Chapter 3
As the carriage approached the edge of the Coldwell Estate, Isabella let her eyes fall to her lap. She had seen the tangle of trees and thick hawthorns surrounding the grounds and could not bear to look as they approached the thick iron gates.
She had seen the gates before; as a child, she had often peered at them in hopes of seeing something exciting. But she had always been thwarted, for there was nothing to see.
The driveway turned so sharply that an observer at the gates could see no more than a few feet of wide gravel path before it turned and was obscured by yet more thick, twisted hawthorns and extraordinarily tall leylandiis.
The estate really was cut off from the rest of the world, and Isabella wondered if she would ever pass out through the immense gates once she had entered. If she was to be a prisoner in that place for the rest of her life, then it might as well be her tomb, for her life was over.
“Good morning, Lord Upperton.” A man who had opened the gate approached the window of their carriage. “How nice to see you again.”
The man was certainly no servant, despite having unlocked and opened the gates wide with his own hands.
He was a well-dressed man, clearly a gentleman, and Isabella wondered for a moment if he might possibly be the Duke. He was very tall and broadly built, with the vaguest stoop to his bearing as if he were perpetually about to duck. He had pale blond hair, so pale it was hard to tell if it was graying, and pale blue-gray eyes.
But his face was certainly not ruined. It was not handsome, either, but there was no sign of the devastation she had come to expect. He was, perhaps, nearing forty years and so would have easily been the same age as the Duke.
“Ah, Maguire,” her father said shortly. “I trust everything is ready.”
“Indeed, it is, Lord Upperton.” The man nodded at the Earl matter-of-factly, not ingratiating himself to the man at all, despite the fact that he had just been spoken to like a servant.
Unless a man was of equal or greater title to her father, he spoke to them all in the same fashion. For a moment, in spite of her own fears, Isabella felt pleased to see a man who refused, albeit silently, to be cowed by the Earl of Upperton.
“Well, we shall ride on through to the Duke’s chapel and get on with things,” the Earl said and moved away from the window, leaning back in his seat and turning his head in the opposite direction from Mr Maguire before loudly thumping at the ceiling of the carriage with his cane.
How rude he was; how terribly rude.
However, Isabella had greater worries on her mind than her father’s appalling attitude. Mr Maguire was clearly not the Duke, and so she knew that she still had to face the monster.
As the carriage rumbled on up the winding gravel driveway, Isabella was too afraid to look up. She imagined such a ruined place, a place full of cobwebs and fear and sadness, and she did not want to see it. She wanted to be herself just a few minutes longer and yet, as she looked down, all she could see was the gown that her mother had the seamstress make for her.
“My dear, it shall need to be fitted again. The seamstress is here, and she is waiting in the morning room. Come, I shall stay with you and make sure that everything fits perfectly.” Her mother had approached her with such a tone of lightness that Isabella simply stared at her dumbfounded.
“I care not if the gown fits, Mama,” Isabella said angrily. “And I cannot understand why it is you expect me to be full of the excitement of the young, blushing bride when we both know that there is to be no excitement in my life. There is to be nothing but the fear and horror of being married to a monster, a man I have not yet even met.”
“Please keep your voice down, my dear.” Lady Upperton looked as frightened as a startled dormouse.
“Yes, of course. After all, why should I do anything to make your life difficult, Mother?”
“If you continue in this vein, you shall make all our lives difficult.” Her mother’s tone needled her greatly.
“And so, I am to be the sacrifice in your eyes too, am I? I am to curtsy and smile and be pleased for a gown I wish never to wear, just so that everybody’s lives can be made so much simpler. Go away, I do not wish you in the room when I am trying on this dreadful gown,” Isabella said and strode off in the direction of the morning room.
Much to her dismay, the seamstress had made the most beautiful wedding gown imaginable. It was made of the purest ivory coloured silk, with an overlay of the most intricate lace Isabella had ever seen. The wide silk ribbon at the Empire line was simple, showing off the lace to its best advantage.
And her maid of many years, with tears in her eyes, had tamed her dark brown curls, twisting them up onto the back of her head and securing them with the prettiest little combs. And those curls which framed her face were glossier than she had ever seen them.
How Isabella wished herself as ugly as the monster. How she wished she had nothing to offer this dreadful man, for she felt sure that he had nothing to offer her.
In the end, tiring of the sight of her beautiful gown, Isabella finally looked up. The driveway was most awkward, bending this way and that seemingly for its full length. And either side it was lined with tall leylandii trees, effectively screening the driveway off from the rest of the estate. It was as if the Duke would even hide from an approaching visitor.
As the driveway began to straighten and the trees thinned out, Isabella knew that they were finally approaching Coldwell Hall. Her mouth was horribly dry, and her head pounded dreadfully. She could hardly think of a time when she had felt so unwell.
Knowing that she must finally lay eyes upon the place that was to be her prison, she turned to look out of the window and awaited her first view of the hall.
Her father remained silent at her side, sitting on the furthest seat from her. The Earl had spoken not one word to her throughout their journey, not even to try to reassure her that all would be well. What sort of a father was he?
When Coldwell Hall came into view, it did so quite suddenly. And not only was its appearance sudden that was so surprising.
It was not the dilapidated, ruined place she had imagined. It was an immense, wonderful looking mansion built in the old style, with rounded towers at either end. It was built of a dark gray stone, and ivy and wisteria clung to the front, winding its way around the many stone mullioned windows.
And yet it was clear that the ivy and the wisteria were not neglected, rather they were neatly clipped, giving the whole building a magical appearance.
From the outside, at least, Coldwell Hall was a fairy tale; a good one, rather than a bad one.
The carriage continued around the side of the Great Hall, the driveway not becoming any narrower as it snaked its way down to a small, stone built family chapel.
The building was surrounded by magnolia trees, and Isabella could see the beginnings of new leaves and tiny buds and thought that the little chapel must look magnificent when the trees were in bloom.
Standing at the side of one of the columns of the front porch of the little chapel was a minister. A man of God who was going to marry her to a monster against her will. Was there really nobody to help her?
The moment the carriage drew to a halt, the Earl leaped out and darted around to open her door. He took her hand and gently helped her down as if he were the finest father in creation. He smiled warmly, although Isabella noted that he did not for a moment meet her eyes.
Feeling hot and sick, Isabella stared down at the gravel until she heard the sound of approaching hooves. She looked up to see the man who had let them into the estate, Mr Maguire, drawing up on horseback. He had no doubt ridden back from the gate.
“Well, it looks as if we are all here,” the Minister said and rubbed his hands together hard as if it were a cold day.
Isabella fixed the Minister with a stare and realized that he was nervous. Whether he was nervous of sacrificing a young woman as he must surely know he was about to, or nervous to be in the company of the monster, Isabella could not say. Either way, she found she could not care for his feelings.
“Yes, yes. The time has come,” her father said as if he was trying to coax his guests into dinner rather than forcing his own daughter towards the worst day of her life.
“Right … well …” With a last look at Isabella, the Minister turned his back and dashed inside the small chapel.
When next she saw him, he was already in position at the top end of a small aisle. No doubt he was ready to hear their hasty vows.
The Earl held out his arm for her to take, but she did not take it. Isabella looked at him with every ounce of the hatred she felt for the man. If there were one good thing to come out of this day, it would be that she would no longer be under his control.
Yes, she would be under the control of the monster, but at least she could turn her back on her father forever. She could turn her back on her entire family and the Upperton Estate, never to set eyes on it again.
Turning to look away from him, Isabella marched up the aisle. She could hear her father’s footsteps as he hurried to keep up, doing what he could to maintain appearances. But maintain them for whose sake? After all, there was hardly anybody there.
Besides her father, Mr Maguire, and the Minister, there was only the bride and groom themselves. What did she care what any of them thought?
Isabella felt suddenly defiant, almost brave. She strode towards the Duke fearlessly. She stared at his back as he looked resolutely towards the front of the little chapel, neither looking left nor right. Obviously, he did not care about the appearance of his bride. But clearly, he did not care about her personality either or, indeed, any little detail of her.
Of course, Isabella felt certain that her sudden flash of anger-fueled bravery could only exist whilst the Duke looked ahead of him.
As she stood at his side, her veil was already away from her face. As she had climbed out of the carriage, Isabella had not bothered to pull it over her maiden cheeks. Perhaps that was something that her mother might have attended to, had she deigned to go with them and see her only daughter married.
Isabella brazenly turned her head to look at the Duke. He was a good deal taller than she, that much she could almost feel as they stood side-by-side. His hair was a dark ash brown, thick and smooth. And, although she knew him to be eighteen years her senior, his fine, olive coloured skin seemed to proclaim otherwise.
For a moment, Isabella stood in some confusion. Was this the Duke of Coldwell? Was this the monster of the stories that she and Esme had shared, had terrified each other with when they were little?
Surely there must be some mistake. The man who stood at her side, still resolutely staring towards the front of the chapel, was a most handsome man indeed. He had a very strong face in profile, and she could see that his eyes were rather a beautiful green. He had thick brows which were dark, giving him an almost Mediterranean look.
If this was, indeed, the ruined Duke, a man who kept to the walls of his mansion perpetually, then his skin must be naturally dark.
As Isabella studied him quite shamelessly, she thought it an odd musing. What did it matter how he looked? She did not want to marry a stranger, and that was all.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness …” the Minister began without so much as the singing of a hymn to make this anything like a real wedding ceremony.
Isabella barely listened, and twice the Minister had to prompt her to make her responses when giving her vows. She did not want to hear it; she did not want to listen as her individuality was ripped away from her, only to be replaced with the lifelong title of wife. The monster’s wife.
Again, she looked to her side at the man she was marrying and wondered how it could be that his face was so handsome. As far as she could tell, he was not a monster at all.
“I now pronounce you man and wife.” She was vaguely aware that the seal had most definitely been set upon her own fate.
She turned to scowl at the Minister. The shameful man knew exactly what he had done.
“You may kiss your bride, Your Grace,” the Minister said, finally confirming for her that she had, indeed, married the Duke of Coldwell.
For a moment, the Duke did not move. He stood still as he had done throughout the ceremony, still staring at some far-off point in the distance. In the end, Isabella heard the Duke nervously clear his throat as he finally turned to face his wife.
At that moment, when she saw him face on for the first time, Isabella almost screamed. She had not been expecting him to be scarred after all. She had expected the right side of his face to be as smooth and as handsome as the left.
But she did not scream, she could not. The idea that this man was about to kiss her was more than she could stand and, with a deepening sense of panic and her breaths coming harder and harder, spots appeared before her eyes.
Isabella tried to blink, tried to stay upright but, in the end, she could not. Blackness overtook her, and she was unconscious before she hit the flagstones of the chapel floor.