Chapter 12

On the morning of his wedding, Duncan did not feel any different than he did any other day. To him, it felt like just another day.Except perhaps he was nursing a small hangover from the wine that he had consumed last night.

Of course, that did not mean the rest of his family felt the same way.

“Big day today, dearest brother of mine.” Jacob smiled as he greeted him at the breakfast table. “How does it feel to live your last few hours as a single man? Last night was great fun, but it is about to change now.”

“Exactly the same as it always has,” the Duke replied in a sarcastic manner as he took a bite out of his bread.

“Ever the composed man, aren’t you?” Jacob teased. “I am sure that you must feel differently on the inside, but you are not letting it show.”

“Pray tell, how am I supposed to be feeling? You are well aware that I do not waste my time with emotions that serve no use to me. I am marrying Sophia to fulfill my duty. It will not change anything,” the Duke was adamant.“I thought that I made that point clear, even last night.”

“Ah, I would wager that you should keep those thoughts to yourself. No woman wants to hear something as unromantic as the string of words that have just come out of your mouth,” Jacob remarked, taking a sip out of his tea.

“I am sure that Lady Sophia feels the same way. She has shown no indication that she desires any sort of romance from me,” Duncan shrugged. “It is you that believes that we are in the midst of a romance novel. Besides, I am certain that I can provide her with the love she requires if she asks for it. I would not have married her if I did not, on some level, deem her to be worthy of it.”

“Of course, she has given you no indication outwardly. She is likely too timid to do so as women often are. You must bring that side out of her yourself,” Jacob explained. “I suggest that you plan something romantic in the near future to win her heart.”

“Lady Sophia would not want that,” Duncan insisted. “This marriage is only so that society keeps their mouth shut and her reputation is cleared. There is no notion of love here.”

“Must you always be this stubborn?” Jacob said, irked. “It is not a bad thing to want love in your life. If anything, it makes the experience of living even better.”

“I did not take you to be such a romantic, brother.”

“Oh, I do not have to be a romantic to know how good a loving marriage can be,” Jacob replied. “I believe that strongly.”

Duncan considered his words for a moment and then nodded.

“I suppose we never saw it growing up. Our parents’ marriage was a mess. I never recall father doing anything romantic for mother. It is difficult to imagine, for me, what that must be like.” A hint of sadness colored the Duke’s tone.

“Indeed. We did not have the best examples. But that is exactly why I believe that the opposite is possible.”

“I cannot say that our marriage is going to be a romantic one, but I fully plan on providing for her. She will never have to worry about anything in her life again,” Duncan promised, a frown appearing on his lips.

“Oh, but women are complex creatures. They do not only want a roof over their heads and food at the table. They want to be romanced and cared for,” Jacob insisted. “Surely you want that at some level for yourself?”

“At some level, perhaps…” The Duke paused, thinking over what his brother had just said to him.

“Then what?”

“I cannot imagine myself suddenly transforming into a lover overnight,” Duncan laughed. “I am sure that even Lady Sophia would be quite taken aback by that.”

“You do not know that. As I said before, women never reveal what it is in their hearts immediately. You have to take your time to figure that out.”

Duncan waved away this brother’s observations. Everyone seemed to have all sorts of advice ready for him when it came to marriage or dealing with women, but the Duke did not see how useful it was. In the end, he chose to rely on his own intuition and rationality to guide his actions.

“I am serious, Duncan,” Jacob continued. “I believe that you must break the curse that our family has suffered from. Our parents’ marriage had no love within it. It is up to you to cultivate it in your own marriage.”

“I cannot manufacture anything that I do not feel…”

“Then you must wait till you do.” Jacob winked. “I see good things in your future, dear brother. This union will bring good tidings in your favour.”

“First, you assumed the role of a romance expert, and now, you are a teller of fortunes?” Duncan challenged.

“You may say that,” Jacob laughed. “Time will tell what unfolds.”

“Indeed, time will tell…”

Duncan decided to discard most of what his brother had said, but one thing stuck with him. The idea that women wanted to be courted and romanced was not new to him, but he had never thought it was his duty as a husband to provide that.

For the first time since their wedding had been decided, the Duke began to ponder over what his role as a husband should be. His sense of duty demanded him to be the very best in whatever role he took, but this was an unusual situation.

Would it be fair for Lady Sophia to be denied the traditional romance that usually accompanies a newly married life? He reminded himself that she was not too interested in marrying him in the first place, so it was not as though she was in love with him already.

Perhaps they would have to create new traditions entirely where they existed together in harmony without the frills of romance. Duncan felt satisfied with his conclusion.

He did not have any desire to ignite a romance, and he was certain that Lady Sophia felt the same way.

The church where the wedding ceremony was going to take place was full of people. Duncan stood at the altar as it was almost time for the bride to arrive.

He felt calm and did not have any nerves going into it. Thankfully, his mother had not invited many people to the church. He knew that she had planned for a wedding breakfast later which was to be a much grander affair.

Having fewer people present at the church meant that there would be fewer eyes on Sophia. He knew that she had suffered from cruel remarks from people before, and he did not want her to feel self-conscious.

He wondered to himself why it was that he felt so concerned about how she would feel, but then concluded that it was just because he felt obliged to keep her happy, for every woman deserved to feel good on her wedding day.

It was nothing deeper than that, at least that is what he told himself.It was his sense of duty.

The musicians changed their song to play the wedding marching, and the Duke realized that Sophia would be walking down the aisle any moment now.

All heads turned to the back of the room, and then she finally emerged. Dressed in a lavender gown that flowed beautifully towards the floor, Sophia glided to the altar, accompanied by her cousin as the man who would give her away.

Immediately, Duncan was struck by how gorgeous she looked. She had a natural beauty to her, one that was difficult to find. The sunlight from the church windows lit her face beautifully, and he noted with appreciation that she had a confident stride.

But most importantly, he noticed that she had decided to slick her hair back and wear gloves made of very thin, almost see-through lace, thus exposing her scars to anyone who looked her way. As she walked, there were some murmurs from the guests and no doubt they were discussing her scars. However, she seemed undeterred as she boldly put them on display for everyone to see.

The Duke felt equally surprised and attracted by this act of boldness from her. She was finally behaving in the manner that a duchess ought.

She trusted my advice.

Finally, she made it to the end of the altar, and their eyes locked for the first time. Duncan felt a strange feeling stir inside of him, and he realized that she looked even more stunning up close. She had a bridal glow to her, making her appear almost ethereal.

“My Lady,” Duncan said as he extended his hand for her to take.

“Your Grace.”

“You look beautiful,” the words slipped out of the Duke’s mouth before he could help himself — that is how he knew that his compliment was sincere.

“Thank you, Your Grace,” she said. To his surprise, she blushed as she diverted her gaze away from him and looked towards the floor.

It made him feel an odd sense of pride. She had held her head high as she walked through the crowd with confidence, and yet, it was his compliment that made her blush.

“We may now begin the ceremony,” the minister announced, and the ring bearer brought the rings.

“I gather you all here today to witness the union of the Duke of Blackmoore, Duncan Swinton with Sophia White…”

The words were fading into the background as Duncan kept getting distracted by Sophia. He had not expected himself to react like this as he thought that this was going to be just like any other day. But it was clear that there was something different.

It was time to put the ring on her finger.Duncan took her hand in his which felt delicate in his sturdy one. He slowly slid the ring on her finger. She did the same.

“With the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife.”

The crowd broke into applause, and Duncan noticed that Sophia was blushing heavily again.

He wanted to kiss her rosy cheek.

Shaking his head, he pushed the thought away from his head as the guests began to deliver their congratulations to the newly married couple. Pleasantries were exchanged, and then it was time for the bride and groom to travel to the venue where the wedding breakfast was being held.

In the carriage on their way there, Duncan found himself alone with Sophia for the first time.

“I see that you chose to not cover your face,” he remarked, not being able to help himself. “I should let you know that I am quite impressed with your choice.”

“Thank you, Your Grace,” she replied, not meeting his gaze. “I reminded myself what you had said to me earlier and decided to not hide myself anymore. And I must say, while I was scared to do so, it has worked for me thus far.”

“Do you believe so?” he inquired.

“Why, yes. I do. I noticed how no one made a bad remark about me at the church,” she observed. “Perhaps it is because I am the Duchess now, and people naturally treat me with more respect.”

He smiled at that, feeling happy for her accomplishment.

“I believe that plays a part, but it is also in how you carry yourself,” he said. “I could sense the confidence as you walked down the altar.”

“Could you?” She raised her eyebrow. “I was a mess of nerves inside. However, once again, I took your advice of not letting it show on the exterior.”

“Then you did a splendid job, Your Grace. You had me, and I am certain the rest of the lot, completely fooled.”

Sophia was surprised by his use of her title. It was the first time that he had done so, and it made the entire thing appear infinitely more… real to her.

“I suppose I should get some sort of award for my acting, then.”

“If one exists, then we should furnish it for you,” he replied. “After all, we have to convince the lot that we are happy in love together.”

Sophia met his gaze for the first time since they had sat down in the carriage, and her eyes widened.

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean to say is that perhaps it would be a good idea to put on a show so that the ton does not have anything negative to say. We must appear united so that no one has the opportunity to gossip once this occasion has passed.”

“I…” Sophia struggled with her words for a moment. “As you wish, Your Grace. I trust your opinion to be the right one.”

Duncan had not planned on making this suggestion. It had appeared naturally to him. In his mind, he rationalized it by telling himself that the show was for others, but a small part of him was suspicious that perhaps seeing her in a wedding dress had changed something in him, and he wanted to at least pretend to be in love, even if it was far from reality.

Just to see what it felt like.

It was truly incredible just how differently people were treating Sophia now that she was married to the Duke and had gotten the title of a duchess.

The change had been immediately noticeable to her. The same people that were so quick to bully here were now smiling in her direction. No one had even dared to bring up her scars which she was displaying confidently as she glided through the wedding breakfast venue with the Duke by her side.

However, her confidence was a front. It was a nice change to see people be nice to her, but on the inside, she was spiraling.

Do not let it show,she reminded herself. But even that had a limit.

When it was time for the dance, the Duke extended out his hand for her to take. She let her nerves get the best of her, and her hands were shaking.

“Nervous?” he remarked as he noticed her shaking hands.

She gave him a polite smile.

“I suppose you can say that,” she replied. He held her hand firmly and kept it from shaking. The gesture filled her up with a strange sense of warmth.

“What happened to your excellent acting skills, Your Grace? Just moments before you were boasting about them to me,” he teased playfully.

“Oh, well, what can I say? Even the best of actors have their moments when they cannot put up an act any longer,” she replied timidly.

He gave her a grin, and Sophia was struck by how handsome he looked when he smiled like that.

“It is far too early for that, for we still need to put on our best performance yet,” he said as he led her to the dance floor. “Let us pretend.”

“I am worried I will mess up by stepping on your foot again,” she admitted shyly. “We do not want a repeat of that.”

That elicited a small laugh out of the Duke.

“There is no need to be nervous, Madam. You are not alone. I am by your side,” he reassured her.

Sophia wondered if she was imagining things or did the Duke suddenly become much less cold to her? His interactions seemed to be more personal now than they had in the past, and she realized that she quite preferred this version of him.

He must be a great actor, she thought to herself. After all they were only pretending in front of the guests, and none of it was real.

The fact that it disappointed Sophia surprised her.

“How many people here do you believe are hoping for our marriage to fail?” she asked as they danced together. All eyes were on them, and she was painfully aware of that.

“Oh, I wager quite a few,” he laughed. “But I would not put much stock into that fact if I were you. I am sure that, similarly, there are many people here that wish for me to somehow renounce my dukedom and be stripped of my title.”

Sophia’s eyes widened with shock.

“But that is most horrible. Why would anyone want that sincerely for anyone?”

“Madam, you must learn that having a good position in life means that there will be many that wish for your downfall,” he said in a serious voice. “You cannot take them seriously.”

“Are you not worried that they will do something to harm you out of their jealousy?”

The Duke shrugged. He appeared so calm and collected, even in the face of adversity. Sophia realized that this made her even more attracted to him than she already was.

“I simply cannot spend my life worrying about all the bad that could happen,” he replied. “For now, I wish to enjoy this moment.”

He gave her a twirl, and she wound back in his arms with perfect poise. Their proximity made her cheeks flush.

“At least I did not trip this time,” she remarked lightheartedly, trying to ignore the fire his touch had just ignited inside of her.

“Indeed, you did not. I suppose, we are getting better with practice,” he teased.

There it was again… She found herself getting distracted yet again.

“And with time, I suppose.” She stumbled on her words, growing more and more flustered by the minute.

“Like wine,” he said, a playful hint in his voice.

She suspected that perhaps he had caught wind of the fact that she was getting increasingly flustered in his presence as he twirled her around more than a few times. His hand even came to rest on her waist for a brief moment, and she relished how good it felt to have his fingers digging into the softness of her flesh.

When the dance finally ended, she was left blushing wildly, and right before they separated, Duncan gave her a dazzling yet sincere smile.

She could not stop the butterflies erupting inside of her stomach after that.