Tuesday

My designer was a genius. I emerged from her shop with a week's worth of gorgeous, hot black outfits, including a stunning dress for Manly's funeral that would be delivered to the castle on Thursday. I wore one of the outfits out—a sleek black blouse, bespoke black jeans, and super-chic heels, all fully accessorized. I had two more that would be delivered to my hotel. The rest, along with another week's worth of gray and plum outfits, would be delivered to the castle with my funeral dress. Hmmm…"funeral dress" had such a different shade of emotion attached than "wedding dress." But Manly's funeral would be a celebration.

I was dogged by photographers both going in and coming out of the shop. I was trailed by them all the way to the posh restaurant where I met my London friends. The restaurant very efficiently kept the photographers out, leaving them shouting behind me, and showed me to my table, where my friends were waiting. My status as a duchess and heiress guaranteed me one of the best tables. It was a sign of my girlfriends' eagerness that they arrived before I did. Generally, we were all as fashionably late as we could get away with. It was almost a game to see who was tricked into arriving first. I'd taken more time than expected at the designer's. But I'd been considerate enough to text my girlfriends that I was running behind.

I smiled as I approached the table and gave the group a wave. I was unexpectedly nearly brought to tears at the sight of them, all sedately dressed, their faces set with concern and uncertainty. I'd never seen them flummoxed by a social situation before. They'd been trained for everything but my unique situation.

I'd been friends with Smithy, Lady Crystal Smith, since college. She'd done a year in the States. She was quintessentially British, fair and upper crust to her core, but delightful and fun. I loved listening to her posh, yet unaffected, accent. I'd known Jennis Jones and Ali Hall since my first year out of college. They were each also lovely and stylish, thin—they could wear anything—but, most of all, witty and sympathetic. The kind of friends everyone dreams of. And Dusty, Lady Dustin Johnson, short and stocky, was the daughter of one of Mom's oldest friends. I'd always believed Dusty was Mom's inspiration for absolutely wanting me to have a title. Mom was a type-a personality to her core. She was compelled to keep up with her friends, even exceed them if possible. One by one, my friends rose to congratulate me.

Smithy smiled at me and gave me a quick hug. "What? No Ren?"

"Stop it," I said. "I told you he wouldn't be here. You've seen the news. For once, they got something right. He deserted me the morning after our wedding. He doesn't even know I'm in town. I'm staying at the hotel tonight."

"I can't believe Ren thought he could keep you locked away in that castle," Smithy said. "That's positively Victorian."

"Fortunately, we're not in Victorian times. No one keeps me locked up."

"Don't worry about Ren. If he said he'll be back, he will. How could he stay away?" Dusty hugged me fiercely before holding me at arm's length and looking me deep in the eyes. "How are you managing?" She cocked her head. "Are you sad? Mourning? Deep in grief? Or happy, excited, and a blushing new bride? I'm usually very good at reading people, especially you. But now I can't decide. You're an enigma today."

"I never blush." I grinned.

"You didn't answer my question," Dusty said.

"All of them," I said. "Every emotion you named and more. I'm as confused as you are. I don't know how I'm supposed to feel."

"Feel anything you want," Dusty said. "Anything you need to feel. Whatever emotion strikes you at the moment."

"Leave it to Dusty to know the right thing to say and do. The rest of us were hoping to follow your lead," Jennis said. "Now we'll be mirroring you like a bunch of monkeys on a rollercoaster."

I laughed. They always made me feel better.

Jennis reached for my left hand. "Let me see the ring."

"It's Manly's ring. Ren married me with Manly's ring. And I gave him the ring I'd bought for Manly. No time for ring shopping. Maybe we'll remedy that someday if our marriage survives long enough. Like a year. New rings for our first anniversary would be nice."

Jennis took a closer look at the ring. "Very nice. Not, I would imagine, to Ren's taste."

"Survives long enough? Does your marriage have an expiration date? I assume Manly stipulated a minimum time served," Ali said.

"He stipulated many things," I said, avoiding letting too many details slip.

"If you're as smart as I think you are, you won't let Ren go," Dusty said. "Arranged marriages have just as much chance at lasting as any. They're an ancient British tradition, after all. And if they aren't completely happy, we endure."

"Longevity and happiness are two different things, though," Ali said. "We want you to be happy, Bliss. Hard to imagine you won't be with a hot guy like Ren, but that's up to you. You certainly had a brilliant, unique start to yours."

"Some might call it challenging." I looked around at them. "You all look lovely…and sedate today. Are you off to a group job interview? And the color theme is gray?"

"I believe the color theme we went with is dove—halfway between bliss and grief," Dusty said, the corners of her mouth turning up. "White with shades of black for both occasions, wedding and mourning. "

Ali shot Jennis a look. "We didn't know how to dress for this lunch. Jennis insisted we play it safe and go middle of the road, whatever that is. So here we are looking like stuffed shirts. Fashionable shirts, but still."

"You know how much Manly loved scandal and beautiful women. Ren, too. Save black for the funeral," I said. "Or come in outrageous color."

"Do we congratulate you and toast your nuptials? Or should we be solemn and deep in grief with you?" Ali made a sad face that was so comical I laughed.

"Stop it," I said. "No grief. No mourning. Manly would absolutely hate that."

"Good." Ali pulled her chair out. "I prefer fun."

We settled into our chairs around the table with Dusty on one side of me and Jennis on the other.

"Speaking of fun—I can't believe we missed the wedding of the century." Jennis rubbed her finger at me.

"As if that's my fault. I invited all of you. Sincerely." They all knew I was lying. The tacit agreement was that they wouldn't come. I flagged the waiter and ordered a glass of wine. Jennis caught him and ordered a bottle of my favorite white.

"You naughty girl, you did not. You discouraged us from coming." Ali was always the forthright one.

I sighed dramatically. "Only because I know how much all of you disapproved. If I'd known Manly was going to die and thrust me into marriage with his mysterious nephew, I would have insisted you all come."

"I can't believe you were really going to go through with marrying a man who was a hundred years old." Smithy raised an eyebrow.

The wine arrived. The waiter passed out glasses to each of us and poured.

Dusty raised her glass. "A moment of silence in memory of the late duke, if you please. To Manly—he was on the brink of ecstasy with our darling Bliss. Death, with its nasty sense of humor, came too soon, even for a man of his age. But not for us." She smiled slyly.

"Cheers!" We raised our glasses and observed the moment of silence. Manly would have loved the toast. He would have loved Dusty and her sense of humor, too.

I took a sip. "You just made my point with that lovely toast. I couldn't withstand the force of all of you trying to talk me out of marrying Manly, and you know it."

"To set the record straight," Dusty said, "we had ulterior motives besides the horror of involuntarily picturing you in bed with a wrinkled old man." She shuddered exaggeratedly. "An image like that simply will not leave a person alone."

The looks on the faces of my other friends confirmed they were in complete agreement.

"What ulterior motives?" I asked. "And stop picturing me in bed with anyone."

"Ren," Dusty said innocently. "We were torn between the two of you. Surely you realized that? We've either known his family forever or have good friends and family who have. I think I speak for all of us when I say that although we love you deeply, we sympathized with Ren. It was rotten of his uncle to try to cut him out of his inheritance so late in life. Especially when he's suffered so much because of it."

I was so stunned that I was speechless. They were on Ren's side? That was the main part of their objection? "Why didn't you say anything?"

"What could we say, really?" Ali said. "Anything would be disloyal. It was better to remain neutral."

"Don't look so scandalized and shocked." Jennis threw her arm around me and leaned her head against mine. "You know we love you. We love you both. Given everything, we had to stay away from the wedding. It was too dodgy a situation. We simply couldn't be seen by our peers as taking sides." She paused. "But we were always on yours. If you'd wanted us there, we would have come."

Jennis grabbed the bottle of wine and refilled everyone's glasses. "Speaking of which, we have another toast to make—to the new duke and duchess and their continued and lasting happiness!"

"Cheers!" As we clinked glasses again, I felt lighter despite my surprise. They seemed to be taking my marriage in stride, and that was all that was important.

"Tell us, your grace," Dusty said with a devilish look in her eyes, "what is it like to land London's most sought-after bachelor?"

"Most sought-after bachelor?" I nearly spat out my wine. "Ren? I thought he was a pariah. The villagers certainly treat him like one. He has no friends there."

Jennis's eyes went wide. "Have you been living under a rock? You need to get to London more often. You didn't meet Ren before at one of my parties?"

I shook my head. Jennis threw lavish parties. It was impossible to get around and meet everyone at one of her events. I would have remembered meeting Ren, or even glimpsing him in a crowd.

Jennis's brow furrowed. "Now that I think about it, Ren hasn't been much into partying in recent years. He's become a bit of a workaholic. Too bad."

Ali waved a hand. "Villagers can be so provincial. Of course Ren's in demand! One look at him and even someone who's almost blind can see why. He's perfectly yummy and delectable. Don't tell me you're the one woman in the country who's immune to his charms? Now that would be irony."

"The look on your face!" Smithy said. "He has worked his magic on you. I knew it. I told the others this arranged marriage wasn't going to be purely business. Of course it's business, but not only business."

"Arranged marriage!" I put a hand to my heart. "It was love at first sight. How dare you think otherwise." It was lust at first sight.

Smithy rolled her eyes. "Darling, you weren't fooling anyone with your act that you were in love with Manly. There's no way you can get away with it with Ren. But the inducement to marry him is so much better. You'll have fun with Ren, at least."

"We'll want wedding-night details. Later. And all the specifics of your arrangement with him." Dusty looked around as if people were listening. "You and Ren are the hottest, most viral story around. Any details are worth good money to anyone unscrupulous enough to sell them. We'll talk in private."

She was right, of course.

"Until you married him out of the blue, Ren was one of the very few eligible heirs to a non-royal dukedom under one hundred," Dusty said with a twinkle in her eye. "Of course he was in demand. And now you've made enemies among Ren's admirers, one very much in particular. Can't wait to hear how you're dealing with her."

"Who?" My heart started racing. I didn't really want to know.

Dusty couldn't hide her surprise. She looked around the table for help. My friends were suddenly silent and uncomfortable.

Finally, Ali shrugged. "His on-and-off girlfriend of the past five years, Cory, Lady Cory Allen, earl's daughter, renowned beauty, and talented interior designer. There. I've saved you the trouble of looking up her CV."

Jennis handed me her phone to look at a picture. "Cory."

My mouth went dry. Of course Cory was why Ren had hustled back to London. A girlfriend, much as I suspected. And she was beautiful, thin, and elegant. I handed the phone back to Jennis, trying not to let it show that I was shaking.

"You really didn't know?" Ali took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have blurted it out. Her name's been all over the stories about you and Ren today."

"I haven't been following the stories," I said numbly. "I don't watch my press. I know it sounds ridiculous, but we really didn't have time to discuss our personal lives before tying the knot. I just assumed he wouldn't have married me if he was committed to someone else."

"Don't jump to conclusions. Maybe that's exactly what Ren did," Dusty said. "Even when they've been happily together, they each kept their own flats as backup. Someplace to move back to during the off times."

"Just between us, I've never cared for Cory," Smithy said.

"They're in one of their off periods, aren't they?" Jennis asked. "Cory always thinks she'll get him back, of course. That she has him wrapped around her little finger. But that doesn't mean she's right, not this time."

"Cory couldn't get him to give her a ring in the last five years. No matter what she thought, it was never going to happen," Ali added. "Don't let your imagination torment you, Bliss. Get the story straight from Ren."

"Cory has said publicly she has no comment," Dusty said. "Privately, people who know her well say she's devastated by Ren's defection. If they were off, she has no hold on him. Talk to Ren."

"Yes," I said, fighting my worst nature. As I'd told myself many times before, jealous green really wasn't my color. "Sorting out our personal lives is one of many details we need to work out."

"Very good," Dusty said.

"The villagers still think Ren murdered Will, do they?" Jennis asked. "They never forget a good scandal. And since the true details leading up to their accident were never made public, supposition is allowed to run wild. I suppose now the rumors are flying that he murdered Manly, too?"

I shrugged, trying to not to think about Cory. "The police questioned Ren like they thought he might have." And who knew—maybe he had. I couldn't stop thinking about that foxglove.

Smithy shook her head. "Bobbies will think anything if they believe it will give them notoriety. Taking down a new duke could be career-making."

"Ren's far too smart and efficient to have waited until the last minute to kill Manly," Dusty said. "And in so dramatic a fashion that it would only draw suspicion to him? After living with that kind of suspicion after Will's death? No."

"It is rather like a magician's trick, though, isn't it?" Ali said. "If Ren did it, he pulled it off like sleight of hand, right in front of everyone."

"Ren's not a murderer," Smithy said with complete certainty. "I didn't believe it when Will and Zoe died. I don't believe it now. There's more to both stories." She looked pointedly at me. "Don't doubt him, Bliss. Ren's the stoic kind of person who doesn't gossip and doesn't answer his accusers. Why should he have to defend himself when he's innocent?"

"Ren's too bloody delicious to be a killer," Jennis said. "It would be a great disappointment. A man like him shouldn't be locked up. Not by anyone but me." She winked at me. "Though now I suppose I have to give him over to Bliss to handle."

I laughed.

"Because he's so bloody sweet," Ali said. "The village has made a monster where none exists." She turned to me. "You can't really think even for a moment he is? That he'd kill for that castle, do you?"

"Never." Jennis shook her head. "Ren is a romantic, though. He'd kill for love. I do believe that."

Dusty side-eyed me. "You think he killed Manly so he could have Bliss?"

"Not for Bliss!" Jennis rolled her eyes and laughed. "Sorry, Bliss. I'm sure you'll make him fall madly in love with you if you want. I meant Zoe."

"I know who you meant," I said. "I've heard the rumors. You think he loved Zoe? I've heard it was more of an obsession."

"Zoe!" Smithy spat. "Ren would never kill for that nasty little trollop. She wasn't worth it, and he knew it. Will may have been dumb enough, but not Ren."

"You knew Zoe?" I said, excited. I knew my friends would come through.

"Of course I knew her. She was 'friends' with my older brother." She rolled her eyes. "One of her early conquests. Thankfully, Royce was smart enough to see through her."

"You never mentioned her," I said.

"Why should I?" Smithy flagged the waiter for another drink. "She treated Royce abysmally. Tossed him over for Ren, who was way too young for her. Zoe was a good six years older than Ren. She used him, too."

"I don't think she used him so much as she just liked shagging him." Ali turned to me. "If the rumors are right, you're a lucky woman. Ren is very skilled."

I shrugged and swallowed hard. "People in the village say Ren and Zoe were still involved after she and Will were engaged."

"Why listen to them? Half the women in the village are just mad with jealousy because Ren wouldn't have them. Cats." Ali turned up her nose.

"Ali's right," Jennis said. "Don't pay any attention to them."

Someone caught Ali's attention. "Don't look now, but Melly just came in. He's headed our way."

Lord Melwynne—Melly, as we called him—was indeed approaching our table. Melly knew everyone and all the gossip. It was a stroke of good fortune to bump into him. I rose and hugged him. "Melly, so good to see you."

He took both my hands in his. "If it isn't the lovely American duchess! You look stunning, Bliss. The perfect picture of mourning and newly wedded…bliss? Except for the black, of course. Tragic. For all of us. Ren off the market. So many of us are devastated."

"Not you too, Melly," I said lightly. "I thought you had better taste."

"I've always liked bad boys." Melly laughed and joined us at the table. He was immaculately groomed and turned out. One of those men who should have been handsome, but his features were just a little off somehow in a way it was hard to put a finger on. Fortunately, his charm compensated for any physical imperfection.

I poured him a glass of wine. We made small talk while I figuratively sat on my hands, dying to question him. He obviously had something to say or he wouldn't have dropped in. I dropped private morsels about the wedding. Little tidbits for Melly to pass along as gossip. To get something, you needed to give. I knew how to play this game too. I let it slip that we'd heard Cory was devastated and I was sorry to hurt her. The marriage had been sprung on me, too.

"Hurt? Cory is livid with Ren, as I'm sure you've heard. She's never been angrier," Melly said, knowing full well I hadn't. "They were seen having a huge, very loud fight in front of her flat last night. She actually shoved him at the top of the steps. He tumbled back a few. Called him some nasty names. And reportedly threw a vase at him. I'm happy to report he dodged it. No bruises to that delicious face or body."

Melly took my hand and squeezed it. "Bliss, you know I'd never torment you with this if you'd married Ren under any other circumstances. But you should know what you're up against. Cory is determined to have revenge."

I nodded, somehow managing to keep my jealousy in check. "Absolutely. You don't know how much I appreciate it."

"Watch your backside," Melly said. "Cory can be vindictive and unpredictable. You'd think Ren would have learned his lesson with Zoe. He has abominable taste in women. He'd be much better off with men." He sighed. "Sorry, Bliss, but the truth is the truth." He raised his glass to me. "May an arranged marriage with a good woman win him over."

I smiled weakly. "Thank you."

Melly's mention of Zoe was intentional. He'd seen the news and wanted to tell me something. Despite the friendly lunch, a shiver ran up my spine.

"I've only heard rumors about Zoe," I said casually. "And Will and Ren." I let my eyes plead with Melly to help me out and fill me in.

Melly studied me. "Zoe was self-destructive almost since birth. She wanted more than life could give her. More than she deserved. She wanted both brothers." He shrugged. "Well, who wouldn't? They were both delightful. Light and dark. I think she wanted Ren more, maybe even loved him in her own warped way. But Will was going to inherit the title and the estate. Zoe was a prize social climber. Will had more to offer. On the surface, anyway. And I suppose she figured she'd keep Ren on the side."

"What do you mean, on the surface?" I asked. Melly liked to parcel out his information for maximum impact.

Melly put on his exaggerated, catlike look of surprise. "Will was deeply in debt. About to go bankrupt and lose everything. His only hope was to hang on long enough to inherit and sell the estate. His best bet was Manly's death."

The five of us stared at Melly, trying to keep our mouths from falling open. I'd done a lot of research and not found anything about Will's debt.

Melly smiled, pleased at himself for stunning the others more than me. He must have figured they knew or suspected Will's difficulties. "Oh, you didn't know? Sorry to be the bearer of so many tawdry bits and bobs."

He leaned forward. "Not many people knew, even at the time. Ren isn't the only Sattler who can keep a secret. Manly was furious with Will, of course. He couldn't have Will inheriting and selling his legacy, dooming the family name to obscurity. Will had an obsessive personality. Charming and boyish. Very nice to look at, but he and Zoe both were compulsive spenders and risk takers. They bobbed in and out of depression and mania. They would have made an absolute muck of the dukedom. There was no doubt of that. None.

"Will's financial difficulties were completely hushed up after Will's death. I have no idea how. They were too massive for Manly to have paid off. But I suppose he had enough to pay off the right people to keep silent about it. Even those who lost their shirts decided it wasn't wise to cross a duke. Manly had more power than you know."

Melly's eyes danced. He was enjoying himself tremendously. "In fact, I may know one or two of them." He wagged his finger at me. "Don't even ask. You couldn't torture their names out of me."