Pushing aside her encounter with the duchess, Lady Elaine headed straight for her son's room, hoping to find him, but she was met with more disappointment after opening the door.
Rather than seeing the nuisance of a son she was looking for, she saw her sixteen-year-old daughter who was worryingly pacing back and forth, only to halt in her footsteps after sighting her mother.
"Inna?"
"Mother." Her expression regained calm as she hurried to stand beside her at the entrance of the door. "Have you found Brother yet? It won't be long before Father makes his way into the building, and Brother isn't in his room."
"No, I haven't seen your Brother." Her Mother worriedly responded. "Today's meeting with your father is extremely crucial. Your Father is going to give more in-depth lessons about the duties of a Duke, and running a Dukedom, but your brother obviously doesn't care. He keeps making himself look bad in front of your father. Does he not want to be picked as heir? He certainly acts like it!"
"But where could he have gone? I don't think he returned home last night. Did you check the house of the Marquees?" Inna inquired in a soft tone.
"I'm just came from there. Remember the last warning I gave to your Brother? I took a knife with me so I could chase him back here with it, but he isn't there."
"Brother has a hobby for getting into trouble. There's no one I know of that relates with Brother, people call him insane and no one dares to associate with him, so his whereabouts are--"
The sound of riding carriages made its way into their building, causing the both of them to gasp in horror.
Realizing they both were thinking the same thing, they hurried to the window and peered out- True enough, it was the Duke's carriage.
The Duke had returned.
Juliana and her three sons were already waiting outside with a smile, getting ready to dutifully welcome the Duke from his journey. Meanwhile, the mother and daughter pair were upstairs, and her son was nowhere to be seen.
"It's impossible to check now." Lady Elaine said despondently, "your father is here."
"This isn't good, Mother, but where would brother be?"
~
"Catch her!" A man yelled as they chased a lady down the stairs of a church, stunning the few witnesses that came to watch the couples be joined in a holy matrimony.
She was beautifully dressed in a pure white wedding gown, but there was no trace of happiness on her face. Instead, she was determined to escape from this trap of a marriage she nearly fell into as she ran away from her wedding.
"She's running too fast!" One of the men chasing her stopped running to catch his breath. They've been chasing her around for ten minutes and she was still running.
"Don't let her escape or the boss will have all your heads on a black platter!" Came the warning from one of the leaders of the men.
The girl took a quick look behind her and panicked. She lifted her heavy hem of her dress even higher, risking her modesty so she could lengthen her strides and Sprint faster. She knew she had taken a huge risk to fleeing from her own wedding, but she wasn't going to let herself be forced into a marriage to an old ugly man twice her age.
This wedding was a sham to even begin with anyway, her Aunt and Uncle had all but sold her to a strange man who visited Carmarthen Town, just so that they could get their hands on her inheritance.
"You lousy brat! I'm giving you a chance to stop running or else I'm going to cut off those pretty legs of yours, trust me Mr Gregory wouldn't mind since you're just going to be a toy in his new pet collection." One of the men threatened but she didn't flinch, and continued to run on her bare feet.
She would never surrender, she would rather die while escaping than cower before useless men like that.
Being afraid wasn't an option either. It was a decision that majorly affected her life.
Not minding where her feets were taking her to, she continued to run, her main goal was to get out of church through the main gate, and find someone that can help her escape further.
"She's going to escape!" Her uncle yelled, alarmed at the sight of his niece leaping out from the opened gate. "Stop her!!"
The lady panted, her legs were shaking. She looked around wildly for someone that could help, but the streets were empty, save for a fancy-looking carriage that was parked right in the middle.
"Stop running!" Those men were still hot on her heels. Left with limited choices, she ran towards the carriage, screaming through the windows.
"Help me! please!" To her horror when she stood on her toes to take a peek, there was no one sitting inside, and it looked dark. Whoever owned this carriage must have stepped out with the coachman. She was on her own and her pursuers knew it.
They slowly began to surround the carriage, knowing the young lady could no longer escape.
"Don't even think about leaving here without getting married!" Her uncle warned, his eyes glinting with malice.
She shuddered, but an idea came into her mind that very instant. Although it was wrong, it was her only chance at an escape.
"Wait, what are you doing??!" Her uncle screamed.
Without thinking twice, she quickly pulled herself onto the Coachman's seat, roughly grabbing the reins of the horse like she knew exactly what she's meant to do. The horses neighed and reared their front legs in surprise, scaring the men further away.
"Get out of my way!!" With a flick of her wrist, they were off!! The horses were so well-trained that they understood her intention, racing off without warning.
"Get back here!" Her uncle yelled in dismay, but the carriage didn't stop. Damn her! "All of you- after her!!"
Without thinking twice or considering who was speaking to her, she quickly sat on the Coachman's seat, and when she saw they were about to catch up to her, she instantly started the carriage, causing the two horses to neigh and she rode off in quick speed, to her own bewilderment.
"Get back here, after her!" Her uncle yelled, not liking the situation he found himself in and those men went after her, chasing the carriage.