Deceived & Honoured - The Baron's Vexing Wife (Love's Second Chance #7)(9)
Derek shook his head. “As far as I remember your wife never hated you on sight,” he grumbled, feeling a sense of hopelessness engulf him. “Quite on the contrary, you were both taken with each other from the first moment your eyes met.”
Tristan shrugged, then sighed a bit exasperatedly. “What do you expect, Derek? She was taken aback. After all, she does not know what kind of man Townsend is. No one does. And you didn’t tell her, did you? You didn’t tell her why you came after her?”
Holding his friend’s accusing gaze, Derek straightened his shoulders. “We were discovered before I could.”
“Then you can hardly expect her to be grateful to you for that night’s developments,” Tristan continued, his mind working far too rationally for Derek’s liking. “After all, you know how focused she has always been on becoming at least a countess upon marriage. Naturally, she feels cheated.”
“Thank you,” Derek mumbled, a sarcastic tone to his voice, as he wondered whatever had possessed him to take Tristan into his confidence. “I do appreciate your support.”
“I’m not finished,” Tristan chided. “All I meant to say was that marriage does not always start with great love, but that doesn’t mean it cannot develop over time.”
Rolling his eyes, Derek turned away. “Maybe for you,” he snapped, feeling guilt rise in his chest as he remembered his thoughtless behaviour. “However, what I did forced her hand. She has no choice now but to marry me to protect her reputation.” He exhaled loudly. “I’ve sentenced her to a life by my side. A life as a baroness. A life she never wanted. I’m certain she will hate me for it, and I cannot even hold it against her.”
Stepping forward, his gaze as serious as Derek had ever seen it, Tristan met his eyes. “Listen to me. I know that you see the world differently than I do, but I am telling you now that there is hope. You’re a good man, and in time, she will come to see that she couldn’t have chosen a better husband herself. Have faith.”
Faith? Staring at his friend, Derek could barely keep himself from shaking his head. Faith? No, the world simply did not work like that. Nothing came together on its own. Everything he had achieved, he had worked for and paid for, shaping his world as best as he could, fitting it to his own expectations, his own demands.
This had certainly not been part of his plan. If he ever would have married, Derek could not say in that moment. However, if so, he felt convinced he would have chosen a woman who could relate to the life they would have had, who had similar expectations, who needed no incentive to marry him.
A woman who wanted him.
And even though he knew almost nothing about Lady Madeline, Derek knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that she did not want him.
Had there ever been a couple more ill-matched than them?
If he could cry off without ruining her reputation…and her life, Derek knew he would not hesitate to do so.
And yet, somewhere deep inside a voice whispered that if he did so, he would come to regret it.
For the rest of his life.
***
After spending the morning pacing her bedchamber, unwilling to meet anyone and see the pity in their eyes at her misfortune, Madeline now almost raced downstairs, willing herself not to trip over her own feet. That indeed would have been the crowning moment to the farce that had become her life!
As she approached, the footmen hurried to open the doors, and she rushed into the drawing room without a single thought for decorum. “My dear Elsbeth, how glad I am to see you!” she exclaimed, almost throwing herself into her friend’s arms.
“Oh!” Slightly taken aback, Elsbeth Lancaster, Marchioness of Elmridge, slightly swayed on her feet before she gently wrapped her arms around her friend’s shoulders. “I heard the good news,” she mumbled into Madeline’s hair, “and came to offer my congratulations.” Then she stepped back, and her pale blue eyes searched Madeline’s face. “You don’t look happy,” she observed, a touch of confusion in her voice. “What happened? I was so delighted when I heard you had finally chosen a husband. Admittedly, I felt a bit irked when you didn’t inform me yourself but?”
Madeline rolled her eyes. “Chosen?” she snapped, instantly regretting the harshness of her tone when she saw her friend flinch. “I assure you I did not choose. I would never have chosen…” Groaning, she shook her head, staring at Elsbeth with wide eyes. “I don’t even know his name!”
“What?” Elsbeth’s eyes widened in utter shock.
Madeline snorted. “Isn’t it ironic how after all my careful planning I am now betrothed to a man I don’t even know?”
Grabbing Madeline’s hand, Elsbeth pulled her down onto the settee. “Tell me what happened. I thought you’d finally fallen in love. How can you be betrothed to a man you don’t know?”
“He compromised me!” Madeline almost yelled as her heart hammered in her chest.
For the past few days, she had done her utmost to ignore the unexpected and highly undesirable turn her life had taken. Upon awakening each morning, there had been a moment?utterly too short?when the truth of those recent developments had still been absent from her mind and she had found herself smiling. However, within seconds, reality had come rushing back, and she had groaned into her pillows at the thought of marrying…a no one.