Destined For A Duke (Completed)

Chapter 12

Ella fumed in her room until a maid came to fetch her an hour later. She was already tired of her sister's presence and didn't want to talk to her. She thought of Max's chance of marrying for love and dragged herself downstairs.

In the drawing room, Isabella was alone with a tray of tea and biscuits. As soon as she saw Gabrielle, she gestured her to sit down.

"Sit my dear, it's been so long since we had a heart to heart." Isabella started making tea for Gabrielle as if she was the host.

"You are so busy these days, I didn't want to be an inconvenience." Ella looked closely to see if her poisonous words had the desired affect. She was satisfied to see her sister blanch.

"I guess I deserved that. I have neglected you alot lately. Can you forgive me?" Bella looked her sister in the eye, hoping she would understand her and forgive her.

"On one condition, that I won't have to marry Max. He's a good man, he deserves a woman that can love him. I want him to have that chance Bella, the chance to find true happiness." Ella saw her sister look away as if in thought.

"You were 7 when mother died. I was 9 but I assumed the role of a mother for you. I still see you as the little girl in pigtails who needs my protection and care. I sometimes forget that you are a woman now." Bella smiled and gestured to Ella to come closer. Ella sat at the foot of her sofa. It was a position that both sisters were used to. Bella started massaging her scalp like always.

"It was stupid and harsh of me to make a decision on your behalf. If you must know, Lord Max would never marry for love. If it was up to him, he would never have married at all. I know this sounds unusual but you will have to ask Max someday." Bella said but the look on her face showed that she was faraway, in another place, at another time.

"Is he queer?" Ella wanted to know if she would come second to a man. Bella laughed in a carefree manner at her statement.

"Only you Ella, only you can come up with something like this. No, he's straight as a arrow. He likes girls. He's just too afraid to become like his father." Bella gave a sad smile that intrigued Ella. What exactly happened?

"What did his father do?"

"Let's just say that he had no morals and was a monster." Seeing the scowl on her sister's face, Ella decided to diffuse the tension in the room by joking.

"Well, there's no need to worry about anything then. Max doesn't have any morals too, he's already...... " before Ella could finish her sentence, her sister took hold of her shoulder and shook her.

"Never joke about such matters Ella and never repeat those words. You don't know the extend of crimes committed by the late Duke of Lancaster." Ella felt thoroughly scolded and remained quiet for sometime. The silence in the room was not uncomfortable, just companionable. The two sisters had a habit of forgiving the other one quickly. Being each others support at all times, they relied on the brutal honesty offered by the other. Hence Ella asked the question that had been bothering her since this morning.

"What if I fell in love with someone? What would I do then? Leave? And what if I fell in love with Max and he never loved me back? Will I end up like you? Unhappy and unloved?" Ella waited for her sister to answer but when she didn't, she looked up from her position at the foot of the sofa. Bella for lovingly caressing her belly with a faraway look on her face.

"You know that I loved someone else before I married. He was going to propose, he was about to ask father for permission to court me. When Bradford trapped me in a compromising position and then asked for my hand in marriage, I asked father for sometime. I wrote to the man of my dreams, I told him everything. I was naive enough to believe that he would accept me. He answered that I should marry Bradford. He didn't want someone with a scandalous past." Ella dried her sister's tears with the pad of her thumb.

"I am so sorry. I never knew." Bella shook her head to say no.

"I never told anyone. I was too proud to admit that my love had deserted me. I am telling you now so that you know. Even if a man fell in love with you, he won't marry you. It's just the way they are. You will be happy with Max. He will always treat you like a friend, he will look after you and you will never be alone. You wont ever become like me bacause Max is a good man." Bella hugged her sister tight.

"I would never want you to live like me, in a loveless marriage. It's a fate worse than death. Death comes swiftly, gone in a single blow. With a life like mine, you die a little every time you look at your husband. I would never wish this on my worst enemy." Bella spoke with such pain that Ella cried in her arms for all her sister's pain.

I felt like crying while I wrote this chapter. It felt so personal and close to heart.