“You already did enough damage. The best thing you can do is sit silently and let everything happen. I cannot bear to hear you speak. At least not yet.”
Juliet nodded and reclined further into her seat.
“It is a good thing your mother is not here to witness this. The shame would've killed her faster than the fever.”
Tears formed behind Juliet's eyes. She reached for a handkerchief and dabbed her face with it. She couldn't bear to cry.
Not now. Not anymore.
Time flew by faster than Juliet wanted, and soon, they arrived at the chapel. She thought of floating through the remainder of the day. If she could dismember her soul from her body and just move through the wedding like a ghost, perhaps the shame wouldn't be so severe.
She climbed down the carriage and took in the chapel's entrance. This was really happening. At first, it had felt like a dream. One she was bound to wake up from anytime soon. But now that she stood before her wedding venue, reality kicked in even stronger.
She was getting married.
To a total stranger.
In the middle of her biggest scandal yet.
Her father stretched out his arm. Juliet stared at it for a while.
“Well?” Peter asked, his voice laced with impatience.
Juliet sighed and slowly slipped her hand into his arm. They began their walk towards the entrance.
***
Only one word rang true in the back of Weston's mind as he watched his bride's father bring her down the aisle with a deathly grip.
Eliza.
Was he betraying her by following through with this disaster of a wedding? Did this mean he was going to forget all about her? Was she looking down at him at this moment, shaking her head at the kerfuffle he managed to get himself into?
Thoughts and more thoughts swam through his head as he fixed his eyes on Juliet.
Why was her dress embroidered with so many roses?
When she got close enough to him, he gave her an understanding nod. She did the same thing. The vicar descended from the pulpit and started to read through the rules of marriage. A lion might as well have been roaring into Weston's ear because he paid no attention. Somehow, the vicar's words only solidified the trouble he had put himself into.
This was real. He was getting married. He stared at Juliet, and just as he suspected, she wasn't paying attention either. Her eyes were fixed on a part of the stained glass windows at the far corner of the chapel. Weston's eyes followed hers. She was watching a spider crawl across the window.
Juliet's eyes remained fixed on the window. It was the only thing she could do to stop tears from falling off her face again. The vicar continued to drone on about the sanctity of their marriage and how Weston's and her fate were now intertwined forever. She must have stared at the spider for a bit too long.
“Lady Juliet?” The vicar's words brought her back to the present.
“What?” She asked, her voice soft.
“Do you take Lord Weston Edgeworth of the Estfield Manor as your lawful husband?”
She could say no. She could rip the veil off her face and run down the aisle to the chapel doors. She could jump into the carriage and ride to nowhere in particular. Perhaps she would go east. She would keep riding and riding until the distance between London and her took months. She would disappear and live the rest of her days as an unknown in a foreign land. She could run free. Her eyes shifted to her father, who stood in a corner, a stony expression on his face.
She could only dream.
“I do.” She finally said.
The ring slipped right onto her finger with ease. Weston had made sure to be as gentle as he could. Juliet did the same thing, and just like that, she stopped being Lady Juliet, an individual.
She was now the Marchioness of Estfield—a completely different person.
