An Earl for the desperate bride (Regency Romance) (Regency Tales Book 1) by Regina Darcy

Author:Regina Darcy [Darcy, Regina]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Clean and Wholesome Romance
Published: 2016-06-05T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

Someone was screaming at her, yelling her name as if she had done something wrong, but Eliza was too weary to open her eyes. The voice was very close; she could feel the presence of someone.

“You wicked girl! How dare you run away?”

That voice. It was Lord Sevile. She opened her eyes to see him leaning over her. She was in bed, in her room at Savile House.

“I didn’t run away,” she said faintly. She realized, despite her weakened state, that she had to protect Stephen. Lord Savile must never guess that she had gone in search of a stable hand. “I went for a walk. I lost my way in the rain—”

Her head jerked back from the force of Lord Sevile’s hand striking her face. At the foot of the bed, Eliza saw Mrs. Clemens wince as her brother struck his fiancée. “Tomorrow is our wedding day,” he told her through clenched teeth. “You will be my wife and there will be no more of this nonsense. If I need to beat you daily to make sure that you behave yourself, do not think that I will hesitate. You will fear me, but you will obey me. Do you understand me?”

She didn’t answer.

“Do you understand me?” he screamed.

She nodded. She understood. All was lost. How had she ended up back here? Had the stable hands sent for Lord Sevile? Had they alerted her mother and had her mother returned her to Lord Sevile? He must have fetched her with haste, doubtless intent on avoiding scandal. Hence the wedding date set for tomorrow, when she would be legally his wife and completely under his authority.

They left her, Lord Savile and his sister, although Mrs. Clemens did look back anxiously before closing the door. Eliza turned her head and wept, her tears soaking her pillow. She had no one. When the morning came, she would be abandoned to marriage.

Eliza sat up and went to the window. The night-time sky had cleared after expelling the rains that had fallen with such relentless ferocity as she tried to find Stephen. Stephen was gone and with her all her hopes. She left the window open; if the night air were truly harmful, then she prayed that it would strike her quickly. She prayed that death would come before the morning. If God had not abandoned her, if he truly was present in London as well as in the country, then he should answer her prayer.

She slept. She was aware of Lisette coming into her room with a tray, urging her to drink the broth that Mrs. Clemens had ordered for her. Eliza remained silent, her eyes closed.

“You must eat,” Lisette said, concern audible in her voice.

“You must be strong for your wedding.”

But Eliza continued to feign sleep and finally Lisette left.

She was alone. She was relieved to be alone. There was no one she could trust, no one she could count on. Tomorrow she would be Lady Sevile, the possession of her husband, who would inflict unbearable intimacies upon her, and violence as well.

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