Cast Aside So He Can Wed My Sister

I had barely left the front hall when my attendant, Hilda Carr, hurried after me with red-rimmed eyes.

It wasn't until we reached my suite that she dared to close the door and cry.

"Lord Page plans to marry Ms. Juliet, yet he's arranged for you to marry his second-in-command. What does he take you for? Does he think he can simply hand you off to someone else when he no longer wants you?"

I handed her the divorce agreement. "Put this away."

Hilda glanced at the betrothal papers in my hand. "What about this?"

"Ask Sebastian to come back."

Sebastian Page, the Marquess of Gainsworth, soon returned.

I pushed the betrothal papers toward him.

"I agree to the separation, but I won't marry Josiah Hewitt," I said. "You arranged this match, so you can call it off for me."

Sebastian stared at the betrothal papers, his expression darkening. "Isolde, I've already decided to marry Juliet. Even if you never marry anyone else, it won't change a thing."

"Do you think that any woman who refuses to marry another man must be waiting for you?" I said.

Sebastian's brow furrowed, but his voice softened a little. "Josiah is a man I've promoted through the ranks myself. He keeps no mistresses, and he has no difficult elders at home. You'd be well taken care of if you married him. I'll give you seven days to think it over."

"What if I still refuse after seven days?" I asked.

Sebastian fell silent for a moment, then pushed the betrothal papers back toward me.

"For now, the arrangement must stand. Juliet is about to marry into my household. If you call off this engagement now, what will people say about her?"

My sister Juliet Jameston's reputation mattered more than even my second marriage.

I stopped arguing with Sebastian and asked Hilda to bring me my dowry inventory.

After informing my parents of the separation at Jameston Manor the next day, I would arrange for my dowry to be removed.

Sebastian was already at the door when he noticed me setting aside each piece of jewelry he had given me. He stopped in his tracks.

"They all belong to you. There is no need to draw such a clear line between us," he said.

Hilda took a pendant from the bottom of the box.

Six years ago, I had taken an arrow meant for Sebastian. He had embedded a piece of the broken arrow into the pendant and given it to me himself.

I placed the pendant before him. "Take this back, too."

But Sebastian pressed it back into my palm. "It's yours."

I closed my hand around the pendant, still warm from his touch.

I looked up at him. "You want to end our marriage, yet you still want me to keep the things from our past. Sebastian, do you want me to move on, or do you just not want me to let go completely?"

Sebastian didn't answer. He merely said, "I'll come back in seven days to hear your decision."

I put the pendant away.

"Very well. In seven days, I will give you my answer."