Fearsome Saviour

The truth

Isabella woke up disoriented with her head pounding, as if someone was nailing pins into her skull.  She moaned in pain as she tried to get out of bed. Her throat was dry and she was in desperate need of a cup of water.

A sharp gasp left her mouth as the events that led to her headache came flooding in her mind. She couldn't stop the loud cry that left her lips. Despite her headache, she let out her fears and frustration at what could have happened and cried.

Isabella's chamber maid and friend Lucille, heard the lady's cry and quickly went looking for her mistress.
She continued on to the kitchen and fetched some water for her lady.
No one truly knows what happened to lady Isabella, except Mr and Mrs Westbrook; but there was sudden news of her getting married very soon to the fearsome duke.
Lucille felt incredibly sad for her lady for being dealt with such a horrible fate of marrying the duke of Colchester.

Mary Westbrook rushed into her daughter's room after her chamber maid informed her that she had woken up and was screaming.

Her heart was saddened by what her daughter had gone through, and now she was to marry the man she believed had abused her.
The old wooden door to her daughters room creaked open as she entered.
Isabella had sat up on her bed and was weeping, a sound so sad Mary teared up, crying with her daughter.

Isabella was crying because of what almost happened to her, but Mary was crying because of what she thought had happened to her daughter.

Cradling  Isabella in her arms, Mary decided to break the news of her marriage to her.
"Don't worry Bella, your father has fixed it all, you're going to marry him and won't have to face the shame of it all, losing your innocent in such a horrible way." She said, wiping the tears from Isabella's eyes.

She snapped her head towards her mother, as if she hadn't properly heard what she just said.
Surely she was not to marry the bastard.
The same man who didn't think twice before hurting her. She couldn't think of a worse fate.

"No mother, I can't. Please, please I don't want to." She cried, shaking her head frantically.
The thought of being married to the man she despised more than anything sent chills down her spine. She'd rather die a lonely death than marry Gregory Deighton.

It suddenly dawned on her that her mother thought she had been defiled, but she hadn't. She was sure of it, she would know, wouldn't she?

"But you must, or no respectable man will." Her mother said, trying to comfort her.

"I wasn't compromised mother, he couldn't do it because that man saved me." She rushed out. Isabella needed her mother to know that there was no need for a marriage.

Her mother looked at her in confusion. Clearly her daughter was in shock and was denying what had happened to her. She choked on a sob and shook her head sadly at her daughter.

"Your father found you dear, he knows what truly happened. You simply have no choice but to marry Declan Sinclair." Her mother replied.

Isabella was thoroughly confused. Declan Sinclair? The duke who isolated himself from society? There were stories of him having a face so scarred, people couldn't look upon it. It was one of the reasons why he stayed away from the public. She definitely didn't  want to marry him either.

"Why mother? Why do I have to marry him when he wasn't the one who did this to me?" She asked. Isabella was so confused, it made her headache worse.

"Honey, you must have hit your head hard." Mary replied, gently stroking her daughters hair.

"Mother, it was Gregory Deighton who attacked me, you can ask the man who saved me. The green eyed man, you can ask him." 

"Sleep Bella, you need to rest." She told her daughter as she got up to leave. She didn't know what to believe. Her husband needed to hear about this.

From what Isabella was saying, the green eyed man had to be the duke, that means he was the one who saved her. Mary rushed out of the room, seeking out her husband.

Alistair arrived home from seeing the priest who was going to bless the marriage between his daughter and Declan Sinclair.
Since Declan had agreed to the marriage, Alistair had been in high spirits; eagerly making plans for the wedding as soon as possible.

He had to grab this opportunity and make the duke his son-in-law.
He had scheduled the wedding to take place in a fortnight, and that was the earliest date the priest could offer him.

After Declan Sinclair had finally agreed to marry his daughter, he went on to ask when the wedding would be but the duke could care less. He had told Alistair that he wanted nothing to do with it, he'd simply show up on the wedding day.
After all, the marriage meant nothing to him.

Mary rushed to meet her husband as he was walking to his study.

"Oh you won't believe what Isabella has been saying." She rushed out.
Alistair immediately led his wife into his study, knowing that the walls had ears.

"What did she say?"  Alistair asked her after she had taken a seat.
"She said it was Gregory Deighton who attacked her and not the duke. Rather it was the duke who saved her from being raped." She told her husband, waiting to hear his thoughts on it all.

Alistair didn't like the news one bit. It meant that Declan Sinclair didn't have to marry his daughter since he was innocent.
Not only was he innocent, he saved his daughter from being raped. That meant Isabella was still untouched and didn't have to marry anyone in shame.

But he could still make Deighton marry Isabella.

He quickly eliminated that thought.
He couldn't let her marry a silly twat like Gregory Deighton.
A week ago, he might have preferred his daughter to marry the Baron's son, but now, he had the opportunity to wed his daughter to a duke. Definitely a step higher than a future Baron.

Alistair's mind was whirling with cunning thoughts.

"Clearly, Isabella hurt her head very badly. She can't remember the events of yesterday clearly." He calmly reassured his wife.

Mary nodded her head in agreement.

He couldn't let Mary know that that was in fact very true, remembering how Declan Sinclair had denied it. The duke was many things, but Alistair had a feeling that he wasn't guilty. His daughters confession seemed to have made him fully realize that Declan Sinclair was an innocent man who had simply fallen in one of his schemes.

The marriage had to go on. Better Sinclair than Deighton.
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