Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 126850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
I paused, frowning slightly. “So why aren’t your parents staying here?”
“There’s a very high chance my grandparents and my mother would kill each other, so Mum and Dad are staying at a cottage on the estate. So is my sister, but that’s more because Grandpa spent twenty-four hours with her in the castle and sent her away because he couldn’t handle her.”
“Couldn’t handle her?”
“She’s a prime bridezilla with his temper,” he admitted. “He threatened to cancel the wedding three times in two hours, she threatened to disinvite him, to which he replied, “What bloody wedding, I’ve cancelled it!” so Grandma decided it would be best if Freya stayed elsewhere.”
“Ah.” I nodded slowly and looked around. The door to the bedroom was open, and I could see another door I presumed belonged to the bathroom. “I thought you said there was no family drama.”
“I already told you I lied about that. Also, I thought you would have your own room, so I’m not the most reliable narrator.”
I put my bag down on the end table by the door and stared at him. “Yes. About that.”
CHAPTER SEVEN – GRACE
Fairy-tale Schmairy-tale
“I’m not sharing a room with you, never mind a bed,” I told him. “I don’t know you.”
“Okay, let’s talk about this.” William rolled my cases to the side and walked across the room to the window. “It’s one hundred percent my fault for not clarifying from the beginning that you were just a friend.”
“Yes. I know.”
“If you want me to go downstairs and tell them there have been some crossed wires, I’ll happily do it. Right now.” He turned around and perched on the thick windowsill. “Honestly, I’ll go now, and I’ll see if there’s a room close to me that you can stay in.”
“Why didn’t you just say something then?”
“Grandma blindsided me, I guess, and they both seemed to accept you without batting an eyelid. After the drama with my parents…” He shrugged.
I waved my hands and sat on the plush sofa. The room and fireplace might have been ornate, but the majority of the furniture was just regular furnishings, and I wondered if Will had a say in it.
“What drama? You said they can’t stay in the castle together… Why?”
He looked off to the side briefly before focusing on me. “When I said my grandfather’s beliefs are on the archaic side, I wasn’t lying. They really are. He’s a complete snob.”
“Okay.”
“He arranged a marriage for my father when he was in his early twenties. It was to the daughter of a friend of his—another duke, although I forget who,” he explained. “My father was in love with my mother, and Dad’s supposed fiancée was also in love with someone else. They decided together they weren’t going to go through with the arranged marriage and married who they loved.”
“And that caused such problems your parents can’t stay in a bloody castle with your grandparents?”
Whoa.
That was some serious drama.
“Mum has absolutely no aristocratic blood in her family tree. She is, to be gross, a commoner. When they got married thirty-five years ago, there was still somewhat of a class disconnect. Especially for older dukedoms like the Glenroch one. Dad was expected to marry well.”
“But he chose not to?”
“Exactly. My grandfather was furious. Neither he nor Grandma went to their wedding, and I think if he’d had a second son, he’d have disowned Dad for not toeing the line and named the other the heir.”
“Were your grandparents an arranged marriage?”
William nodded, putting his hands in his pockets. “Don’t get me wrong, they love each other very much, but my great-grandfather insisted that Grandpa marry at least an Earl’s daughter. My great-grandfather on Grandma’s side was the Marquess of Lochfearn.”
And a marquise came above an earldom, so he’d gone above and beyond.
“Let me guess; since it worked for your grandparents, your grandfather thought it would for your dad, too,” I said.
Another nod. “That about sums it up. Perhaps if he hadn’t met Mum by the time it was brought up, he may have done it. By all accounts they’re still good friends with Mary and her husband, and Mary and Dad get along famously. It’s just more of a sibling relationship, I suppose. I think they would have been happy together if they’d gone through with it, but it wasn’t the life he wanted.”
“Your grandpa was upset by it.”
“Very. He didn’t approve of Dad marrying Mum, and he wasn’t shy about saying so. He’s never changed his mind on it.”
“What about your grandma?”
“Grandma is softer than he is, I’m sure you can tell.” He shrugged. “Remember that thirty-five years ago, society wasn’t as progressive as we are today. She basically had to toe Grandpa’s line and go along with his wishes.”
I tilted my head to the side and pulled a cushion onto my lap to hug. “Did she agree?”