Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 107756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“Thank you!” she whispered and dashed inside, but before it shut fully, I saw her face through the narrowest sliver of the door. “Good night.”
“Good night, though parting is such sweet sorrow,” I whispered back.
I stood there for a moment, trying to contain my delight. If not for the fact that I worried I would be seen, I might have camped outside her door.
Foolish. I was, but she made me so. And I did not realize when it had happened. At first, she was merely my friend’s sister, my godmother’s daughter. It was only when her mother had written to inform me that she had spoken to my father of a betrothal between Aphrodite and me that I realized I loved her. She was but sixteen at the time, and I was still at Cambridge. It was as if someone had brought light into a dark room. I was so delighted. And it occurred to me then why I had been so dissatisfied with all the other…encounters I’d had before. Why all of those encounters left me feeling more hollow than the last. It was because someone else had taken root in me. So, I wrote to my godmother in return, telling her that I would be pleased to do so but only if Aphrodite was just as eager. I did not know she felt for me more than a brother until I returned. Though she was too shy to have admitted it.
And it felt as though I had finally gotten lucky. My father would accept it. He cared only about himself, our family name, and line. As long as she was part of the nobility, she would do. When he died a year later, I was even overjoyed, for I thought Aphrodite would be spared seeing the ugliness of my family. I would rid myself of them, and we would all start anew. I wished to marry her just then; however, her mother insisted we waited until she was eighteen at least. I agreed for it was only a year away at that point. I would have agreed to anything to have her.
“Um…please…”
I heard it just as I walked past my sister’s door, her whimpering and sobbing.
Not this again.
“So dark…”
I knocked gently, but she did not hear.
“Verity?” I whispered, entering.
She froze stiff upon her bed. Sweat dotted her forehead, and she gripped the sheet.
“Verity!” I called, grabbing her, trying to wake her.
She sat up, gasping for air. “Uh…”
“It is okay,” I said to her as she looked to the left and the right. “You are okay.”
The terror in her eyes was evident, and at that moment, she hugged me, holding on to me tighter. This was the reason I would never forgive them. Not my father, not Datura, not Fitzwilliam. None of them. Ever.
Aphrodite
“Are you sure you cannot stay a moment longer? You have not even eaten breakfast,” Verity asked as I stood at the door. My father had sent a new carriage before first light and demanded we return.
“My papa is expecting us.” I smiled, looking upon her gently, and she hugged me. “I have behaved most irregularly as it is. I cannot possibly stay longer. It is not proper.”
She sighed heavily as we parted. “Very well, we will just have to wait to have breakfast together when you are married to my brother.”
My eyes widened, and I tried to find the words to speak. “I—I have yet to accept…I mean your brother has not asked or…”
“I was not allowed to listen to your conversations, but seeing your reaction, as well as the fact that our brothers are now speaking”—she nodded to where Damon and Evander stood at the carriage—“I am positive you shall be my sister at long last.”
“I—” The amused look upon her face reminded me of her brother. “A lady ought not to be smug,” I finally managed, at which she curtsied to me.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Verity!”
She giggled, spun around, and skipped off, completely unaware of the nerves she had left me in. For could it be that easy? I once thought that, and everything had come to a painful halt. What if that were to occur once more? What if it were, as my brother said, ill-fated?
“Odite, are you ready?” Damon called out.
I nodded, hugging myself gently as if to keep all the emotions from spilling out. I was so happy and at ease with Evander in the kitchen. Every time he looked at me, it felt as though he were touching my soul. When I reached the carriage, he outstretched his hand, as did my brother, to help me inside. I took Evander’s hand, and our eyes locked for a moment.
“I shall call on you to speak to your parents,” he stated before my brother could even sit down. “Will you permit me to see you?”