Holly was sitting on a bench waiting for Jessica and Lindsay to come back. She was scared about everything about the wedding night. She would have rather went blind into the union then knowing what her mother told her. She can't stop remembering over and over what was expected of her.
She heard voices coming towards her, she sat up straight in case it was not. Jessica came up to Holly alone, Lindsay must have told her what she had said, and knew that this was embarrassing to her. Jessica took one look at her and sighed" I can see that you are certainly upset about this whole thing. I am going need to know what was said."
Holly burst into tears," It is going to be so horrible, my mother was very discriptive of what was going to happen. I am so scared about it and I am not sure if I can marry ever."
Jessica sucked her breath in, " Holly, don't say that. Let's go over to that corner where it's quiet and out of ear shot. We are going to fix this one way or another okay."
Holly nodded her head, both girls walked over to a bench that was in a dark corner. As they seated themselves, Jessica got Holly to open up, she began telling her about the evening before. " I was drying my hair when my mother came in and started to talk to me. She told me that when a girl marries that there are certain duties that she has to do. One is make sure that she made her husband comfortable and never to fight with him. She told me that on my wedding night I was going to be put in a certain position and he, he, he was going to you know."
Jessica smiled" go on Holly, and don't be afraid to tell me anything."
Holly nodded her head" she told me that when my wedding night happened that the husband was going drag me to the master bed. He was going to rip my clothes off and force himself on me. What she told me how they force themselves on you, I can't repeat that part. It frightens me every time I think about it. Then she told me since it was going to be my first time, that is was going to hurt so bad that I was going to wish I was dead."
Jessica was pale in the face, " no wonder you are scared, she has misinformed you. She was most likely trying to scare you into not marrying William tomorrow."
Holly's face was on fire, she was so embarrassed about this whole issue. Then now Jessica is saying her mother had misinformed her about the whole matter. Great, why was her mother trying to ruin her wedding this time?
Jessica began to tell her the details of how it actually was, she made it sound wonderful. Like an adult fairytale, she didn't know if she could still go through with the whole wedding night. She still had what her mother told her on her mind. Now Jessica was giving her a different version, she liked hers better by far.
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William was so worried about what was happening, Holly was not acting like herself. What was happening? Lindsay had walked with Jessica deeper into the garden, but she hadn't come and told him anything yet. He started to pace and run his fingers through his hair, Lord Chandler came over to him" Say there William, have you seen your lovely sister any where?"
William looked up at him" Yes, she is doing me a huge favor at this moment."
Jason looked at him and noticed how agitated he looked," What's going on?"
William stopped pacing" Something has gotten Holly upset, so her and Jessica are finding out exactly what it is going on."
Jason nodded in understanding" I think it could be something to do with the wedding night."
William looked surprised" What makes you think of that?"
Jason smiled" I over heard one of her sister's talking with one of her married friends about her. She said something that her mother gave her the talk, and if it was anything like she had gotten. Then Holly was going to be very scared about her wedding night."
William scratched his head," What kind of mother does that to her daughter?"
Jason shook his head" I think it's a scare tactic, they all do that because that is what they got from their mothers."
William was getting very upset at the information that he was just given. No wonder why she wouldn't look at him. He wouldn't be able to look at the opposite sex either if he was misinformed about what actually happened. Jason didn't seem to be so happy about it either.
Lindsay came down the walk way and up to the two gentlemen," Well I know what has gotten her all upset."
William flexed his jaw" so do we, Jason over heard one of her sister's telling all about what happened."
Lindsay nodded" I have heard of this, a lot of women do it to scare their daughters with horror stories."
Jason smiled at her" well I for one think that it shouldn't be used for the wrong reasons."
As the trio stood talking, Jessica came down the walk way with a shocked Holly. They walked over to William and Holly turned red. Jessica whispered in his ear" go easy with her, she is still a virgin and very impressionable. She has been given the scary talk about wedding nights, I tried to give her the nice one. She is just mixed up about it all, just make her feel at ease and it will all work out for you."
William nodded" Thanks Jess, I owe you one."
Jessica smiled" I am going to make sure that you make good on that in the future."
They laughed and Holly was kind of standing aways from the group. William walked over to her and took her hand in his. He brought it up to his lips and kissed her knuckles, she shivered in delight at the touch of his lips.
He smiled down at her, and she blushed at his gaze but she didn't pull her hand out of his. She allowed him to pull her into his side and hold her tight against him. She loved feeling the sparks that flowed through her body. It made her all warm and fuzzy inside, how could something feel so right be so scary?
Maybe her mother was trying to scare her into believing the worst about the wedding night. She heard Jessica's version and it sounded so much more like fun then her mother's version. Tomorrow at this time she would be finding out for herself exactly what it was all about. Holly looked at Lindsay and she noticed that she was glowing with love for Jason. He was such a good guy and he to looked deeply in love.
She wanted to find out what is going on between them, but dinner was announced. So everyone made their way into the huge dinning room. Martha had the ball room converted into the dinning hall for this occasion. It was going to be very elaborate dinner, it's not everyday that your daughter marries a future Duke.
As they took their seats, Holly was at one table and William was at another table. That was her mother's doings, she was trying very hard to push the wedding back a few months. She was suffering from all of her children out of the house syndrome. Well that was what her father called it, he was just happy as long as Holly was. He also told her it wasn't like she would be going to another county or something that far. Holly had giggled at her father's explanation, he and the Duke was becoming really good friends. They went hunting together, they went any where there was a sport to play.
Holly was stuck between Lord and Lady Fane, he was the tenth viscount of Westmoreland. His wife Sarah was nice to talk to. They were telling Holly how they got married. Her parents didn't approve of John Fane, so they eloped. Holly was shocked at hearing that, no one eloped and kept their reputations in tack. Across from her sat Lord William Norton the second baron of Grantley, he still had not married.
She was fascinated by the different tales that were being told about their lives. She sat in silence for the most part, she looked for William. He seemed to be deep in conversation with another couple, she tried to catch his eye. But she didn't succeed in that, whatever they were discussing must be very interesting.
After the seven courses were served and everyone was stuffed, the men took their leave for their cigars and port. The night was still young, so when the ladies went to the terrace just outside. They sat around talking about how wonderful the night was going. Lindsay and Jessica pulled Holly into the garden. The three ladies were giggling as they ran past the gazebo and down the path that led to the pond.
They sat down on the bank and laid back on to the grass and looked into the night sky. They started to talk to each other at once. Jessica smiled" just think tomorrow we will be sisters, I can't wait for the wedding."
Lindsay laughed" I can't wait to see William's face when he finds out that he won't be able to talk with you this evening."
Holly laughed" I know, I just wish that my mother would relent on that. But at least you get to stay with me tonight Lindsay."
Jessica was slightly jealous at the fact that she couldn't stay too. But she was already married and her husband would miss her dreadfully. The good thing was that she would be here early in the morning. She was going to be one of the many bridesmaids, that would be here in the morning for breakfast. Even though she was married and not suppose to stand up for Holly. Holly told her that she helped save her life and she didn't care who objected.
When everyone was departing for the evening and those who were staying the night went to their rooms. Holly and Lindsay ran up the stairs to her room, they were giggling the whole way up. When they entered they saw all of the trunks piled in the corner. Her wedding dress freshly pressed was hanging on the closet door. She was getting very excited about the wedding, even though she was still so nervous about her wedding night.
What was going to happen at that time was a mystery to her, she was excited and scared all at the same time. She didn't know how that was possible, but tomorrow in the afternoon she would be Mrs. William Grosmont, also known as Her Grace, Lady Holly. She couldn't contain the giggles as she animatedly told Lindsay all about it. Her parents had to warn them a couple of times before they fell asleep. Holly's last thoughts were" I am getting married tomorrow, how scared should I be?"