To Dishonour A Duke

Chapter One

Marriage.

What an awful word.

So too are the meaning, consequences and the husband that follows.

What an utterly terrible fate to condemn oneself to.

This is why seventeen proposals and an array of suitors have fallen across Lady Clara Eaton's path, only to be ruthless rejected and turned out onto the pavement without so much as a last apologetic look. To her, marriage is an unthinkable notion, wielded as a sharp sword to seek money, a title, and at the very least a house to raise the children in. It is more than two souls of polite society reciting binding vows, exchanging rings, and grimacing their way through a kiss; it is the death sentence of the barest freedoms a woman can possess. Two simple words and the promise of love and security are all it takes to reduce a strong, self-assured woman to object, a doormat to be used and discarded at the husband's demand. If such a terrible fate can be avoided, then one must do all within their ability to prevent a walk down the aisle and the many layers of tulle and taffeta that are deemed necessary.

It is these reasons, and her general opposition to marriage that has driven Clara to steal her stepfather's plush dark wood carriage and escape the dreary and damning landscape of the countryside, London in sight. While a life of ruthless debauchery and depravity has never appealed to her, she is surprised at just how comfortable she is with the significant act of theft she has committed. Admittedly the scandalous circumstances of her birth and the many whispers that followed her throughout her childhood have taught her to bend the rules to suit, as opposed to breaking them for selfish gain. It is a callous and narcissistic person who chooses to resort to crime, and while Clara has been accused of being many things, she is pleased to announce that callous and narcissistic are not within that repertoire.

The carriage lurches around a winding corner and she curses as she is tossed to the floor, falling into a crumpled mess of thick skirts and embroidered material. Over an hour into the journey and she has spent more time on the wooden floor than the velvet cushions and bears the bruises to prove it. She throws her hands up to protect her face as her trunk begins to side down the seat but then a thud echoes throughout the open landscape as the carriage tips from its outside wheels back onto all four, and under the driver's muffled instructions, the two horses fall back into a steady pace, their hooves beating the ground in rhythm.

Grumbling to herself, she pushes off the floor and flops onto the red cushions, her heart beating loudly in her chest. Reaching across, she places her trunk on the floor, the shiny gold initials facing up, her sparse possessions jumbling inside. With her heartbeat returning to normal, she straightens out the crumples in her dress and feels in her pocket for a pouch of coins, the only money she has brought with her. Satisfied, she tucks her loose hair behind her back and crosses her ankles, resuming her staring out the window, the many trees and bushes of the countryside flying past.

It had been verging on late when she had snuck out of the house, the rest of the household soundly asleep in bed, and now the night has truly fallen, the darkness fully encompassing the surroundings, save for the warm glow emitting from the swinging oil lamp guiding the horses onwards. The outline of shrubbery is barely visible and silence coats the open expanse of fields and meadows, the rich colours of autumn lost to the night.

After what felt like an age of bumpy, narrow lanes and sharp, cutting corners, the gravel road evens out and runs wider and straight, leading directly to town, to London and all things bright and wonderful. The city has always been her home, and it is where she belongs, it is where she has to be, the centre of all things dazzling and spectacular. Her scandalous birth had gifted her the attention of thousands, and through her childhood and into her first season she made a name for herself as the darling of the ton, her beauty, manners and character admired and envied by all. This position and her brother's dukedom gave her the freedom and the power to enjoy her life the way she wished, and she indulged in it.