The Perfect Duchess by Jen YatesNZ

Author:Jen YatesNZ [YatesNZ, Jen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1517592739
Publisher: Gyneva Books
Published: 2017-02-15T05:00:00+00:00

…

There was a painful lump lodged in her chest, somewhere above the region of her heart. Breathing was difficult; eating would be nigh impossible. Dom had seated her to his left and Mama to his right and ordered Broughton to change the settings accordingly.

Proximity didn’t help. He’d apologized a second time once they were seated and indicated the delay hadn’t been of his making, had even caused him some serious annoyance. But though she knew every word the Duchess uttered was spoken with malicious intent, she couldn’t totally refute the grain of truth on which those words were based. That Dom was marrying her because she’d make him an admirable Duchess; because it was time he married and produced an heir; because Jassie was married and he could no longer hope.

He wasn’t likely to make any life changes for her. Nor was he offering his heart. The Duchess’s vicious suggestions had found their mark. For the truth was, if he could desire her without love, he could desire others in the same way. It was quite possible, even probable, he’d abandon her bed once she’d provided the required heir.

Notwithstanding the years of practice at projecting a coolly regal disposition, she knew she couldn’t even pretend to be unmoved should she find him with another.

In two more days he’d be her husband and she’d have all she’d ever wanted—almost. Then she understood the composition of the anguished mass in her chest.

Fear.

Fear she couldn’t go through with this marriage; fear of the scandal it would cause if she didn’t; fear of Augusta’s pain and fury. Above all, she feared Dom’s reaction to the imperfection of his ‘perfect duchess’.

But all these were nothing against the pain she’d suffer by sentencing herself to a lifetime without Dom at her side.

The culmination of the dream was so close, the fear of losing it beyond agony.

‘You’re not eating, Sheri,’ Augusta said.

In truth, none of them were.

‘I can’t,’ Sheri muttered, past even making pretense.

‘Well, nor can I,’ Augusta said, abruptly pushing herself away from the table. Broughton immediately stepped forward to assist her. ‘I’ll take tea in my room if you’d order it, Broughton.’

‘Certainly, my Lady.’

Instinctively Sheri rose also.

Recalled from some dark, inner retreat by their movement, Dom came quickly to his feet.

‘I’m sorry, Aunt Gussy—,’ he began again, but she waved an elegant hand at him.

‘Oh, sit down, Dominic. You too, Sheri! A cup of tea will put me to rights. Broughton will see me upstairs. You two have scarcely spoken a whole sentence to one another—and you’re to be married in two days hence!’

Without another glance at either of them she swept out of the room ahead of the butler, leaving them staring awkwardly after her.

‘Have you finished, Sher?’

Dom’s rich, masculine voice acted like a rasp across her nerves. She longed to sink against his chest and allow those deeply caressing tones to soothe, arouse, take away every last one of her fears. But hard in the wake of that thought came the greatest fear of all, that in surrendering her body to him she’d also be making him a gift of her soul.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.