“Adam?” I called out, pulling the blanket around my shoulders to cover myself. There was no response. “Adam?”
I had no idea what time it was, but it couldn’t have been too late in the day. Horrified, I remembered that my parents were going to be coming home at any moment. I scrambled to my feet and gathered up my clothes, putting them on as quickly as possible. I left the blanket and dashed back through the woods, running as fast as my feet could go, until I reached my house. Relief washed over me as I saw there was no carriage out front. I snuck in the back door and up the stairs before any of the servants could see me. I had just changed into a nightgown and climbed into bed when I heard the horses pull up outside.
Instead of going to face my parents, I pretended to sleep. My mother cracked my door open to check on me, but I had turned away from the door and didn’t stir. After a moment she shut the door again and I opened my eyes to stare at the sage damask wallpaper of my bedroom.
What Adam and I had done wasn’t proper, not in the least. My parents would be horrified if they found out. It would probably kill them, even though we all knew that Harry’d had plenty of dalliances with the young women of Weylyn. Perhaps I should feel guilty, but I didn’t. Instead, I felt a rush of joy and excitement mixed with confusion. Where was Adam when I woke up? When would I see him again?
Above all of that, though, was a sort of optimism. No man had ever loved me before, but that hadn’t really mattered because I hadn’t wanted anyone but Adam. I had started to get concerned that I’d become an old maid like my Aunt Cynthia, but Adam had confessed his feelings to me. We’d made love under the moonlight, and sure, we’d been a bit drunk, but that didn’t negate things. He’d told me he loved me.
I would have to wait; it wasn’t proper for the woman to make the first move. Soon enough, Adam would come along and ask my parents to court me, and then we’d get engaged and I’d be married by this time next summer. Of course, the waiting wouldn’t be easy, but surely I wouldn’t be waiting too long.
So I waited.
And he never came, not until the following summer.
I was in my room working on my sampler when I heard the horse and carriage pull up. I set down my needlepoint and crawled across my bed to peer out the window. My parents and Harry were home, so we must have been having a visitor, although I didn’t remember my mother telling me about it.
I pushed the lace curtain aside and peered down to the quiet street below. The carriage door opened and a man stepped out. My heart began to race as I immediately recognized Adam. He was dressed nicely in his suit, his blond hair sticking out of the back of his hat. He thanked the driver and began walking toward the door.
I leapt off the bed. I could feel my pulse pounding through every inch of my body. A knock resounded through the house.
As Mr. Tubbins, our butler, greeted him at the door, I tiptoed out of my room and lingered at the top of the stairs. My view was obstructed by a turn in the staircase, so I couldn’t see them, but their voices floated up the high ceilings to the second floor.
“Hello, Tubbins, are Mr. and Mrs. Ackerman home?” Adam asked.
“They are, my lord. Would you like me to summon them?”
“I would appreciate it if you would.”
“Please, take a seat in the parlor. I’ll be back.”
As Mr. Tubbins started up the stairs, I dashed back into my room. It was all I could do not to run down into Adam’s arms, but that would hardly be appropriate and probably make my parents suspicious. Besides, I wasn’t ready to receive guests. My hair was mussed, and my dress wasn’t my best. Sure, Adam had seen me naked, but I wanted to look alluring for our first meeting in nearly a year.
I fought to take deep breaths as I rummaged around my closet. My fingers landed on a pretty blue frock, one of my newer ones. Blue wasn’t the best color on me—I preferred green—but this dress showed off my waist and just a hint of my bustline. I tossed aside the dress I was wearing and stepped into this blue dress.
I should have called Clara, my and my mother’s maid, to help me get dressed, but I was slightly embarrassed. I didn’t want to explain to her why I was so breathless and excited, why I was getting myself ready. She wouldn’t understand my relationship with Adam unless I explained everything to her, and I sure wasn’t going to do that.
It took me a bit of time to do up the dress by myself, but the extra effort was worth it. It gave me a stunning hourglass shape, showing off my bust and hips that would be perfect for bearing children and producing an heir for Adam and the Wellington fortune and title.
I sat down at my dressing table and began to work on fixing whatever was going on with my hair. I pulled out the pins I had in and ran the brush through my honey–brown strands. They fell in slight waves around my shoulders, kinked from being pulled back all day. I smoothed the flyaways and twisted it back again, this time securing it so there was no way it would come out.
My bedroom door was cracked and I heard my parents pass by my door and start down the stairs. I held my breath as my heart hammered in my chest. This was it. This was the day my life changed, if that wasn’t the night in the clearing. How should I ask when my parents told me of Adam’s intent to court me? Surprised? Ecstatic? Flattered? What expression would make them least suspicious of my nighttime activities a summer ago?
And I’d get to see Adam again. I’d missed him so. I knew he was busy, so I’d tried not to be too offended when he didn’t come to call on me. Adam’s father had died about a year and a half ago, leaving Adam to his title. With his mum having passed years before, Adam was left with the home and the fortune. What kept him most busy, however, was his position on the council. Like his lordship, he had inherited a council position from his father.
There are werewolves all over the world, and they have a separate governing body that works in tandem with the rest of humanity’s. Each country had a council, and each council was headed by an alpha. In England, our alpha was Jasper Wolfric, the duke of our duchy, Faolancaster. Each alpha had a council, the number of members varying based on the size of the country. England had six, and Adam was one of them. I knew it was a job that kept him busy, and I knew it was a position he cared about deeply. That, I rationalized, was why he had neglected to come see me for so long.
It didn’t matter; he was here now. He was downstairs in my living room, speaking with my parents, asking them if it was all right to court me. Of course, we’d known each other most of our lives, so it was likely that our courtship would lead to marriage. I wondered how he’d propose. Where would we have our wedding? My mother would certainly insist on our church, but what about the reception? I’d have to think on that.
And what would my dress look like? I adored lace, perhaps just a slight flutter sleeve with lace trim. Oh, that would be beautiful! Who would stand up with me and be my bridesmaids? Annabelle Randolph was a friend of mine, and her husband was on the council as well. Perhaps my cousin Lisbeth? We’d been thick as thieves as children.
Would I live in Wellington Manor? It needed a bit of updating. Many homes now were having hot water installed. My mother had brought it up to my father several times, but he’d brushed her off. I’d heard that Wolf’s Peak, the duke’s home, had it, but I wasn’t sure if that was just a rumor or not. He was a bit of a hermit, and rumors abounded.
There was a knock on my door and I jumped, pulled from my daydreams. I stood up from the dressing table and opened the door to see Mr. Tubbins. That wasn’t much of a surprise.
“Miss Ackerman, your parents request your presence down in the living room.”
“Thank you,” I told him. I shut the door behind me. This was it. Show time.
I started down the stairs. There was no way to stay quiet as I approached; the stairs were a heavy wood but they creaked, the sound echoing off the walls and high ceiling. Besides, with the werewolf hearing of both Adam and my father, they’d hear me anyway. They’d almost certainly be able to hear my heart pound already as well.
/> I crossed the parlor into the living room. My parents were seated on the couch, and Adam on the loveseat. For a moment I debated sitting beside him, but in the interest of decorum I sat across the room in an armchair instead. I crossed my ankles and tucked them to the side as I smiled at everyone.
“What’s going on?” I asked, though I knew full well.
Or, I thought I did. I was very, very wrong.
My father spoke first. “Hazel, darling, Adam has a proposition for you.”
“One that I think you should take him up on,” my mother added.
I turned to Adam, facing him for the first time since we’d spent the night together. I expected an expression of happiness or perhaps excitement, but my chest tightened when I saw instead a look of tension.
“What’s going on?” I asked again, my voice fainter, my words directed only at Adam.
He cleared his throat. “Hazel, the duke is looking for a wife.”
“All right.”
“All of us on his council are tasked with finding a young woman who we think would be suitable for him.”
“Oh, I see,” I said, and he visibly relaxed. “My cousin, Evelyn, you’ve met her, right? She would be lovely. She’s very smart. Or perhaps—”
The tension was back on Adam’s face again and my voice faltered. “No, Hazel, you misunderstand me.”
“Adam wants to bring you to meet the duke,” my mother supplied.
The reality crashed down on me and I struggled to find a breath. “Oh, I thought…” I cleared my throat, praying that tears wouldn’t spring to my eyes. “Never mind.” How could he do this to me? I thought he loved me. He’d said as much. Why on earth was he trying to pass me off onto the duke? Had it all been a lie?
“I know it’s an overwhelming prospect,” my mother said, standing up from the couch and coming to my side, resting a hand on my shoulder. It was a gesture that was meant to be comforting, but at the moment it was anything but.
“I hardly know him,” I said, my voice scarcely more than a murmur.
“Darling, couples have been getting married without knowing each other for centuries,” my mother said. “Many happy marriages have come out of arrangements like these.”
“I don’t know if I want to marry the duke,” I said, my eyes flicking over to Adam. He was staring down at his lap.
“Think of how good it would be for you,” my mother said. “The duke is wealthy and powerful.”
“I never thought I’d be the kind of girl who married for power or money,” I said.
“For God’s sake, girl,” my father said, “you aren’t going to do any better than him.”
But I could do better. Maybe Adam wasn’t ranked as high as the duke, and maybe he didn’t have as much money, but he had more than enough wealth and title for me. I would have loved him even if he were penniless.
Clearly, my feelings were one–sided. Adam continued to avoid my eyes. He didn’t love me; he was using me as a pawn. I swallowed my anguish.
“May I think about it? When is this happening?” I asked.
“Next week.”
“So, may I think about it for a few days?”
My mother hesitated. “I don’t think so, Hazel.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means you’re going, Hazel,” my father said, with the sort of finality he reserved for business transactions.
“Don’t I get a say?” I asked, unable to hold back the tears as they stung my eyes.
“Not as long as you’re living under my roof,” my father said. “Imagine, my daughter marrying a duke. Do you know how good that would be for business? Our name would be revered.”
My father might have been immovable, but perhaps my mother wasn’t. “Please, Mother, let me just consider it. It’s my future and my marriage, after all.”
“You’ll do as I tell you,” my father barked, and my mother didn’t respond.
Adam finally spoke up. “The interviews are next Friday,” he said. “I’ll come pick you up in the early afternoon, and you’ll most likely stay a few days, so be sure you’ve got everything packed.”
“I’m staying the night?” I asked, thinking about how massive Wolf’s Peak was. I’d never been inside the manor before.
Adam nodded. “Yes, the duke wants to be able to spend time with everyone and get to know everyone. You’ll be interviewed by the council, have meals with the duke, and spend some time with him until he decides who he wants to pick.”
“What if he doesn’t like me?”
Again, Adam didn’t meet my eyes. “I’m sure he will.”
“We’ll do some practice, Hazel,” my mum added.
Adam stood up to leave, putting his hat back on. “I’ll see you next Friday afternoon, Hazel. I’m afraid I must be going.”
My heart broke as I watched him start for the door. “Adam—”
He didn’t turn back to look at me. “Goodbye, Hazel.”
Once he had left the house, I turned back to my parents, tears in my eyes. “Mum, dad, please don’t make me do this,” I begged.
My father rolled his eyes. “You’re going to Wolf’s Peak, Hazel, and that’s final.”
Chapter Two
No amount of protests seemed to matter. I begged. I pleaded.
“You can’t make me do this,” I told my parents.
“I’m your father, I can make you do whatever I want.”
“Please don’t make me.”
“Hazel, this will be good for you,” my mother said in the soothing voice she used when my father was up in arms about something or another.
I wanted to scream and cry, but I kept myself composed as a lady should. In a way, I could understand where my parents were coming from. From their viewpoint, their youngest child hadn’t had any suitors and no one had shown any interest in her. They had no idea that I was already in love with Adam, and I couldn’t tell them. They thought they were doing me a favor, setting me up to be in a position to marry the duke. Normally, a girl like me would never stand a chance. We were upper-class, we had money, but we did not have a title. That not-so-small fact kept us out of aristocracy. Unless a man was willing to marry below him, I would never get an opportunity to be a lady or a duchess.
Even though it made me sort of sick, I could understand my father’s other reasoning for wanting me to marry the duke. He was a businessman, and his work was built on his reputation. If his daughter were to marry the duke, that would put him in touch with a whole new circle of clientele, clientele that was exorbitantly wealthy and that people looked up to. If I were to become the duchess, that would be very, very good for business.
It didn’t matter one bit that I didn’t want to marry the duke. I wished it did, but it didn’t. I was far from being an independant woman, and as a result, I had no choice but to do what my parents said. What could I do, run away? That was laughable. Where on earth would I go?
I could fake an illness. That was always an option. The day we were supposed to leave, I could keep a hot water bottle under my pillow and put it on my forehead before calling my mother into the room to check and see if I had a fever.
First, I wanted to see if I could reason with them. It would be preferable for them to see me as a woman capable of making her own decisions rather than a tool for them to make money or gain power. The idea was almost laughable.
My mother, for what it was worth, looked more guilty and uncomfortable than my father did. She shifted in her seat as my father dismissed me, but she still didn’t speak up. I needed someone to defend me, and it wouldn’t be her.
“Please, dad, just listen to me,” I said. “I don’t want to do this, please don’t make me.”
“I don’t care if you want to or not. You’re going, end of story.”
“Please--”
“I said end of story, Hazel. Go to your room.”
“But--”
“Go!”
I had rarely been sent to my room as a child, and almost never as an adult. Morti
fied and anguished, I stomped out of the living room, wiping tears from my cheeks as I started up the stairs. I slammed my door for extra measure, but I doubted my father cared.
I sat down on my bed and wedged myself in the corner of the wall. With my knees pulled up to my chest, I buried my head in my hands. Everything I had been hoping and praying for was now gone. It wasn’t just from the last eight months. I had been pining after Adam for years, dreaming of the day he would realize that I was right there the whole time. That day had finally happened, and I had foolishly allowed myself to believe that we were going to have a life together. All of that was gone, killed in one fell swoop.
There was a soft knock on my door, one I recognized as my mother’s. That was the last thing I wanted.
“I’d rather be alone right now,” I called out, but it didn’t matter. She turned the glass handle and pushed the door open.
“Oh, Hazel,” she sighed, sitting down on the bed. She reached her arm out to comfort me, but I shrugged away from her.
“We’re doing this for your own good, you know,” she said.
“Why don’t you let me decide that for myself?” I asked.
“Because at your age, you can’t see the opportunities in front of you.”
“That’s bloody ridiculous!” I shouted.
My mother shook her head. “Hazel, really now, no need to be crass.”
“There is a need! You say I can’t make my own choices, but you haven’t even given me the opportunity to try!”
She was quiet for a moment. “You know, your father and I were set up by our parents.”
“That’s lovely for you.”
“No need to be sarcastic, dear. It’s worked out very well for me.”
“Has it? You married a man who loves money more than his family.” I was being bitter and mean but I couldn’t help it.
“If I didn’t marry your father, you wouldn’t be here.”
“Maybe that would be best.”
She shook her head. “Hazel, this is a wonderful opportunity. You won’t get one like this again. Imagine, being a duchess!”
The Wolf's Choice (The Wolf's Peak Saga Book 4) Page 2
