Enigma’s Plot Bunnies → The Widow’s Fate
“No,” Mina muttered darkly, ignoring her elder brother’s gaze.
“I don’t like it anymore than you do, but it is what’s expected.” Archie was, unfortunately, correct. A widow’s mourning period was exactly one year and a day, after which it was customary for a her to remarry within a year. It had been exactly one year and two days since Mina had gone into mourning after her late husband, Lt. Col. Isaac Pemberley, had been killed in the war in Spain. The season was soon to begin and Mina would have to present herself to the Queen for a second time.
“So I will be forced to marry a man I do not love once again?” Scoffing, she kissed the top of her son Henry’s head before rising to her feet and rounding on her brother. Lord Archibald Stanhope had the good sense to back away, not that it stopped his sister from chasing after him. “No. I will not do this, Archie. You cannot ask this of me!”
Her brother’s expression was crestfallen as he reminded her, “It is my duty as your brother to see that you are taken care of as it is your duty to marry. Our fates are fixed.”
“I already did my duty! I have a son! Putting a widow on the marriage market, it is a joke!” Mina laughed, panicked and on the verge of hysteria. Thinking quickly, she prepared to present her bargain. “If you are to force this on me, then you will grant me one thing: I choose my husband, not you.”
“If I marry again,” she snapped, pointing with a stern finger so close to his face that Archie flinched, “whenever that may be, it will be for love, not to appease your ever so noble sense of duty or whatever expectations you or anyone else have of me! You married for love, Archie. I deserve no less.”
And if she didn’t marry this season, Mina would certainly not be bothered in the least. In fact, she would not be bothered if she never married again, as she was quite sure she would never find love. She’d been a naive Lady her first season, with high expectations and dreams that came down to nothing but a child’s fantasy. Isaac had been a kind man and good husband, as she’d been a good wife in return, but love had never blossomed. They’d become distant friends more than anything, what with him being called away to the ongoing war so often. Being a spinster was not the worst fate in the world, despite what the ton thought. Of course, she hadn’t counted on meeting Benedict Bridgerton.
