the poor girl greatly. After all, she understood her predicament. Whether she would have done the same thing or not, she didn’t know. Especially given the threat their father had given them that Jackie would run away if she came to learn the truth.
Jackie did not know what she would have done, nor did she know what she would do now. She was angry with her sister, and downright furious with her father, but she did not hate them. They had been granted the opportunity to protect their family, and though they had not taken the best route, Jackie could not deny that it was something to heavily consider. After all, they had to be a good match first, did they not? If the duke did not like her, then it would all fall through regardless.
And she was positive that the duke did not like her at all, whether he had invited them there or not. He likely did not remember her at all, and if he did then he could not have known her name. He would see her, remember who she was, and call it all off, she was certain of it, and then they could all return home and she could forgive Elizabeth simply because it was impossible for her to stay angry with her sister.
A twig snapped.
Her line of thought broken, Jackie turned to the source of the sound, only to see a figure retreating away. She recognized the figure in the darkness of the woods, as if she had seen it before.
“Stop,” she called out. “Please do not run away.”
Against all odds, the figure did come to a stop.
“Have you been following me?” She asked, knowing it to have been the case. “Why?”
The figure continued into the darkness a little more before turning around. She could not see his face, but there was that unmistakable shoulder-length copper hair.
“Greetings, Lady Jacqueline,” he said gently. “I did not mean to startle you. I only wanted to see you for a while before we met in person. That was not my best idea, I cannot lie. Perhaps I should have done something else, or maybe I simply should have watched my step a little more carefully.”
He chuckled, but Jackie did not find him amusing. She knew who he was in an instant, and it did not ease her concerns about how she would be seen during her stay there. The man before her was none other than the man that could eventually be her future husband.
It was none other than the duke.