Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Clementina did her best not to laugh. “They have all lost their wits.”
I was now grateful Mama had told me yesterday, for I feared if she had not, I too would have been insensible.
“Lady Hathor”—the Dowager Lady Covington said my name incorrectly, as always—“why do you not go check on your mother.” She had big green eyes and a birthmark on the side of her lip, her skin a pale white, which made the darkness of her hair stand out even more strikingly. Her daughter Lady Mary was nearly her twin, despite being a twin already, while her second daughter, Lady Emma, was rather plain-looking, with red blemished skin she tried to hide with thick white powder. If anyone would strike first at the chance to marry her daughter to a prince, it would be her.
“Of course, your ladyship, I’ll go find her now. Though once again, my name is pronounced Ha-ther,” I replied with a smile, curtsying to her before moving to the front doors.
Just as I was about to walk out, the doors opened, and there alongside my mother was a man who stood much taller than her, dressed in a dark blue overcoat, tan-colored breeches, and high dark boots. His dark brown hair was cut short, but curly at the top, his jaw clean shaven, chiseled as though it were carved by the Greeks, his eyes the brightest blue I had ever seen and his skin white as polished stone. It was an unforgettable, undeniably handsome face…. that I’d already seen.
This wretched man had stood before me once before.
“What in heaven’s name are you doing here?” I whispered, shocked that such a man was allowed in my home.
“Hathor!” My mother shot me the sternest of looks and I did not understand why. She should have been throwing salt to ban him from our doorstep.
“Mama, this man is—”
“Prince Wilhelm,” my mother interrupted me loudly, coming to take my arm as I stared in horror. “May I introduce my daughter Lady Hathor Du Bell.”
An evil grin spread across his face that sent a chill down my spine, and just like that, all the world stopped along with my heart.
“It is a pleasure, my lady.” He spoke gently, outstretching his hand for mine, though I could see laughter behind his eyes.
I did not want to take his hand or speak; I wished nothing more than to hide away in my room lamenting how foolish I was to get my hopes up.
I did the only thing I could in such a horrid situation. I closed my eyes and forced myself to crumble to the floor, pretending to faint. However, instead of the ground or my mother’s soft arms, I felt the hard embrace of a man who smelled like apples and rosewood.
“Such antics might afford you a few moments, but know I shall be here all week,” he whispered to mock me, despite how still and tightly closed my eyes were.
Start the rapture immediately, for the devil has escaped hell!
4
Wilhelm
One Month Ago
“Marry me.” The horror of those two words was so deep-seated that I could not help but stiffen upon hearing them. They were more unbearable than being told “I love you”…but only slightly. “There is no need for you to become so rigid, I am merely joking.”
It was only then that I was able to turn back to see Lady Vivienne Gallagher, giggling from her place upon the grass, picking the white petals off the daisy in her hands.
“It was a poor joke, Vivi,” I said, hoping it truly was said in jest.
“It’s much funnier than the thought of you marrying a Du Bell,” she replied, amused. I wished to groan again at that word, marrying.
“I am not marrying a Du Bell, or anyone for that matter. I do not know how many times I must say so before someone actually listens.” It felt as if I were screaming toward the sky to no avail. Was the idea that I wished to remain free of any such constraints so preposterous?
“If your aunt has her way, and she always has her way, you will be married before the end of summer. And it will most likely be a Du Bell because she is very keen on that family,” she said.
“I care not,” I replied, lifting my jacket from where I had tossed it in the heat of the moment. “Ahh, I do not understand what makes her favor them so, from what I heard about the girl in question, I believe her name was…Heather? No, it was much more complicated…Hether…oh whatever, the girl is a crude and vulgar title hunter.”
“Who told you that?” She laughed outright, rising from her place on the grass. She tossed her dead flower to the ground before walking over to me. “And her name is Lady Hathor.”