Demure

Chapter 1: Introduction

They were the perfect couple, they were rich and they were beautiful but no one ever cracked the surface.
Elizabeth Brewer, daughter of James Michael. She'd been betrothed to George for years but whilst he was away at war, she was stuck dreading the day he came back and marriage was thrust upon them. Neither of them wanted it, especially Elizabeth, despite the connection giving her land and a strong title, she still despised the idea of getting married to the wrong man, which had become a reality for her.
After the war had ended it was found out that George had infact become paralysed from the waist down, to Elizabeth's disbelief this did not postpone the wedding but what it did do was carry a burden, greater than any other.
All Elizabeth had ever wanted was to marry a man who she'd fallen in love with, to mother his children, for him to listen and respect her but George was the opposite.He was a strange man, he tried his best but the love for his work consumed his heart, there was no way Elizabeth could weave her way in even if she wanted to. Elizabeth could never find a happy ending, she was stuck in the perpetous cycle of expectation and all escape routes were blocked or atleast thats whats she believed.
Sometimes Elizabeth wondered how she got into such a dark life but then she remembered it all roots from a lack of love. Her sister lived in Venice, her father worked in Glasgow and George, well George demanded everything from her, she had been stripped clean of all life's joy and it made her despise him.

Even before their marriage Elizabeth had known what a vexatious man her husband tended to be, the deafening silence at the dinner table was almost always broken by the self-absorbed drone of him. He looked down on those less fortunate than himself, as if he were on some godly podium, shining and glistening in the light of cynicism. 

She'd been warned and had received condolences as a wedding present from many members of society but nothing could make her father reconsider, he wanted Elizabeth gone and he was willing to auction her off to any man with a pretty title and deep pockets.

Maybe she should've fled to Venice like her lucky, lucky sister.