Beauty's Mirror- Paranormal Regency Beauty and the Beast

Prologue

"You're a monster, Erroll! You never loved me!"

"Celia, come down from there. Be reasonable," Leonard Sundridge, third duke of Erroll called up to his deranged wife. Her behavior had become increasingly erratic since the birth of her child less than two years ago. She now stood on the railing of the master staircase of his ancestral home. If she slipped, her death would be immediate.

"Tell me I'm wrong!"

"You're wrong," Leo said as calmly as he could.

She immediately smiled, but he was lying, of course. Love had nothing to do with their marriage. She married him to become a duchess, and he married her because of her political connections. Now, however, he would lie on his father's grave to end the scene unfolding. The problem, however, was that this scene unfolded nearly daily. Celia's demands ever increasing and unattainable.

"Then you'll let me go to Desmond's dinner?"

"Anything you want. Just come down," Leo pleaded.

Lady Erroll obliged. As her bare feet touched the plush carpet she suddenly looked every inch the regal duchess Leo married two years ago. Holding her head high, she walked off to ready herself for her lover's dinner.

After the first incident, Leo had stood rooted in place, panting for breath and trembling with fear, anger, and embarrassment as servants swirled around him to clean up the mess of broken vases her tantrum had caused. This time, he turned and walked steadily to his study. After arriving, he pulled the servant bell, and his housekeeper appeared a moment later.

"Your Grace?"

"Tell your husband to do it tonight, Mrs. Potter."

"As you wish," she said and dropped a curtsy.

"I will depend on your discretion," Leo said before she left.

Sitting in his favorite chair before the fire, he stared at it, too numb to allow any thought. In a short time, Leo's valet Potter arrived. The well-trained servant's feet were whisper quiet on the Aubusson rug. His figure cast shadows around the dark, wood-covered walls.

"Are you certain this is the best way?"

"I will not become a laughing piece," Leo said through gritted teeth. Family honor had been beaten into him, and he would not be the weak link. "Send her to the place you found and make quick work of it. You contacted Desmond?"

"Yes. He agreed that Her Grace seemed unstable, and he would weather the storm of an alleged elopement."

"Then do it tonight." Leo expected Potter to obediently turn, but the man hesitated.

"But the child?"

"Did Desmond confirm when their affair began?"

The blush that crept over Potter's face was confirmation enough. The beautiful baby that now laid in the nursery was impossible to be his. It was proof of Celia's deceit long before her mental unbalance. Now, he had an admission from one of the several possible fathers and could sue for divorce if he desired. But again, he did not wish to look too much a fool.

"The child shall stay. There is nothing to be done for, but Celia will never see her. As far as Rosalyn will know, her mother died."

Potter said nothing, but his disapproval dripped off his frame.

"You're dismissed," Leo said.

Some would call him cruel for sending away his mad, adulterous wife but he would do far more to ensure the clout of the Sundridge legacy. To steel his conscience, he poured himself a drink and welcomed the dull burn down his throat. A moment later he fell to the ground and did not awaken until he felt flames leap all around him and heard a maniacal laugh.