By the River

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER 13:

The carriage wheels came to a halt in front of the home at five till noon. The footman jumped down and opened the door for the duke. He aligned from the carriage and thanked his man. He strode to the door, gave a brisk knock, and waited patiently. The door was answered a few moments later by the butler John.

“Good afternoon milord. The family is awaiting you in the drawing room. Shall I take your coat, hat, and gloves? I will also let them know you are here.” John said as he took the dukes articles of clothing. Enrique nodded his head and waited for him to announce him as well as taking his coat.

“Yes please. I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.” Replied Enrique.

The butler went to the room and let the family know that the duke was here, and they bade him to bring him to them and have tea and biscuits brought in as well. He nodded and walked back to fetch the duke.

“If you will kindly follow me.” John said. Enrique nodded and followed after him. They entered the room and he smiled at the room at large. Harold stood and walked towards Enrique and shook his hand firmly. Her brother Damien only gave a curt nod and remained by the fireplace. Cecilia gave a small smile as his eyes traveled over to where Dria sat demurely with her hands folded in her lap, eyes met his briefly before lowering to her lap again.

“So, it seems we have everyone here. Would you ladies perhaps like to remain here while we move to the study and have a brief conversation before rejoining you here?” Harold asked the women.

Her aunt smiled at him and replied, “Yes that would be fine. I will make sure all is prepared for when you return. Do not take too long my love.”

Harold nodded his head and motioned for the men to follow him into the study. Once they were inside and the door firmly closed Harold sat behind his desk and motioned for the other two to take seats in front of his desk at the two chairs. They both sat and watched as he folded his hands and gave a look to Enrique.

“Would you like to begin, or shall I?” Harold inquired.

Enrique kept his face neutral so as not to anger the other two men. “I shall begin. Firstly, I would like to apologize for my atrocious behavior. I am not normally one to indulge in drink as I did that night. Though I am not making any excuses for my poor behavior. But please believe me when I say I wanted to do right the minute I came to my senses and begged her for forgiveness, and I did let her know I would do right by her. She was very distraught and did not wish to stay in my company and I fear she did not hear a word I said. This is completely understandable after what had happened. I had hoped to figure out who she was so that we could avoid a scandal, but it turned out to be harder than I thought, and I was leery to ask too many questions and draw attention to her if anyone figured it out.” He paused for a moment then continued.

“I wish I had paid more attention to my sister though because this whole time she has been right under my nose, and I never knew. Even my sister who has been helping me look did not put two and two together. I am just sorry it took so long. I want to fix my wrongs and I hope that I can make it up to her for the wrongs I have dealt her. None of this is her fault and I take full blame for what has happened. But I do promise to make sure to take diligent care of her from here on out. I will make sure she is never treated the way I treated her before. This I promise you. With that being said I do wish to ask for her hand in marriage. I stand by my words that I will do right by her.”

Enrique looked at both men and waited while they looked at each other and remained quiet. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence there was a deep crack and Enrique’s head snapped to the side. Pain radiated through his cheek where he had been hit. He looked to his right where Damien was sitting and adjusted his jaw.

He watched a seething Damien and said, “I know I deserved that and expected no less. There are no words to show how sorry I am for what has happened. I hope one day we can look past this and be friends again as we were beginning to be.”

Damien stood and stiffly walked to the sideboard. He picked up a glass and poured himself a liberal amount and quickly gulped it down. The waves of anger seemed to slowly die down as he drank his bourbon. He looked towards Enrique and motioned to him asking if he would like one. Enrique shook his head. “No, I do not drink much if ever since that night. I refuse to be like that ever again.”

Harold stood and walked around his desk. His face held no emotions as he approached Enrique and looked down at him. Enrique looked at the man as he walked around the desk and stood staring down at him a sign of dominance and stood as well not liking feeling like he was a child about to be scolded.

“I appreciate the honesty and even though you have made a grave error I do also appreciate that fact that you looked for her to write your wrong. That is a good sign and shows me that you are a man of honor though it did waver for a brief time. I will give you my nieces hand in marriage as long as I have your word you will not make the same mistake twice. I will not have my niece hurt again. She has suffered much in life, and I refuse to let her continue to do so. Will you agree to these terms?” Harold asked.

“Milord, I promise you this I will not make the same mistake twice. I have learned and I do not wish to repeat my mistakes. Thank you for giving me this chance to make amends and repair the damage I have wrought upon her.” Enrique replied feeling a sense of relief flow through him that he had agreed, and he had gotten one blessing.

Harold held out his hand and waited for Enrique to take his hand. Harold was happy that she would go to a good man one he felt she would be safe in his hands. Once he did, they shook hands and sealed the deal. Harold glanced over at his nephew and raised a brow at him waiting for him to speak or do something.

Damien looked at his uncle and sighed. He walked towards them and stopped a foot short of reaching them. He glared at Enrique before speaking. “I agree with my uncle. Plus, I have gotten to know you and I do know you are honorable and definitely one I can trust my sister’s care too. I also give my blessings. Though the next time I will do more than hit you. I am just forewarning you. Perhaps we can work on being friends again. Only time will tell.”

Enrique smiled glad that he had also received the second blessing and all that was left was to get the lady in question to agree. He felt a small weight lift from his shoulder fully and relied on washed through him again. Enrique lifted his hand and reached out to shake Damien’s. Damien looked at him with a small frown then shook his head to himself and shook Enrique’s hand as well. With business being concluded they decided it was an enjoyable time to rejoin the ladies in the drawing room.

They entered the drawing and Dria’s head snapped up and gasp left her mouth when she saw Enrique’s face. She felt her heart stop for a moment then started to beat furiously again. She put her hands over her mouth and glanced down at her brothers’ hands knowing he had to be the culprit. She noted his knuckles were red and some skin had peeled off. She dropped her hands and gave him a look of annoyance.

“Really Damien?” was all Dria said to her brother in pure annoyance for the pain he seems to have inflicted upon the duke. He shrugged his shoulders in indifference but remained quiet.

The men joined the ladies, and her aunt began pouring tea for everyone. After a few minutes, her aunt decided to break the silence. “So, tell me what has been decided.”

Her uncle smiled at his wife in reassurance and replied, “All is well. He will do right by our Dria. He has done as you asked and procured a special license. I have sent word for the vicar to join us and requested he come post haste today. He should be here soon if he is not otherwise preoccupied. Duke Enrique also sent for his sister to be another witness as he knew that she would be terribly upset.”

“Yes, I fear her wraths were she not to be here for her brother and friend’s wedding. I would never live it down. I do not need more fury in my household.” Enrique chuckled as he shuddered thinking of the fury that would reign down on his head if he did not inform her. He knew she could make his life a living nightmare. Especially with Dria being her friend and soon to be sister-in-law. He had one angry woman already he did not want two in his household.

Dria smiled and knew he was correct. Isa would put him through hell and make him suffer greatly. She was defiantly extremely hot tempered and emotional creature who had no qualms about making such known.

Dria noticed that her brother seemed to perk up slightly and lean forward at the mention of her friend. She tilted her head to the side as she had noticed he seemed to be around whenever she joined them for tea. He would stay long enough to join them then would slip out once they retired to chat. She felt her heart jump in joy that there could be something going on with them.

She loved them both and would be ecstatic if they ended up together. They would be an exceptionally good match and she felt in her heart they would be incredibly happy together. She smiled to herself and knew she would need to dig a little further into it at a later date. She was pulled back to the room at large when her aunt touched her hand and raised her brows at her.

“Um I’m sorry could you repeat that?” Dria blushed in embarrassment at being caught being a million miles away and not listening when she should have been.

Her aunt gave her a look straightening up quickly with a slight jolt and her brother chuckled that turned it into a cough as her aunt’s gaze swung to him. “Kindly pay attention Dria. I said the vicar will be here soon. We were asking what a good dinner for your wedding would be and also discussing if you were going to stay here before taking resident up with your soon to be husband. Would you care to give an input?” her aunt scolded her in annoyance for not acting the proper lady.

Dria opened her mouth and closed it with a snap. She did not know what to say or how to weigh in. She felt a slight panic for a moment like the walls were closing in but suddenly stopped as she took a deep breath and after a moment of thought she made up her mind.

“I believe I would like a day or so before taking up residence with you. Also, for dinner anything would do. I am not particular.” Dria finally replied.

Her aunt nodded her head in agreement and looked over at Enrique. He also nodded his head in agreement. “That is fine by me. I see no problems with that. Take as much time as you need.” said Enrique as he watched the emotions play across her face as he thought of all she had been through and did not want to upset her more.

Dria smiled tentatively at him still unsure how she was going to deal with this marriage, with how it came about and how she would move forward with everything. She was not sure how to feel about him as well. Her stomach tightened and rolled. She almost felt like she would be sick but took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She was still a little scared of how they would make it work if they could make it work. She sighed mentally and knew this was going to be a new adventure and she was unsure what would be the next step on it.

There was a knock on the door that quieted the small talk that had been going on. Her uncle bade whoever entered and John entered the room. He entered with a stoic face, and he let the family know that the vicar was there. Harold nodded his head and stood walking with John to greet the vicar. Enrique stood and waited patiently while Harold spoke with the vicar and brought him into the room.

He greeted the family with a smile and turned towards Enrique. “Duke Alvarez it is good to meet you. I assume you have the special license?”

“I do. We are just waiting for one more person to be our witness and then we can proceed.” Enrique replied as he handed him the special license.

The Vicar nodded his head and shook Enrique’s hand in greeting before he was handed the license. He looked over it and nodded his head saying it all looked in order.

“We will be having this ceremony in the ball room. That way it will be a little bit more ceremonial for Alexandria.” Harold said smiling in his niece’s direction.

Dria looked over at her uncle and gave him a huge grateful smile. She felt tears swim to her eyes as her heart filled with so much love, she thought she would explode. She loved her aunt and uncle with all she had. They were always taking care of her and making sure she had everything she needed and always had such an abundance of love for her. She knew her cousins were incredibly lucky to have them as parents as well.

Dria felt a pang in her heart as she thought of her cousins. She missed her cousins very much but they each had their own families and own lives to live. She knew two of her three cousins had children or were going to have children soon. She made a mental note to make sure to contact them and see how everyone was doing. It had been some time since she had written them or even visited them.

She looked over at her future husband from beneath her lashes and wondered if he would let her visit them now that she was going to become his wife. She felt a little weary as she thought about it. She hoped he was a good man as everyone seemed to think. She just hoped they were all right and she would truly be happy and content with him. He was in uncharted territory.

“We shall go now and make sure all the preparations have been seen to and perhaps give you two a few moments to talk before the ceremony takes place. We will begin once your sister arrives. Not too much longer I would assume.” Her uncle said as he looked over her and the duke. He paused and watched them for a moment, his heart dropping a little knowing he was about to be giving away his niece and she would be in the care of someone they did not know that well.

“Thank you, uncle I greatly appreciate, you. Please let us know the moment when Isa arrives. And let me know if there is anything I can do to help as well.” Dria replied with a grin on her face.

She turned towards the duke and motioned for him to sit as her family and the vicar filed out of the room leaving the door open for propriety’s sake so not to cause any more damage that had been done thus far. She felt extremely nervous as she looked at him. Her hands became moist as she waited for him to take a seat.

Enrique sat down in the chair she had motioned him towards. He folded his hands on his knees and looked at her as she sat.

“So, we have a little bit of time. Tell me about yourself.” Dria started after a few moments of awkward silence. She felt her chest tighten as his piercing green eyes studied her and she waited for him to begin speaking. She held her breath as she waited for him to say something, anything.

She tilted her head and slowly let out the breath she was holding before she passed out right as he opened his mouth to finally speak. She felt relief slowly fill her veins knowing he was not going to ignore her like she first thought.