Chapter 2

Chapter Two

O nce the Duke was gone, her sisters ran over to her immediately, each clutching at her, just as nervous as they had been for Marigold.

"Dearest Diana, now it is you who is trapped instead of me."

"Trapped?" Their mother pulled herself up to her full height, an indignant look on her face. "Diana should be honored that His Grace has chosen her to be his wife. As Marigold should have been. You are lucky that your attitude didn't ruin this opportunity for our family. You've already been selfish to take it from your sister."

"I have been selfish?" Diana stared at her mother incredulously. "You and Father are the ones who have been selfish. Giving Marigold away to a man who both of you knew to be cold and heartless. And for what? So that you could say you had a daughter married to a duke? I have saved Marigold by offering up myself in her stead."

It was clear that her mother still did not understand what she was saying. Did not realize that she was doing anything wrong.

Diana felt her own frustration grow.

"You barely know any of us, and you do not even care to. If you are happy to marry any of us off to that man, you could not possibly care a bit about us. You care only for names and titles. To increase your standing amongst the ton by having a daughter married to a duke—that is all you care about. Well, you shall get your wish. I shall marry the Duke, and you will be able to boast to all and sundry that you have been blessed with a duke for a son-in-law.

"But hear this, Mother. I see everything that you do. That both of you do. And I see that it has nothing to do with love for any of us. Well, you had best start feeling something for your children, for your younger daughters, because they will need you even more now that I am to go away. They will need you to be a real mother to them and not cast them aside in favor of your fancy trappings and your social gatherings. They need you, and it is past time that you did something about that."

Her mother gaped at her in astonishment, and even her sisters seemed shocked by her outburst. But it was also past time that she finally spoke up and told her mother everything that she had always wanted to say.

When she was already betrothed and there was nothing they could do to her, it seemed an excellent time for it. Though it would no doubt make the next several days until the Duke called on her again more difficult.

"Goodness, Diana, speaking to a duke in that way, and then speaking to Mother in such a way… I don't know how you dared," Marigold told her once they had made their way upstairs.

"It needed to be said. To both of them," Diana replied firmly, but her younger sisters seemed just as stunned as Marigold, though they had no idea how to express it.

"Do you think it will change anything?" Arabella asked finally.

Diana sighed heavily. "I hope that it will. For all of your sakes, I hope that Mother will be what you all deserve." But in her heart, she was not optimistic. Rather, it seemed far more likely that Mother would brush off everything that she had said and continue in her ways in the same manner she always had.

From the looks on her sisters' faces… they agreed.

But then, what would become of her sisters? With her gone … there was no one to look after them properly. Not in the way that they needed. She would have to prepare them as best she could, and hope that, when the time came, they would be able to fend for themselves.

"Now then, I will be leaving soon, and there are things that you must all be prepared to handle on your own."

"Oh, Diana! What will we do without you?" Arabella wailed.

Diana had to force herself to stay strong.

She still felt she'd done the right thing. And she felt more than up to the task of marrying the Duke. But she would greatly miss her sisters. And she would worry a great deal about them, being so far away.

"You will be just fine," she replied with a conviction she did not feel. "You will be strong and brave. And you'll have each other. That will help."

"But it shall not be the same without you," Valery spoke up for the first time, a sign that something was definitely wrong, as she was usually the last to stop speaking rather than the last to start. "And whatever will Philip say when he returns home and finds you gone?"

"I am sure Mother and Father will write to him and tell him of this joyous news," Diana replied wryly.

If Philip were here would this be happening? Would he have allowed any of his sisters to be married off to the Duke? Diana did not think so. He would have attempted to thwart their parents' plans, though perhaps with a bit more tact than she had.

"Let's not dwell on it. The Duke shall return and stake his claim soon enough. In the meantime, let us think of happier things. And let us enjoy these days together."

"What shall we do?" Arabella asked.

They were all silent for a long moment.

"We'll have Cook make us sugar biscuits for our tea, and then we shall go riding. It's a lovely day out, and we should take advantage of it," Marigold announced decisively.

Diana couldn't help but laugh. "That sounds lovely."

"Perhaps being married shall not be so horrendous, after all," Arabella piped up again as they headed toward the kitchens. "You know, the Duke is quite a dashing gentleman, and he's near your age. Lucille married a man who is practically her father's age!"

"Indeed, I am lucky to have found a husband near my age," Diana agreed, though she wasn't entirely sure that made any difference at all in this situation.

"And perhaps you will come to care for one another." The stars were back in Arabella's eyes, a soft smile spreading across her lips. "A dashing young gentleman and a lovely young lady at odds with one another marry and then fall madly and hopelessly in love."

Diana couldn't help but burst into laughter at the very thought of it.

"Oh, Arabella, you are ever the romantic. Would that it were possible, but I very much doubt that the Duke and I shall be spending much time together, married or not. And there shall be no occasion for us to fall in love, madly and hopelessly or otherwise."

"But what if it were to happen?"

"Promise me that you will never lose that optimism, no matter how old you get," Diana replied with a smile, and the other two girls also offered small, though somewhat sad, smiles.

"And you shall be a duchess, after all. Isn't that romantic?" Arabella continued as if her sister hadn't spoken.

Diana shook her head. "Being a duchess means very little. It's a fancy title that impresses some people, but I don't care much for it. Especially when it means I shall be saddled with a husband such as the Duke of Cardan."

"Shall you call him ‘' the Duke after you are wed?" Valery asked.

Diana's eyes widened in surprise. "Well… I don't suppose I know what I shall call him… Perhaps I shall."

"Mother calls Father by his name," Marigold supplied.

"Yes, well, Mother and Father consider themselves as equals, and I find it hard to believe that the Duke shall feel the same about me. And besides, even if he did prefer it… I do not know his name."

Diana tried to think of anything she had heard of the Duke before today, but there was very little. And his given name… Well, she didn't know anyone who was close enough to her betrothed or was given leave to use his Christian name.

"No matter," Marigold replied. "You shall have a great deal to do in getting the household in order and will no doubt not have time for him anyway."

They all laughed at that, and Diana shook her head again.

"I am certain he has servants who manage the household well enough."

"Well enough for the Duke, perhaps. But is it managed well enough for you?"

"We shall have to wait and see."

By then, they had reached the kitchen to find that Cook was already preparing sugar biscuits.

"I've heard the news just like the rest of the household," she told them, her eyes shining slightly as she looked at Diana. "We shall miss you greatly, My Lady."

"And I shall miss you. And of course, these biscuits. Whatever will I do without those?" She said with a smile, trying to ease the sadness that was all around her.

At least it made them laugh for a moment and she was able to gather up the tea things and shepherd her sisters to a table in the garden to set everything out.

A nice picnic for tea, far too many sugar biscuits, and a horseback ride were exactly what she needed for today, and she tried to take in every moment of it.

Matthew had no doubt that the special license would be approved immediately. A little money in the right hands and you could achieve anything, after all. Which was how he obtained it only a day after leaving Waterburry House.

Still, despite how urgently he wished to sort out this matter, there were others that also required his attention. Business arrangements that needed to be taken care of. Household matters that would not wait until he had brought home his new wife and must be handled immediately.

"Blast, will I ever be free to go?" he grumbled to himself as he looked over the papers strewn across his desk.

"What is all this noise about?" a familiar voice asked, striding through the open door.

John never minded his moods and instead dropped down into a chair with a glint in his eyes that suggested mischief.

"Ah, come in, John, have a seat," Matthew replied wryly.

John only grinned. "Already settled. Thank you. Now, what's got you all in a fuss? Aren't you supposed to be on your way to choose your bride?"

"The bride is already chosen," Matthew replied, indignant at his cousin's flippant tone. "I only have to go and fetch her."

John laughed. "And just how fares the lady?"

"She's fine. She'll be sufficient for what I need," Matthew replied distractedly, staring back at the papers on his desk.

John shook his head. "If the bride is fine, then what could you possibly have to be so irate about?"

"Work, John. Not all of us can be layabouts, you know."

But the words were tempered with a slight smile. After all, John was one of the few people in Matthew's life who could ever coax a smile from him.

The two had been together far too much throughout their childhood for anything else.

Even before his parents' deaths the two boys, and Isabelle of course, had practically grown up together, riding together, learning from their tutors, sharing … well, everything.

Though as they had gotten older Matthew's responsibilities had increased … while John and Isabelle had continued on as before.

"Ah, yes, some of us are quite lucky in that regard," John replied with an even wider grin. "Come now, I wanted to go for a ride through the park. What say you to that?"

Matthew glanced down at the paperwork on his desk again and then stood up. Clearing his head with a ride and a bit of fresh air was a good idea. And perhaps when he returned, he'd be able to make quick work of the things that needed to be done so he could go and fetch his bride.

"Where are you off to?" a bright feminine voice asked.

"Nowhere that concerns you," John teased, quickening his pace slightly so that she had to hurry to keep up.

"You're off to do something fun, and you had not even cared to invite me," Isabelle retorted.

"Then perhaps you should run along and tend to your sewing," John shot back, but as he was with Matthew, his eyes were shining, and a smile played on his lips.

"Perhaps you should go and tend to the sewing, and I shall go and have fun with Matthew," Isabelle huffed indignantly.

Matthew couldn't help a smile of his own. Isabelle was certainly not one to be thwarted by her brother's teasing. And she always gave as good as she got. It was one of the things he had always admired most about his cousin. Even when they were children Isabelle never had a problem keeping up with the boys. And in fact she always wanted to be wherever they were. Annoying as it was at times.

But they also taught her to ride just as well as any man and she could run near as fast as well, though she had not had cause to do so in quite some time.

The ladylike traits however … well, he wasn't entirely sure how she'd developed them without a mother of her own, and growing up nearly entirely with two boys who had no knowledge or interest in such things.

"You have no idea what we are going to do. It may be no fun at all," he told her.

Isabelle scoffed at that. "Of course, it's fun. You two always go off to have fun and leave me behind."

"Well, come along then. We're going horseback riding."

"Oh, good!" she exclaimed and was immediately rushing past them down the hall. "Well? Are you coming?"

"We had best go, or she'll try to steal my horse next," Matthew warned John.

"Bullion prefers me to you anyway," she called over her shoulder, and they all made their way quickly to the stables.

A nice ride through the park was indeed just what Matthew needed, and when he finally returned to the study, the work seemed much easier to complete than he had expected.

I could be ready to leave tomorrow morning and, with any luck, have everything arranged within a short period, with the wedding held quickly after my visit.

If he could get there, relay the pertinent information, and leave, he could be home with plenty of time to spare. But there was no guarantee of that happening.

After all, he had no idea what to expect from the woman who was to become his wife.