"Hold me close so I can finally... breathe"
Marriage wasn't something Carina Bridgerton looked forward to. And true love was not something she dreamed of. She had declared it very clearly to her family that no marriage shall ever be expected from he...
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"Stop it!", she pushed him, now nervous and scared, but confident. Its about time she used the experience of having four brothers to use. Suddenly, he lunges forward, jumping on her,"Let go of me!", only to fall down, knocked out, from the single facer Carina planted. Letting out a gasp at her aching knuckles and the horror of what she just did and the consequences she would have to face, she was completely shocked, unsettled and scared out of her mind.
Oh gods! She was ruined and her hand ached. Just then, she saw the Duke running into the garden, and nervously rushed to explain, "Your Grace... I had no intention..." "Of knocking the climp flat out?" he questions, a look of relief on his face. Carina only tried to soothe her sore knuckles and panicked. "Well, I must say, I am impressed.", he says sounding pleasantly surprised as he rounded around the man, bending down to check his state of consciousness.
"What are you doing out here?" Carina asks, trying to get her mind off of her massive mess up. "Avoiding certain people." he replies. "People?" she enquired, confused. "Mothers." he elaborated. "They are people, I suppose." she makes an attempt at humour, trying to keep herself calm but then noticed the direction the Duke walked in from, and all the panic came rushing back, ten fold. She felt as if she couldn't breathe. This was it, this was the time when she finally ruined her family's good name all due to her reckless disregard for rules.
"You are coming from the Dark Walk. It is merely a few steps away.", she stated more to herself, trying to make some sense of it all. "What would you know of the Dark..." the Duke starts, only to be interrupted. "The Dark Walk is merely a few steps away, and I am alone with two men." says Carina in panic, turning around to leave, having too much thrust upon her in so little time it was only now all settling in. "You are only with one man. The other is..." says the Duke with a smile, finding this funny. At this, she turns back and fires, "I'll be compromised just the same."
"Do you have any idea what would happen if someone even suggested that I... I must go." as she was leaving, a faint mumble from Berbrooke stopped her in her tracks yet again, "Marry me, Miss Bridgerton."
"Now, as far as proposals go, that may be the least romantic of all." says the Duke, clearly amused by the situation. "I suppose if someone were to find me here, it would be one way out of marrying him." says Carina sarcastically, with apparent disgust for the man. "You cannot possibly be thinking of marrying him." questions Simon incredulously.
"If I am unable to secure another offer, there may be no alternative. Anthony is set on marrying me this season. Unlike you, I cannot simply declare I do not wish to marry. I do not have such a privilege." she says, her dismay at the idea of marriage obvious. "Yes, I was surprised to learn you no longer have a line of suitors around every square in London.", and he has the nerve to mock her at this moment?
