Delaney slept through the night and late into the next morning. Her maids crept in to check on her and take care of her worn clothes but she never stirred.

Finally, it was late enough in the afternoon that her Aunt couldn\'t wait any longer. She went to the sleeping young woman\'s room and gently shook her awake.

"What is it?" Delaney asked in confusion, "What\'s wrong?"

"Besides you sleeping the day away?" her Aunt scoffed, "You need to get up and get yourself ready. Lord Adair and his mother will be here soon to meet with all of us."

Delaney shot up, "What are you talking about?"

Her Aunt looked at her seriously, "Violet came to speak to us yesterday but you were out. She said she would come back today with her son."

"Violet was here?" Delaney squeaked as her heart started to race. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she listened as her Aunt told her about their encounter the day before.

Delaney sat open-mouthed in surprise as she listened to Violet\'s plans to throw her and Vincent an extravagant wedding inviting everyone, even the royal family.

In another life where the war had never happened, this would have been Delaney\'s dream. Now though, she felt panicked at even the idea of this. She couldn\'t imagine so many people gathered around to see her marry Vincent.

Vincent. She twisted her ring around her finger as she imagined what he would think of his mother\'s plan. He hadn\'t even wanted to go in to her birthday party, not wanting to be stared at and whispered about by everyone around him.

Her worry for herself shifted slightly to worry for him. If this grand spectacle was going to be hard for her it would be worse for him. Surely Violet would see that.

At that moment Delaney set her mind to it that, if she did have to marry Vincent, she would fight to not have this huge wedding unless he seemed to agree with his mother that it was a good plan.

She couldn\'t imagine he would ever agree to that.

Once her Aunt had left, promising to send Delaney\'s maid to help her dress and do her hair, Delaney sat on her bed in silence and shock.

This was it. Ever since Vincent\'s accident she had been dreading this day. She had hoped to have a conversation with just him but she\'d lost that chance when things had gone so badly the night of her party.

Now, she not only had to take on Vincent but also his terrifying mother. Vincent may have considered breaking the contract but Violet never would. This was going to be a serious fight.

When her maid came in, Delaney washed and the woman helped her into a lovely blue-green dress that matched her eyes perfectly. The bodice was cut a bit low but it had sleeves that reached her elbows, saving it from looking too scandalous.

It was one of the dresses Delaney had designed herself. It was one of her favorites and bolstered her confidence.

The maid pulled her long chestnut hair up into a bun on the crown of her head, leaving curling wisps hanging down to frame her face.

"Would you like me to get out any of your jewelry Miss?"

"No thank you," Delaney answered the maid, "I think my ring is enough for this occasion."

The maid gave her a small, understanding, smile before excusing herself from the room. Delaney stood in front of the tall mirror and studied herself.

She was lovely. She knew she was lucky to have been gifted with her mother\'s good looks. Her mother had been stunningly beautiful though whereas Delaney had always just found herself lovely.

Thinking of her mother, she wondered what the woman would have advised her to do in this situation. Would she have been on Delaney\'s side and fought to break the contract? Or would she have sided with her Aunt and told her daughter to follow through with the agreement?

Delaney guessed her father, without her mother there, would have been willing to help her try to break the contract. Of course, he had never really been one to worry about the consequences of his actions.

A quick rapping at her door made her jump. She turned to see her maid had returned, pale with wide eyes, to tell her Lord Adair and his mother had arrived. Delaney nodded and thanked her, saying she would be down in just a moment.

She sighed. No doubt the startled maid would go down to the kitchens and tell all the other servants about the scarred Lord waiting upstairs for their mistress. She hoped her Aunt and Uncle\'s butler and housekeeper would keep the others in line.

The last thing they needed was for their servants to be seen trying to catch a glimpse of Vincent. She would have to make sure Uncle Felix spoke to them himself after this to ensure they also didn\'t go running to spread the gossip about Vincent to anyone who would listen.

Delaney took once last look at herself to make sure everything was as it should be. Taking a deep breath, she left her room and headed for the stairs.

Hands in front of her, she ran her thumb over the gems in her ring, praying it would give her confidence when it came time to face the man who had saved it for her.

Their loyal butler stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for her. He smiled but it didn\'t quite reach his eyes. Pasted on for her benefit no doubt.

"They\'re in your Uncle\'s study my lady," he told her looking towards the closed door.

He stepped to the door ahead of her and took hold of the handle. As soon as she nodded, he knocked quickly on the door, opening it as soon as he heard her Uncle say to.

In the study, the first thing she saw was her Uncle and Aunt sitting behind the desk with thinly veiled worried expressions.

Next, she saw Violet Adair sitting in one of the chairs on the closer side. Her salt and pepper hair was styled as elegantly as the wine-colored dress she wore. Even at her age, the woman was still a beauty.

Her green eyes met Delaney\'s and she gave her a smile that was more of a smirk.

"Well Delaney, how kind of you to join us," she almost purred, "I hope you don\'t mind us having this little get-together on such short notice."

Delaney forced a small smile to her lips in reply but didn\'t dare actually speak. Violet was already poking at her and the "get-together" had just begun. She had her pale hands folded gracefully on her lap but might as well have been holding daggers. She was prepared for a fight.

The slightest movement beside her made Delaney turn. In the corner of the room, back from the others, Vincent stood watching her. Just like the night of the party, he stood back out of the light as much as he could although the study was fairly well lit.

His dark green eyes met hers and the sight of him again caused her heart to jump. She fought to keep her face steady and not give away the fear she felt inside.

He looked away towards the floor then and Delaney wondered if she had failed.

He was impeccably dressed in a black suit with a white shirt underneath. With his almost shoulder-length black hair, falling down over the angry red scars across his face and neck, he was quite an alarming figure.

He kept his hands clasped together in front of him and didn\'t look up at her again. Delaney stood in her place just inside the room, unsure what to do from here. Nervously she played with her ring again.

Violet noticed this and the slightest frown creased her forehead, "That is a lovely ring dear. Where did you get it?"

Delaney covered the ring with her other hand self-consciously and glanced at Vincent. Although his expression had barely changed, she could see in his eyes his surprise to see her wearing his ring.

"It was a gift," she said hesitantly, "from Vincent."

Violet\'s eyes flashed as she glanced from her son back to Delaney, "May I see it?"

"It was Grandmother\'s ring," Vincent spoke then causing Delaney to stop in her approach of Violet, "I\'ve had it for a long time."

"Have you?" Violet asked and Delaney could feel the tension between the mother and son, "I don\'t recall us ever discussing that particular ring."

"I don\'t need to discuss it with you," Vincent said simply then, surprising Delaney as well as her Aunt and Uncle she imagined. They had never heard anyone speak to Violet so bluntly, let alone her own son.

"Oh well," Violet smiled sweetly though her eyes were not sweet as she stared at Vincent, "We shall discuss it later."

Delaney looked at Vincent apologetically, wondering if she was not supposed to be wearing the ring. His eyes met hers for only a moment before he shifted to look downward again.

"Now then, let\'s talk about what we came here for shall we?" Violet moved quickly past her sons rude remark, smirking again, "The wedding for you and Vincent!"

Delaney swallowed hard. The time had come.