A Kiss Before the Wedding - A Pembroke Palace Short Story by Julianne MacLean

One
     
    June 12, 1842
     
    Though she was young—only one
month shy of her nineteenth year—Lady Adelaide Robins possessed the
wisdom to understand that certain moments in one’s life were
turning points that could never be undone.
    This, she knew, was one of those moments.
    Years from now, she would look back on the
choice she had made this evening as she sat at her desk, quill in
hand, and wonder, what if I had acted differently? What if I had
never written this letter?
    Lady Adelaide did not know if she was making the
right decision tonight. How could she? She did not possess a
crystal ball, nor the life experience to judge most men of the
world.
    Except, perhaps, for one man, who was very dear
to her heart.
    William Thomas, her friend since childhood, was
the second son of a viscount, while she was the daughter of an
earl, raised on a vast estate in Yorkshire with her two older
sisters, who were now married.
    Their father was thankful for the husbands her
sisters had procured, for it was common knowledge that their family
was impoverished, and there was no money for dowries. Not a single
farthing.
    Nevertheless, Mary and Margarite had married
well, which was no great surprise, for they were widely regarded as
incomparable beauties.
    Margarite had married the handsome eldest son of
a baron from the south who would inherit his father’s prosperous
estate one day, while Mary had wed a less handsome but exceedingly
amiable youngest son of a marquess, who was a well-loved vicar in
Devonshire.
    Now it was Adelaide’s turn to walk down the
aisle, and her father was beside himself with joy, for she had done
better than both her sisters. Somehow, against all likelihood, and
without intent, she had captured the heart of a duke.
    Not just any duke, mind you. Adelaide was now
famously engaged to Theodore Sinclair—His Grace, the Duke of
Pembroke—one of the highest ranking peers in the realm, wealthy
beyond any imaginings, impossibly handsome of course, and with a
palace considered to be one of England’s greatest architectural
achievements. It was an extravagant baroque masterpiece with
splendid Italian Gardens (recently designed by the duke himself), a
complex cedar maze which provided hours of entertainment for
prestigious guests, and it was allegedly built upon the ruins of an
ancient monastery.
    Some said the complex network of subterranean
passages beneath the palace was haunted by the monks, but Adelaide
did not believe in ghosts. She did believe, however, in the
properly documented particulars of history, and in that regard, it
was a well-known fact that the first Duke of Pembroke had been a
close, intimate friend of King Henry VIII, who had awarded the
dukedom in the first place.
    Yes, indeed. Theodore Sinclair, the current Duke
of Pembroke, was the most sought-after bachelor in England, and for
some unknown reason, he had taken one look at Adelaide from across
a crowded ballroom and fallen head over heels in love with her.
    She wasn’t sure what she had done to arouse his
passions to such a heightened degree. She had danced with him twice
at the ball where they met, then accepted his invitations to go
walking in the park the following three days in a row, and had sat
with him in his box at the theater the following week.
    She could not deny her own infatuation, for the
duke was very handsome and very grand. Even now she was distracted
by the image of his fine muscular form, his charming smile, and the
flattery of it all.
    And then... he had come to her father
practically begging for her hand in marriage. Her father had
agreed and was now his old self again, pleased that his family
circumstances would improve, as were her sisters who would also
benefit from her marriage.
    Which was why this letter was probably a
mistake.
    Adelaide set down her quill.
    No... I must not write to William. It would
be the equivalent of sticking a hot poker into a hornet’s nest and
stirring it around.
    She was engaged to Theodore now.