Unlocking the Secrets of a Duke’s Heart - Abby Ayles Page 0,3

the sake of being married," she said.

"I did not say you had to marry for the sake of marriage. But that does not mean I cannot urge you to find the right match," Beatrice said.

“Yes, well, the right match will come in time, Grandmama. But for now, I just want to live my life in peace. I am certain that I shall not be alone forever," Amelia said, grudgingly.

She told herself often that she wanted to wait before getting married, this was simply not the right time. The reality, she could hardly confess, was that she did not think there would ever be a right time. Marriage was simply not something she desired the way other young women did.

Thinking that there was nothing at all wrong with that, Amelia had pushed to be left alone on the issue. But she had not been so fortunate. She would never escape what her family wanted for her.

"I know you do not think you will, but your beauty will only last for so long and eventually the offers will fade," Beatrice said.

"If they fade, they fade," she replied with a shrug.

"Oh, dear. Your nonchalance is crippling," Beatrice said.

"My nonchalance is, potentially, the most honest thing I have," Amelia replied.

“Try telling that to your brother," Beatrice added.

“Oh, he would hardly understand. He is a man, and men are exempt from these trifles," Amelia said.

“Careful, now, my dear. You are beginning to sound bitter, and I don't like that at all," her grandmother warned.

Amelia glanced away, knowing that Beatrice was right. Indeed, she was bitter in some ways. Particularly as she felt as though no one valued her at all, aside from what she might fetch for them in terms of a husband.

It was unfair, and that was all there was to it. She could not be seen for her own worth and did not mind being the sort of young woman who was not craving marriage at any cost.

Amelia glanced at the book beside her. Yes, perhaps she would wither as her grandmother threatened, but she didn’t mind so much.

It was far better to wither than to want.

Chapter 2

Edwin sighed, taking his final steps off the ship, and breathed in the air of England.

Something felt very familiar. It was as though this was not his first time here. And yet, as he looked around, there was nothing he could see to trigger his memory, nothing to alert him to a memory of a place he had once been.

The only familiar thing he saw was Jacob Shenton, standing not far from him, waiting. As nearly the tallest person upon the dock, it was easy for Edwin to look down through the crowd and spot his friend.

Jacob was dressed in rather fine attire. It was not the colonial garb that Edwin was accustomed to, but instead very English apparel. Edwin’s first reaction was nearly to laugh at this, as he had seen Jacob dressed so differently back in the colonies.

But here, in his own land, Edwin could not blame Jacob for wearing exactly the sort of clothing he was used to wearing.

With a smile and a brotherly embrace, the two men greeted one another.

“You have lost weight,” Edwin observed, his hazel eyes sharp. “Something seems different about you,”

“Oh, it is nothing. Anyway, we have much to do, haven’t we?” Jacob asked.

“Right you are,” Edwin replied, as his things were hauled into the coach.

Once the two men were seated and they were on their way, Jacob immediately jumped to what he knew must be discussed.

“Now, tell me about this letter you have spoken of,” Jacob said.

Edwin eagerly took the letter from his coat, feeling the weight of its contents in his hands. He handed it over to Jacob and let it go with something akin to fear. His hand felt strangely empty, so he leaned his head into it, feeling the curl in his light brown hair.

“This … this says very little about who I may be,” he began. No matter how hard he had tried to prepare himself to tell Jacob about the letter, he was not ready. It was all too strange, and he did not want his friend to think him mad for hoping there were something more for him now that he was in England.

But Jacob looked up at him with curiosity in his eyes. He looked back to the letter and then to Edwin once more.

“It is clear to me that I was abandoned, and from an early age at that,” he