Chapter 25

A lump rose in her throat. She’d loved her father, but he hadn’t loved her. He’d never said it to her, hadn’t ever demonstrated it to her. She’d been the baby he hadn’t wanted, the child that had ruined his career. A lasting reminder of what his beloved wife had wanted and didn’t survive long enough to have. He’d done his duty by her, given her a roof over her head and food on the table, ensured she had a decent education, and as soon as the Duke’s money had arrived he’d left. Perhaps he was right, though. Perhaps it didn’t matter. Perhaps it was fine that this was all for show and that none of it was for her. Nothing ever had been, after all.

Well, not quite nothing.

There was one thing that was for her and he waited for her by the altar, exquisitely dressed in a morning suit of dove gray. The man who might not love her, but did want her, and certainly enough to demand a wedding night from her. That gave her some courage as she walked towards him, as did the look in his