Why had he agreed to marry her, sight unseen, after having no interest in marriage previously?
“I suppose he must have realized the time was right,” Margaret suggested. “It wasn’t something he could delay forever, after all. He must have understood that he needed to move forward with finding a wife and marrying, or he would risk not having an heir at all.” She smiled slightly. “It’s better than I’d hoped. I worried I would have to force him into it, and he wouldn’t take that well at all, coming from me.
“He wouldn’t like me trying to tell him what he should do, even if he knew perfectly well that I was right about it. I’m glad he came to this realization on his own, and in his own time. And, Lydia, I must tell you, I wasn’t certain about you at first, but having spent some time with you, I think this is going to be a good match. I’m happy with his choice.”
Lydia felt warm at the knowledge that she had succeeded in pleasing the Dowager Duchess. She couldn’t relax, of course—she would have to make sure that the impression she had made continued in the days to come. But Margaret liked her. That was a very promising start.
“I like this one,” she said, pointing to the necklace Margaret had picked out. “I think it’ll be beautiful for the wedding—if you like it?”
“I love it,” Margaret agreed, smiling at her, and Lydia beamed. Things couldn’t be going any better.
And maybe Margaret was right. Maybe Lydia’s presence in the Duke’s life would help him soften toward his stepmother. Maybe she would be able to help heal their family from the wounds they’d been carrying all this time. And she would provide the heir they needed, and everyone would be happy about that.
The future had never looked brighter than it did today, standing here, looking at necklaces with Margaret and planning for her wedding day. And though she still felt nervous about a few of the details, Lydia was filled with confidence that everything would work itself out for the best.
CHAPTEREIGHT
The day of the wedding, there was a chill in the air. To Lydia, it felt something like an omen.
She tried to push away her trepidation. Nothing was wrong, she told herself. It was normal to be a bit anxious on her wedding day. And besides, everything had felt so right lately. She had been so confident that this was the right thing for her, that it was going to work out perfectly. She was only nervous today because it was actually happening. But once it was over, she would go back to feeling sure of herself.
Still, the day was full of odd moments. Her room had to be packed up so that her possessions could be sent over to Westfrey. This had been in process for several days, but it wasn’t until today that she stood looking at the bare wardrobe of the room that had belonged to her all her life. It wasn’t until today that she found herself truly facing the fact that she was leaving here and wouldn’t be coming back.
It was an intense feeling. It frightened her a little bit. She had thought about the future plenty of times, of course, but she had to admit now that she had never really thought about the fact that she was giving up her past.
Well, what difference does it make, really? It’s not as if I was especially happy here. And living at Westfrey will be exciting, and it will mean that no one will bother me about the way they think I ought to behave. No one will trouble me about the importance of finding a husband because I’ll already have one.
That thought put her mind at ease a bit. It would certainly be a relief to be finished with thinking about the necessity of finding herself a husband.
Reassured, she turned her attention to her wedding gown, which had been brought in that morning.
She liked it quite a lot. It was pale blue and ivory in color, and as far as the style, it was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Her lady’s maid helped her dress, and Lydia watched in the looking glass as she was transformed into a bride. It was a strange sight to see, since she had never really thought of herself in that way, but she’d never thought of herself as a duchess, either. After today, everything was going to be very different.
She went downstairs to meet her parents, who looked at her with a critical eye. Even her father seemed to be able to find nothing to say, and Lydia felt a strange surge of pride. Had she finally succeeded in making him happy with her?
More likely, he’s just pleased to know that I won’t be his problem any longer when today is done. But even so, that’s good news for me too. I’m ready to move on from this.
So, it was by the time they boarded the carriage that would take them to the church that Lydia’s trepidation about the day had been dispelled. She was sure of herself and confident about what she was doing. This marriage would be a good thing, both for her and for the Duke, and the future once again looked bright.
That feeling lasted until she found herself face to face with him at the altar.
There had been no real courtship to speak of, of course, and as such, Lydia wasn’t surprised by the fact that there was no bond between the Duke and herself. Still, she might have expected a bit of warmth from him today, given the fact that this was their wedding day. She would have thought that he would smile at her and tell her he liked her gown, at least.
But she got nothing from him. He hardly looked at her. He didn’t take her arm. There was certainly no smile to be had. And as the two of them went through the motions of reciting their vows, Lydia couldn’t help wondering whether this moment meant anything to him at all. It didn’t seem to.
The whole business left her with a hollow sort of dread in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t understand exactly why, but she couldn’t help feeling that something was deeply wrong. She couldn’t help feeling like she might have misunderstood something about their arrangement.
But I can’t have. What could I have gotten wrong? It’s happening. He’s standing here marrying me. I haven’t misunderstood it.
That thought was nowhere near as reassuring as it should have been, unfortunately, and her state of mind wasn’t helped by the ride from the church to Westfrey. Now, she was in a carriage alone with the Duke—her husband—and he still wasn’t looking at her. Lydia longed to ask him to, to ask him what he thought of her gown, but she felt too anxious to say anything at all to him. It was too difficult to break the silence he had imposed between them.
And then, they were at the ball.
Margaret captured Lydia almost at once. “You did well at the wedding ceremony,” she told her. “You looked beautiful. You still do. Everyone is talking about it—how lovely the new Duchess is. It’s exactly what we would have wanted.”
Lydia nodded, grateful to have Margaret’s approval—grateful, in fact, just to have someone speaking to her at all. “I’m so pleased you like the way the gown looks,” she said, and she reached up to touch the necklace the two of them had chosen together. “Thank you again for this. It really does go very well with the gown.”
“You’re a vision,” Margaret assured her. “And you haven’t put a foot wrong yet.”
