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Preparations (1)
Not much changed after Edwina sent her reply to Claiborne. For two weeks, she continued to work without any interruption, never hearing a word from Claiborne. The rumors about her and Claiborne died down, and her life was peaceful once again. Almost as if she hadn’t made a deal with the devil.
Thackeray hid from Edwina for as long as he could manage. For three days the Crown Prince dodged and escaped Lily’s hunt. Until on the morning of the fourth day, Lily dragged the man by the collar and threw him in front of Edwina’s desk.
It was a sight that the King would have found very amusing, but would appall the other court officials and nobles. The Crown Prince on his knees, his head bowed to Edwina as she loomed above him. Claiborne had informed Thackeray about his intentions with Edwina. By informing, Claiborne apparently slammed Thackeray up against a wall and warned him not to renege on their deal.
Thackeray sputtered out all of his excuses and
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The Villain's Obsession Preparations (2)
In one week, Edwina Knight would become Edwina Claiborne, a duchess. This fact didn’t seem real to Eddie as she poured over and reviewed court documents for the upcoming week. She had been trying to forget all about her upcoming nuptials by immersing herself in work. She could tell Remi was dead tired trying to keep up with her frantic pace, and she had no inclinations of slowing down. A knock on the door had her setting down a particularly wordy document about tax levies on businesses. “Come in,” Edwina called. Her interest was piqued. Edwina didn’t get many visitors to her office and she knew that both Thackeray and Lily were busy today. She was curious who her mystery caller could be. The door opened and a woman Eddie had never seen before entered the room. She was a very tidy woman. Her brown hair was styled into a pristine bun with no loose ends hanging about. Her nails were filed and clean, her makeup un-smeared. She wasn’t a gorgeous woman, but Eddie w
The Villain's Obsession Preparations (3)
The carriage wobbled and clattered as it traveled over the capital’s cobblestone streets. Edwina swayed along with the gentle rhythm but Mrs. Mercy was still as she sat stiffly in the seat across from her.This was one of the King’s private carriages. Edwina didn’t know how Mrs. Mercy had obtained this carriage. All she knew was that the guards carried her away from her office like a prisoner, only to throw her in one of the King’s ritzy carriages and slam the door shut behind her.Edwina didn’t have a carriage of her own, and if she needed to travel by carriage she would usually rent one. Mrs. Mercy would be appalled if she knew about Edwina’s use of rentals. Imagining Mrs. Mercy in a rented carriage almost made Edwina smile.They traveled in silence for approximately half an hour. The silent carriage ride gave Edwina time to collect her thoughts. She was getting married to Claiborne in a week. She didn't have a dress, she di
The Villain's Obsession Preparations (4)
The concierge recovered from his brief strangulation rather quickly. He escorted Edwina and Mrs. Mercy through the lobby of the hotel and up to the royal suite. He prattled on and on about the history of the hotel and how the King had personally ordered this suite for Edwina. How they had canceled several reservations just to accommodate her! He hoped Edwina would be a frequent visitor since she was the soon-to-be Duchess Claiborne. When he opened the door to the royal suite, Edwina struggled to contain her laughter. Ostentatious, gaudy, and garish, the room was filled with deep reds, golds, and purples. The molding on the walls had gold lame accents, the heavy red velvet drapes were tied back with strings of jewels and the four-poster bed was drowning in purple. Purple sheets, purple pillowcases, purple comforter. The room was intense. The concierge let himself out, but not before Edwina caught a glimpse of Mrs. Mercy slipping the man a hefty tip. “Is this r
The Villain's Obsession The Wedding (1)
Edwina fidgeted nervously as handmaids busied around her. She tried to stay as still as possible so the makeup artist could complete her work, but while her eyes were wide waiting for mascara, one maid was pulling her corset tight, while another was placing ornaments in her hair and yet another was attempting to tighten the strap of her shoe. One day I’m going to laugh about this, Edwina thought to herself. But according to Mrs. Mercy, there was no time for laughter this brisk morning. Everything was going wrong. Mrs. Mercy’s carriage wheel had broken on her way to Edwina’s hotel room that morning. Which meant Edwina slept in late, which meant Edwina was late to the venue, which meant that there just simply wasn’t enough time! The morning was so frantic that Edwina didn’t have time to breathe, let alone contemplate her impending marriage. She was pushed and pulled from place to place until finally, she was shoved behind a door and told she would walk down the aisle m
The Villain's Obsession The Wedding (2)
After the King left, Mrs. Mercy entered and guided Edwina to the entrance to the Cathedral. She went over the ceremony once more with Edwina, as they trotted along at a brisk pace. This day was probably more stressful for Mrs. Mercy than for her. Edwina silently wished Mrs. Mercy the best of luck, ignoring her own role in this sham performance. Mrs. Mercy left her outside the door to the Cathedral with a brusk hug. Alone outside of the large oak doors, Edwina felt extremely small and tiny. The high ceiling and tall doors seemed to swallow her whole. She felt adrift and alone. She was about to plunge into unknown waters. She had no frame of reference or any insight about what was to come. No idea how marriages should work. She was about to commit her life away. The doors opened blinding her with bright light. Edwina started her walk down the aisle. Although Mrs. Mercy and the King had warned her, Edwina was still unprepared for the size of the
The Villain's Obsession The Wedding (3)
Claiborne was furious. He started the day fresh as a primrose and smiling ear to ear. He was excited about the wedding and finally getting his hands on the one thing he had ever desired, Edwina Knight. He practically skipped to the chapel. Even the sycophantic nobles, waylaying him as he entered the cathedral could not ruin his mood. He had meticulously planned every detail of the wedding from the guest list to the types and colors of the flowers decorating the cathedral. He let Mrs. Mercy take a lot of the credit, to keep his reputation intact. There was no need for anyone other than his fiance to know how head over heels he was. His debtors and political adversaries needed to see him as the ruthless politician he was. The wedding was supposed to start early in the morning, but Mrs. Mercy informed him that the bride’s preparations were running behind. Claiborne tried to not let the delay ruin his mood. When the musicians needed more time because a violinist’
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The reception was a short and tedious affair. It was small, but somehow nobles Edwina had never met before were able to crash the party. They surrounded her and introduced themselves, attempting to appeal to Edwina in any way they could. She was quickly overwhelmed by their attentions, and couldn’t find a way to get to her own mother. Claiborne seemed to have just as little patience as her, and after only thirty minutes he drug her away and stuffed her in a carriage. They rode in separate carriages. Once they had arrived at Claiborne’s estate, her new husband disappeared. He muttered something about last-minute business and left her alone with Mercy and her devilish companions. They wasted no time whisking Eddie off to another bath, where she was once again poked, tweezed and pruned. At this point, Eddie gave up on even trying to lift a finger. The maids would just get angrier and make everything hurt more. They placed a satin nightgown over her head and toss
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“Yes, our honeymoon. Unfortunately, we won’t be going anywhere. We’ll just be staying here on the estate. I only have three days but I negotiated with His Majesty and got you a whole month off.”“A month! Talked to his Majesty? I can’t take a month off work!”“Are you sure? The king said you were ahead of schedule? He told me you had been working frantically up until the wedding.”“Well - I, I have been working a lot but I can’t be away from my work that long!”“Give it a week at least Eddie? If you want to go back to work after that I won’t stop you.”A week trapped in the Claiborne estate, away from all of her friends and her work. It sounded like torture. But maybe she could turn this into an opportunity. She could spend her time digging into Alex’s dirty little secrets, and when she returned from her honeymoon, maybe she would have enough evidence to
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