Chapter 27

Her mother sighed. There was nothing she could do, perhaps. Her daughter wanted to leave, and she knew her husband would be less concerned. True to her words, he was never going to change his mind. Since he had accepted Marc as her suitor, he had hardly spoken about any other options for her. She had been so mad the first time, had been on the verge of hysteria when she learned that she had to start seeing him so they could begin all the formal procedures of friendship before marriage.

She had wondered if he was so unlucky with women that he had agreed to marry someone who was picked for him. She had thought perhaps he was badly spoken, or ugly, or not the kind of man a woman would want. But she had been more than surprised when she met the suave man with a beautiful crop of hair, the perfect body, and the height any beautiful woman would want. Was it his pair of beautiful eyes and lashes as long as a woman’s? He was beautiful—much better looking and broader-chested than any o