Ruined by the Marquess: A Forced Marriage Historical Romance (Arranged Marriage Historical Romance Traditional Regency Romance) (Alpha Male Matchmaking Romance Historical Victorian Romance)
Ruined by the Marquess
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Paige Parker
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William Stanley is called back from the military when his elder brother and the future Marquess of Devonshire perishes in a fatal carriage accident. Now he is expected to accept the title and the duties that come along with it.
Katherine is being forced to marry an ageing Duke by her own father who views the match as an end to secure a valuable political ally. Katherine absolutely loathes the idea of marriage, having seen first-hand how torturous it could be for some women, especially docile ones like her mother. She doesn’t want to suffer the same fate but when her father threatens to harm her mother, she is left with little choice but to agree to his sickening order.
What happens when William decides to rescue Katherine, his little cousin’s best friend whom he’d never paid much attention to until now? Katherine has had a silly crush on William since childhood but now that he’s come back from the Army looking better than ever, will she be able to control her traitorous feelings?
William re-read the letter with trembling hands. Surely, there had been some mistake! But the family emblem encrusted on the letter made it more than clear that the piece of paper was indeed from his distressed father.
Griffin, his elder brother, best friend and confidante was no more! William felt bile rise in his throat. Three years in the Army and four gruesome battles hadn’t affected him so much as this bit of news. He felt as if all the energy had been drained from his body, all the air sucked from his lungs.
“Son, please come back as soon as possible. Your mother and the estate need you.”
His imposing father had never before used such pleading tone with him. Being the younger son and invariably the more mischievous one, he was used to his father’s disapproving glares and reprimands. But deep inside, he knew that the old man loved him just as much as he loved Griffin. And though hadn’t mentioned it in his letter, William knew that
he
needed him at the moment too!
William cast the letter aside and began preparations for the journey to his estate in Devonshire. He had a long journey ahead of him.
*******************************
One Year Later
London, 1889
“Father, you know very well that I do not wish to marry,” Katherine hoped with all her might that her father understood her feelings, though she knew in her heart that it was next to impossible. Her sorry excuse for a father only concerned himself with people and things that were advantageous to him and his standing in the society.
“Have you lost your mind young lady?” he thundered. “You are already one and twenty and before long, you’d be considered unsuitable for marriage.”
“But that is what I want! I want to die an old maid…”
“I won’t hear any more of your nonsense Katherine. I’ve already made it clear to you that Lord Botsworth is an important member of the Parliament and a relation with him would enhance our status, not to mention the favorable political alliance and votes that’d come our way. You have a duty towards this family and I’ll see to it that you don’t forget that,” he said with a menacing look in his eyes. Katherine shuddered a little but she refused to bow down to his ridiculous demands. She wasn’t her mother and she had to make that amply clear to Lord Laughton.
“I will not marry a person just because he has a great political standing! If at all I decide to marry some day, it will be for love.” Katherine had no idea where she got the guts to say that aloud.
“Love?” Lord Laughton snapped. “Are you living in some sort of a fairytale, you foolish girl? Marriage is a way of strengthening bonds between allies, a means to an end. Your mother and I married for the same reason and so shall you! Love does not feature in more than half the marriages in all of England.”
Katherine wanted to tell her father that his marriage was the exact reason why she didn’t want to marry! She’d seen her mother suffer at his hands on more occasions than she could count. She’d seen her humiliated, depressed. She’d always been an easy target for her father to take out all his frustrations and anger. Had it not been for her, she was sure that her mother would’ve long committed suicide!
“I have made my stand very clear father. I will not marry Lord Botsworth or any other man for that matter,” she stated with as much courage as she could muster.
Lord Laughton looked at her with disdain reflecting clearly in his eyes.
“I see that you are becoming just like that idiotic mother of yours. I will have to think of a way to keep you away from her worthless company.” Suddenly his eyes lit up with a dangerous gleam. “In fact, I am thinking of packing her away to our erstwhile holiday home in Sussex. As it is, I don’t need her in my house anymore now that she’s sick and old and who is to know if she were to accidentally fall off the stairs and die a premature death there in Sussex! That’ll relieve her of the pain and trauma that she’s presently going through……”
“Father! You’ll do no such thing!” she almost shouted, completely horrified at what her father was suggesting.
“Nobody shouts at the Earl of Norfolk! It would do you good to remember that next time young lady. And I do not take orders from anyone, do you hear me?” he thundered, his nostrils flaring. “You do as I say or your dear mother shall have to pay the price of your foolish actions!”
Katherine wanted to shout back but she knew better than to argue with him at that time. He was about to burst with anger and she was in no mood to face his wrath any longer. She merely nodded and almost ran out of the suffocating room to her own chamber. Tears of helplessness and frustration burned at the back of her eyes but she managed to control them till she was in the safe confines of her room.
Once inside, she let herself go and cried hard for her future that was being mercilessly ruined by her own father. Will she have to undergo the same fate as her mother? Will she also die an untimely death craving for her husband’s love and understanding? Katherine wished she knew the answers to these questions! Exhausted after crying for too long, Katherine finally fell into a dreamless slumber.
William found himself in another of those meaningless balls where ambitious mothers strutted along with their simpleminded, vacuous daughters in the hope of ensnaring titled husbands for them. Their pretentious smiles and fake laughter sickened him. But he had to endure all the trauma tonight. After all, he needed a Marchioness for himself as soon as possible. His father was on his death bed and his last wish was to see him married.
Blast the old man for landing him in such a soup, William thought to himself. After scores of parties and balls that he’d attended in the last one month or so, he was not even an inch closer to finding his bride. Of course there was no dearth of beautiful ladies, both a little mature and debutantes, but none of them had managed to pique his curiosity till now. He’d even called upon some of them but after a few outings, he’d found them lacking in basic intelligence that one would expect in a future life partner. Dear Lord, did no woman exist in all of England who was beautiful
and
intelligent?
Lost in his own thoughts, William didn’t realize when his dear cousin Samantha came up to him to greet him.
“William, how have you been?” she chirped.
“Oh Samantha! I have been very well, thank you. It is such a pleasure to see you tonight and I must say you look positively charming.” William was more than happy to meet Samantha after so many years. Samantha, her elder brother Thomas, Griffin and William had been inseparable as kids. The memories of the holidays that they usually spent at their huge townhouse in Sussex were still afresh in his mind.
“Why thank you, dear cousin. You look quite dashing yourself,” she smiled brilliantly at him.
“Where is Thomas? When did you arrive in London?”
“We arrived just yesterday. As for Thomas, he must be around somewhere, trying to attract the attention of some unsuspecting young lady!” she laughed.
“Sammy, I need to talk to you….. Oh! I didn’t realize you were occupied. Please accept my apologies my lord….”
William swore he hadn’t seen a more beautiful sight. The woman before his eyes was wearing a pale blue gown that was cut low at the neck revealing quite a good portion of her full bosom. Her dark auburn hair was gathered in a delicate arrangement in front, with locks of curls spilling down her back. Her creamy skin was just flawless and her large brown eyes and pert nose made her look astonishingly beautiful. Her lips…..she had the most kissable lips he’d ever seen.
“Kat, you remember William, don’t you?” Samantha asked the breathtakingly beautiful woman. Kat? Was this gorgeous lady really that scrawny little girl Katherine Laughton who followed him like a puppy around their Sussex townhouse?
Confusion shone in Katherine eyes for a moment before realization dawned.
“What a pleasure to meet you Willi….. I mean Lord Sinclair,” she bowed him a graceful curtsy.
“The pleasure’s all mine Lady Katherine,” he smiled inwardly when a faint blush crept up her creamy cheeks. So she was still unnerved in his presence.
“If I remember correctly, you’d joined the Army, hadn’t you?” she asked. Even her voice sounded like music to his ears! What the hell was wrong with him!
“I was called back last year after Griffin’s death,” he stated solemnly.
“Oh, how could I forget that! I am so sorry for your loss William…uh…I mean Lord Sinclair,” she looked at him with those huge brown eyes and William felt lost for a moment. Why hadn’t he noticed those beautiful eyes eight years ago?
“You can call me William, I don’t mind. After all, that is how you addressed me all those years ago.”
“Ah, but we were mere kids then. A lot has changed in the past few years my lord,” she smiled at him and William’s heart skipped a beat. She looked even more gorgeous when she flashed that mesmerizing smile.
“A lot has changed indeed!” quipped Samantha. “Instead of those little parties by the lake, we are all attending these super boring balls!”
William laughed out loud at that. Samantha really did hate such meaningless extravaganzas much like him.
“What did you want to talk about Kat?” asked Samantha, suddenly reminded of why Katherine had come to her.
“Nothing that can’t wait for a few minutes. Please enjoy your chat with Lord Sinclair….”
“Katherine, here you are! I’ve been looking for you all over the room.” It was Lord James Laughton, Katherine’s father and the Earl of Norfolk. William noticed the sudden change in Katherine’s demeanor as her father came up to her. While she’d been laughing freely a few minutes back, she’d now stiffened her spine and her face had a somber, almost pained expression.
William didn’t know why, but he’d never really liked Lord Laughton. He’d always seemed too….. fickle, too superficial to him. As soon as he noticed William, the Earl nodded in his direction.
“Good to see you William. How’s your father doing these days? It’s been quite a while since we met last.”
“Father’s condition is better now, thank you. I’ll make sure to pass on your good wishes to him.”
The Earl took hold of his daughter’s arm and disappeared into the crowd after excusing himself. William couldn’t help but notice that Katherine wasn’t all too happy to accompany her father wherever he was leading her to.
“She’s gone!” Samantha’s words brought him back. His cousin had a naughty glint in her eyes.
“Who?”
“Come on, William! You were looking at Kat as if she were the only woman in this suffocating party!”
“I must say she has grown up to be quite a stunning woman!” William conceded.
“No doubts about that! And she has so much more to her than just good looks. But alas, the Earl is keen on marrying her off to Lord Botsworth!” Samantha revealed.
“Lord Botsworth! That balding old Duke? He is fit to be her father, for Heaven’s sakes!”
“I know! But he is an important member of the society and Lord Laughton feels that this match would benefit his family
politically
,” his cousin retorted with ill concealed contempt for the man.
“But Katherine…. Why is she agreeing to the match?”
“I have absolutely no clue though I suspect that her father is coercing her to marry Botsworth. As far as I know Katherine, she absolutely loathes the idea of marriage. In fact, she’d herself said that to me in as many words last Season.”
“Hmmm…. It would be a shame if a lady as charming as herself gets married to that lecherous Duke.”
“I know. But there is little I can do to help Kat until she decides to tell me the reason behind her sudden change of heart. Just a few months ago, she wanted to remain a spinster forever and now it seems as if we’d be hearing news of her betrothal any day!”
Just then, Lord Stanning came up to them and bowed before Samantha.
“Shall we have that dance my lady?”
“Oh, of course!” replied Samantha, fluttering her eyelashes at the handsome man. Good Lord! If her least ladylike cousin could manage to enamor a man as intelligent as Lord Stanning, what hope did he have for all the other men at the ball!
Unable to help himself, William moved about the huge ballroom hoping to spot Katherine again. And he did manage to find her eventually.
As he had expected, she stood beside her father, a fake smile firmly planted on her lips as she engaged in small talk with Lord Botsworth. He noticed that the bald patch on Lord Botsworth’s head had widened considerably since the last time he’d seen him and his belly had also grown bigger and rounder. The mere thought of Katherine marrying that old codger made him want to punch something hard. His hands involuntarily balled into fists as he noticed Botsworth’s eyes roaming freely along Katherine’s slender figure. That bastard!
Although William hadn’t seen Katherine for almost eight years, he’d once considered her his friend….. okay not
his
friend but his cousin’s. They’d spent so many evenings playing around their townhouse. Lord Laughton’s and their townhouses were adjacent to each other in Sussex and they’d all enjoyed their vacations together there. He’d never paid too much attention to her at the time, with him being almost four years elder to her but he remembered that she’d always been quite smitten by him. He would often catch her stealing glances his way and she was always more than eager to do his bidding whenever they played hide and seek and other such childish games.
As a child, Katherine had been quite fiery and outspoken. But the woman before him looked so passive and resigned that William really did want to shake some sense into her. What was the reason behind her strange behavior? Why was she putting up this charade when she didn’t ever want to get married? What or
who
had forced her to change her mind?
As much as William wanted to know the answers to all those questions, he knew that he couldn’t ask them directly. He had to find Samantha. Maybe she could help him find some answers.