Historical Hearts Romance Collection

by Sophia Wilson

  “Oh what does she know?” he argued, all fired up yet again, “she is only a child and she cannot decipher from what is right and what is wrong.”

  Antonia had started to grow tired of her brother’s meddlesome ways and she spoke up in her defense, “With all due respect, brother, this is my decision and you have no right to pipe in with your unwanted opinion. Mother said so,” she said and there was a feeling of accomplishment as she felt him shut up, at a loss of words to say in reply.

  But, Antonia had to admit, she had another reason for agreeing rather than just making her brother be quiet. The reason was one of her best kept secrets but she felt she could finally admit it to herself now.

  In reality, Antonia could not believe her luck. Even though this had only been her father’s idea for less than a few days, it had been one of her most consistent fantasies for years. As a child, she had seen the Duke and thought of him as very handsome, along with the approval of her friends. They had never actually spoken to each other before but Antonia had harbored secret feelings for the Duke for years. And the fact that they might just come into completion was more than a dream come true for Antonia.

  In fact, this was not the only secret she had regarding the Duke. There was one that she was not sure that even her own reflection knew – that is how tightly she had kept it wound to her.

  It had been a few years ago when Antonia had just turned fifteen years of age. She had recently developed her crush on the Duke and had figured out his hunting habits. Foolishly, she fantasized about meeting him “on accident” in the woods whilst he was hunting and then proceed for him to fall madly in love with her.

  But of course, that was not what happened. On one occasion where she had followed the Duke, she heard a series of loud voices and accusations being thrown around between two people as though in an argument. Quickly, Antonia had gone and hid behind the nearest tree so as to be away from the aggressors but as they approached nearer, Antonia realized that the people were no other than the Duke himself and his father.

  Antonia had no idea that the relationship between the Duke and his father was strained but as she saw both of them argue that day, there was no denying it. She tried to shrink herself so that they would not see her but a piercing gunshot in the air brought her to the ground shaking.

  Except that it was not pointed at her. The noise came from where the Duke and his father were.

  With horror, Antonia realized that the Duke’s father had fallen to the ground motionless and the Duke had the gun in his hands. Antonia had not spoken for days after that. When the official news came out, the story was that the Duke’s father was killed in a hunting accident.

  Of course, no one ever figured out what really happened but Antonia knew. But it was a secret she would never admit aloud, biased by her feelings for the Duke, she still saw him as justified. She knew there was more to the story than what meets the eye – but she knew better than to tell anyone what she witnessed because it would just mean trouble for the Duke and that was the last thing Antonia wanted.

  That was four years ago and still, both her feelings for the Duke and her memories from that day remained as strong as they were that day.

  “That is splendid, my dear,” Oswald said, visibly pleased by her decision.

  -----

  The day of the Duke’s visit to the Lincolnshire estate rolled on quickly enough. Antonia had spent the entire afternoon bent out over her vanity, scrutinizing her every feature in an attempt to make it without flaw.

  “Can you braid my hair again, Elizabeth?” she asked her friend, who had come over especially to help out for the occasion. “I feel like it got ruffled up and I need to appear at my best,” she explained but Elizabeth was already up shaking her head and getting to work on her hair.

  “I have dreamt of this moment for so long,” Antonia gushed admitting to her friend, “I am so excited.”

  “I can see that, and do not worry love, he will absolutely adore you. After all, what is there not to adore?” her friend encouraged back.

  “You really believe so?” Antonia asked as she gazed at her reflection in the mirror.

  “Absolutely!” she gushed, “though do not forget about your friends once you are married, though.”

  “Do not even joke about such a thing!” Antonia scolded her back immediately.

  “I am only joking, Antonia,” Elizabeth said with a little laugh, “but imagine this! Wife of the Duke! He will have you swimming in wealth and luxury,” she continued with what seemed like a dreamy sigh at the end of the sentence.

  But Antonia had pursed her lips and was already shaking her head, “You know me Elizabeth,” she started, “I do not care about the money that much. Monetary freedom is only just a small facet of why I want to marry the Duke – a small and insignificant facet. The real reason is only one – much simpler and pure. I only want the Duke’s love.”

  “Oh Antonia, you are such a romantic at heart,” Elizabeth told her.

  “Of course,” Antonia sighed, “I believe there is no other way for me to be. I believe in love and I cannot wait for the Duke to get to know me,” a small blush had crept up her cheeks at the words.

  “Oh how I hope you have a long and happy married life.”

  “I wonder what he will be like,” Antonia said biting down on her lip, “I wonder what his great passions are and how he acts when no one is around,” she said, her mind seeming to have left the physical realm and escaping into a place where dreams resided.

  “Oh love,” Elizabeth said, lovingly bringing her hands up to rest upon Antonia’s shoulder, “I should say there is no hurry in the world because you have the rest of your life to figure that out.”

  Antonia started blushing furiously, “Oh! Can we do my hair again; I think it got ruffled up.”

  -----

  A few hours later, Oswald paced the sitting area floor, every now and then nervously glancing at the front door.

  “Where is he? He was expected to be here around an hour ago and there is still no sign,” he expressed his concern over to his wife, who leisurely sat on the sofa observing her husband pace around the room.

  “I am sure he will be here any moment, dear,” she assured him in that calming voice of hers, “you need not to get yourself so knotted up over it.”

  “Oh but it is not easy,” he said, “Is Antonia ready?” he asked urgently.

  “Of course – she and Elizabeth have been locked up in that room since morning. But even so, I am sure our daughter would have looked lovely regardless,” Jane said.

  But before Oswald could formulate a reply, there was the sound of a carriage stopping outside their house. Oswald bolted towards the door immediately.

  “This must be him -,” he said as he made his sprint, “you go get the children ready and I will bring him in.”

  Jane nodded but she knew Bennett had excused himself to go out with a friend of his for the day, and Antonia was not to meet the Duke until he had made his way inside and officially had a word with the Arborn heads first. So she remained seated exactly where she was.

  The footsteps at the door grew gradually louder and then Oswald was walking with none other than the Duke himself – he had decided to come alone.

  “Good day, Your Grace,” Jane greeted him on entrance.

  He gave her a nod and followed Oswald to his chair on the sofa.

  There was a little small talk and an awkward exchange between the three on the issue of the land merger as dowry and then the Duke decided that he had had enough and that it was time to get right down to business.

  “All is well but now, I must say that I am getting truly bored of this conversation – money has never been an issue for me and quite frankly, I find it dreary to discuss the lack of it for more than a brief moment,” he said curtly, “Now – if you do not mind, I would like to meet the girl,” he demanded.

  “Of course,” Oswald said at once, “I will call her right down. Jane – would you please?” he requested his w
ife.

  “No, no, there is no need for that,” the Duke said, “I would much prefer if I could go on up to meet her in privacy myself.”

  Oswald and Jane exchanged a glance between each other but Jane got up still and led him to where Antonia was situated.

  “Antonia dear,” she announced with a knock and a peer of the head from the door to the room where Antonia was, “the Duke is here to see you.”

  “I will be right down, Mother,” she said, feeling a tumble of butterflies in her stomach now as the moment had arrived. She shot Elizabeth a look and she in return squeezed her hand in encouragement.

  “No need for that, dear,” Jane said to her through the door, “he actually came up all the way to meet you himself.”

  Antonia shot Elizabeth a horrified look and then gulped. Elizabeth took this as her sign to leave and promptly left the room.

  The Duke walked in and without even making an effort to greet her went and sat straight on the chair that Antonia had just emptied up.

  Antonia stared at him for a few moments, thinking of what to say and then she noticed that both Elizabeth and her mother had abandoned her to be alone with him. Silence hung in the air between them – it was as though Antonia did not know what to say and the Duke looked as though he had no interest in making any conversation with her.

  “Where did mother go?” Antonia finally asked, unable to take another moment of the dreaded silence that had fallen between them on their first official meeting.

  “I sent her away back to your father,” the Duke said, “I thought it would allow us some privacy.”

  “Of course, yes, Duke,” she said suddenly feeling foolish.

  “You need not call me Duke,” he told her, “I find the title a little overused and unpleasant. A simple Your Grace would suffice I should think,” he said and Antonia felt her face fall.

  She had expected him to say that she could just call him by his name. Still, she brushed it off and began to think of a suitable topic that would get the conversation rolling between the two of them.

  “We were expecting you a little sooner today – Father was quite worried actually,” she started, “was your trip here fine? I was worried that something may have happened,” she said warmly.

  “Of course not. I am a busy man, after all. It is only natural that I was late,” he said dismissively and then to Antonia’s horror pulled out an unlit cigar from the pocket of his suit.

  “Do you mind?” he asked her, whilst waving an unlit cigar in the air.

  Antonia controlled her expressions from contorting into one of offense – she did not see why he had to smoke in front of her as not only was it considered to be of bad manner but also bad for the health of both her and the Duke.

  But Antonia did not voice her protest and instead decided to lend him a hand in lighting up the cigar as well, “You know, my father used to smoke as well,” she said slowly as she lit up his cigar for him, “but not for long as my mother made him quit soon after I was born. She said it was a terrible habit to have.”

  “Perhaps your father can quit but I love this far too much to ever even consider,” he said, “Let us hope you are not like your mother in that regard.”

  Antonia remained quiet, unsure what to say next as she fidgeted with her hands in her lap. “Is there anything you would like to ask me?” she said.

  The Duke had gotten that vacant look of boredom on his face again and maintaining that, he gave Antonia a once over with his eyes as if assessing her to measure her against some predetermined yardstick of beauty in his mind.

  “Not entirely,” he said, “I actually only came here for some peace of mind and to smoke a cigar. Do you want one?”

  Antonia was appalled – here she had just told him passively about her family’s distaste of cigar and then the very next moment, he had tried to offer her one! Clearly, this was not turning out to be the same perfect meeting that Antonia had imagined having.

  “Of course not,” she said promptly whilst shaking her head.

  “Fine – it is your choice.”

  The rest of their time passed in awkward silence as Antonia found herself reeling at the sheer distant coldness he was showcasing. She had imagined him to be such a soft and sentimental person that seeing him now was almost like waking up from a good dream only to realize it was just all inside your head.

  Antonia did not know how long they sat there in silence as he smoked and she stole glances at the mirror, only to think that all of her efforts were in vain as he was not even sparing more than a second glance at her even though they were both inside the same room with no one else there. But finally, Oswald came knocking on the door and the Duke left with him.

  Antonia just stared as the wall in front of her as she watched his retreating figure – her own demeanor shrinking and the growing need inside of her to bury herself ten feet under growing more and more intense. She did not know how long she had spent like that but then she heard her mother’s voice calling her downstairs.

  Begrudgingly, she made her way to her parents and realized almost with a wave of relief that the Duke had now left.

  “Antonia, dear,” her father said to her looking like he was in an awfully good mood, “come sit with us and let us discuss everything.”

  But Antonia was not even sure what to discuss – the Duke and her had barely exchanged more than two dozen words together!

  Just at that moment, Bennett was seen arriving at the house. With his hat in his hand, he greeted the family with a sour expression taped across his features.

  “I see he finally came here then, I saw his carriage on my way back here,” Bennett said, still noticeably unhappy with the reunion but before when Antonia was getting displeased by his antics, now she almost found herself resonating with them.

  “Do not be so negative again, son,” his father told him, “For today is a great day! The Duke has agreed to marry Antonia!” he announced happily and both Bennett’s and Antonia’s faces fell.

  Oswald, however, only seemed to notice one. “Now, Bennett, before you start criticizing again, remember how important this is for our family’s future with the land merger and everything – and also Antonia is very happy with this.”

  All three pairs of eyes panned straight to Antonia and she felt the need to be sick all of a sudden. Still, looking at the hopeful and happy faces of her parents, she did not know how to express her displeasure to them. So, instead, she just smiled and nodded.

  But the truth was, that upon meeting the Duke and hearing him speak to her for the first time had been an eye opening experience. She felt as though all her illusions about him had just shattered and he was not the person she had always thought he would be – that Duke was more of a crafted figment of Antonia’s imagination than a reality. Suddenly, the urge to marry him started to look like a distant memory, erased and no longer in existence.

  But Antonia knew it was too late to back out now- she saw the happiness this betrothal brought to her parents.

  “We have even decided on a wedding date,” it was Jane who spoke now, “the wedding is in two weeks and the Duke will pay our land note before doing so,” Jane announced delightedly as though a large burden of payment had been just taken off their shoulders.

  “This is just preposterous,” Bennett exclaimed getting to his feet, “I am leaving this instant. I cannot believe you are letting them execute this, Antonia!” and then he was out the door.

  -----

  The reasons for Bennett’s anger were not so much that he was vested in the best interests for his sister but indeed, they were of a more selfish variety. And right now, as he headed out of his home, he went to meet that precise person who shared the same reason for this anger.

  Bennett finally found his way inside a saloon. As he waited in his chair for his visitor to arrive, he threw his head in his hands and wondered what the consequences would be if his sister were to marry the Duke – which was now looking like a possibility that could not be avoided.
<
br />   “Bennett,” it was the voice of Ian Bedford as the latter pulled out a chair and took a seat next to Bennett.

  “There is no way, Ian. I have tried to do my best to disagree but they just do not listen,” Bennett told him, seeming a little guilty at the fact that he could not stop this from happening. “The Duke will pay the land note for them.”

  Ian frowned, “This was a really unexpected turn of events. I did not even dream that this would happen when he came up with the initial plan of taking over the Lincolnshire estate.”

  “Of course, how could we have?” Bennett remarked. “It turns out my father is a much smarter man than what we both gave him credit for.”

  The truth was, the local magistrate and Bennett were in cahoots all along. They had concocted a plan for the Arborn’s to relinquish control of the Lincolnshire estate and then take out the land and execute their own personal plans with it to generate profit.

  But never in their wildest dreams did they imagine that suddenly, Antonia would be married off to a much wealthier man and all their plans would turn to rubble.

  Ian stretched out his arms in front of him, “There has to be a way. We have come too far for this little hurdle to stop us from executing our original plan,” he said in frustration. “I was so sure I had tasted victory when I saw that look of resignation in Oswald’s eyes that day.”

  Bennett remained quiet for a moment. “Actually there is a way - I have been thinking about it,” he announced slowly and suddenly had Ian’s entire attention.

  “Do speak at once!” the magistrate urged the Arborn son to vocalize his idea immediately.

  “Well – I know there is no way we can stop this marriage from happening now so we must come up with a separate plan all together,” he started, “However, I was wondering if it could be possible for us to pay the rest of the land payment and take over the estate.”

  “While that is not a bad idea,” Ian said, his mind suddenly reeling and thinking about the law that could make this possible, “Where will we generate the money from?”

  “I could, of course, always ask my sister,” Bennett said. “Now that she is marrying into royalty, she will be swimming in wealth.”