Page 49 of A Duke in Her Fate
“Why?”
He blinked. “Why what?”
“Why would you still marry me?”
The question confounded Ronan. Frowning, he said, “Because it’s part of the plan. You would do well as a duchess.”
She tilted her head, causing a loose curl to drape neatly against her neck. His breath caught as he resisted the urge to touch it. How soft was her hair? Her skin? “Do you really think so?”
Swallowing, he nodded. “You are experienced in managing a house along with your family. Your blood is bluer than mine, even if you’re Scottish. It’s clear that you could use my name. So could your family. But also,” he went on when she opened her mouth to protest, “You present yourself well in London and in private. You will have everything you could want and more. The only requirement I will enforce is that you must act a mother to my boy.”
“That is it?”
“You must be absolutely certain.”
Isla stared at him for a long time with the tiniest furrow in her brow and a slight pout at her lips. He could sense the churnings of her mind fluttering to and fro. Not all she said had made hereager or glad, he could tell, but also she couldn’t deny the truth of any of his words.
If we are to commit ourselves to such a union, I will be honest. She deserves that as much as I do.
“Do you know,” she said while suddenly turning back toward the maze, “that is where I proclaimed I was marrying you?”
Caught by surprise at the sudden question, he glanced at the maze. There was Lacey running about with Margaret chasing her. The two young women were laughing, the parasols tossed aside. A few people watched in annoyance or amusement. They looked happy. As for Isla…
Ronan couldn’t quite tell.
“Is it?” he managed. His throat suddenly felt dry.
“It is. I still don’t know what compelled me to say it. Lacey would say it was the faeries. Margaret would say it was destiny. My mother… Well, if she ever learned the truth, she would only say it had been a lie.” Isla turned back to face him. “It doesn’t need to be a lie.”
His heart skipped a beat. “No, it doesn’t.”
“You need a mother for your child.” The words fell awkward off her tongue. She shifted slightly with a strained smile. A blushbegan to bloom on her cheeks. “Is that all? Do you wish for… for other children?”
“No. I don’t seek romance. That life is beyond me. All I need is a partnership. Oliver will be the heir and that is more than satisfactory for me,” Ronan said.
This had been his plan for two years now, and yet something about this suddenly felt strange. Had he not rehearsed these words a dozen times? How could they feel so foreign, so clumsy on his tongue?
“Very well.”
Ronan’s brain stalled. “What?”
“I am saying yes,” Isla told him. She twirled her parasol and gazed up at him with what could only be described as an anxious smile. “I shall marry you, Ronan.”
CHAPTER 18
All of this simply felt inevitable.
Isla sat on the bench in the garden, trying to breathe. Was this not bound to happen? Since she had announced she was marrying the Duke of Westvale, it only made sense that an actual wedding was meant to take place.
And yet…
She glanced down at her hands in her lap and prayed for them to stop shaking. Once upon a time, she thought she had known everything. But she was growing up in the world and was finally realizing how little she knew. And today, well, she felt quite foolish.
What if this is all a mistake? I don’t know what I’m doing, not really. Whatever confidence the duke has in me must be severely misplaced. I’m not a mother and I’m not a duchess. I don’t know how to be either of those.
“There is the bride!”
Jumping, Isla grabbed her skirts before realizing it was just her sister. She exhaled and put a hand over her heart, sitting back down.
