Everlasting by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss Read Free Book Online Page A

harsh. “I fear without the occurrence of some miracle, my dear, there is no hope.” Noticing the pooling of tears in his wife’s eyes, he heaved a sigh, quickly lamenting his callousness. “I fully understand Abrielle’s aversion to Desmond,” he stated.“’Tis no less than my own. Nevertheless, what he has recently offered appears to be our only hope. Although I will try to find a suitor more acceptable to all of us, I fear there is none who has as much wealth as Desmond now has. I truly wish we had some other choice.”
     
      Her mother’s sudden sob of despair wrenched Abrielle’s heart, and she turned aside in an effort to hide the rush of tears that quickly gathered in her own eyes. They streamed down her cheeks, forcing her to wipe them away surreptitiously. As much as she disdained Desmond, she could see no option open to her now but to accept his proposal of marriage. It was either that or see her loved ones suffer. Even so, if Desmond wanted her so much, then he would have to be willing to extend far more generous terms than he had thus far offered. If she were going to be miserable, then she would have to be generously compensated for having to endure that repugnant wretchedness.
     
      And after all, with no dowry, there was no guarantee that she could even find a worthy man to love her. And she shuddered at the thought that, without Vachel’s knights and the protection they offered, perhaps a man wouldn’t even feel the need to take her to wife.
     
      Approaching her parents, Abrielle managed a tremulous smile as she claimed her stepfather’s attention. In an effort to hide the fact that her hopes for happiness and a worthy future with a man whom she loved seemed to be dying beneath the grievous weight of the situation in which they presently found themselves, she tried to speak with some semblance of enthusiasm. “The choice is mine to make, and I will do what I must to help,” she stated, hating the quavering weakness that hindered her voice. “I cannot…will not allow our family to live in poverty…”
     
      “No!” Elspeth cried, thoroughly distraught by her daughter’s words. “We’ll find another way! Please…oh, please…no!”
     
      “I’ve decided there is nothing else that can be done,” Abrielle replied, steeling herself against her mother’s desperate pleading. Uponfacing Vachel, whose dejected appearance evidenced a serious lack of relief, she quickly laid out her intentions. She had no real idea how Weldon had actually met his death, whether it had truly been an accident as had been supposed or if it had been carried out by design by the very one who had stood to inherit his wealth. Nevertheless, the premise seemed fairly simple to her that if Desmond wanted her so much, then he would likely be willing to pay a sizable sum…perhaps even a goodly portion of what had once belonged to her betrothed in order to get her. “Considering the vast riches that Weldon once had, I urge you to demand far more than Desmond may be willing to offer. I care naught for the fact that he may have been kin to Weldon. He isn’t deserving of anything that once belonged to his lordship.”
     
      “And if Desmond complies with all of your demands, what then?” Vachel asked, fully agreeing with her on all counts. Even so, the idea of such a dastardly man reaping so fine a bride left him feeling more than a little nauseous. Unfortunately, at the moment there seemed to be no other way for the family to survive.
     
      “Then I shall wed the man,” Abrielle replied with a serious lack of enthusiasm.
     
      Elspeth moaned in despair as she clasped a handkerchief over her mouth and stared at her daughter with a profusion of tears welling in her eyes.
     
      Vachel could not ignore his wife’s deepening dismay and was led to question Abrielle again as to the extent of her commitment to make such a sacrifice. “Your marriage to Desmond may be more horrible than you can imagine.