Dakota Dreams (Historical Romance) by Constance O'Banyon

other his daughter. The wife is married, and the daughter is long past her prime."
    John squared his shoulders, knowing there was trouble ahead. "That's where the proxy comes in, Dakota. The captain's daughter will stand in for your true bride."
    Dakota's eyes blazed. "No, I will not marry that woman. I do not know her, and she is not the woman I would choose as a wife."
    "She will not be your wife," John explained patiently. "Your grandfather has already chosen a bride for you — she is Lady Breanna Kenton, and she is in England, awaiting your arrival. The captain's daughter, Rose, will only represent her tonight. In England, Lady Breanna will also be married to you by proxy with someone to stand in for you."
    Dakota was trying to understand. He had been taught to respect the elders of his tribe, and he was willing to transfer that respect to his grandfather, but marry a woman he had never seen? No! "This kind of marriage does not appeal to me, John. If I am being married to someone I have never seen, she must be extremely repulsive, and my grandfather knows that if I see her, I would not be her husband."
    John glanced up at the sky in a gesture of helplessness. "That's not the way it is at all, Dakota. This kind of marriage is not uncommon with the nobility."
    "I want to respect my grandfather, but I will not bond with a woman I have never seen," Dakota said stubbornly.
    "It is your grandfather's command, and you don't have a choice."
    Dakota was still trying to understand. "If I do as my grandfather asks, will it be a real marriage?"
    "I am told it is legal."
    “John, have you ever seen the woman who is to be my wife?"
    "No, I haven't," John answered honestly. "All I know about her is that she was chosen because of her bloodline and because of her chastity."
    Dakota frowned, wishing he could understand the white man's peculiarities. "I have known of many chaste women in my village. Some of them were virginal because no man wished to take them to his mat."
    John suppressed a smile. "We have all known this kind of woman. Let us hope it will not be so with your wife. If fate is kind, she will be a real beauty."
    "I can see by your eyes that you do not believe this. Would you not have heard of her if she were a great beauty?"
    "Well . . . perhaps she will have an admirable personality."
    Dakota did not find this humorous. "I will do this thing, but only because it is my grandfather's wish. But . . . if I do not like the woman, I will not take her to my bed, and I will not hesitate to put her aside."
    John quickly nodded, not daring to explain to Dakota that in polite society, it was not so easy to rid oneself of an unwanted wife.
    Suddenly Dakota's face whitened beneath his tan. "John, just how far am I expected to go with the captain's daughter tonight?"
    John's lips twitched in humor. "You are not expected to sleep with her, if that's what you are afraid of."
    "I will not be husband to that woman," Dakota said in a voice that deepened with determination.
    "Rest easy, my friend. You will be required to do no more than go through the ceremony with the captain's daughter." He smiled. "The joys of your wedding night will be saved for the Lady Breanna."
    That night, in the captain's cabin, with John and Levi in attendance, Dakota Remington, Viscount of Remington, was married to some faceless woman in England. Her substitute, a horse-faced woman in her early thirties, with a nervous giggle, did not serve to dispel Dakota's concerns. As soon as the ceremony was over, Dakota left abruptly, still not convinced that he would not be expected to take the captain's daughter to his bed.
    His thoughts were even more troubled as he wondered about the wife awaiting his arrival in England. He was determined that no one would force him to couple with a woman he found distasteful.
    ***
    Breanna's new wardrobe was being packed in trunks for her journey to Weatherford Hall at the end of the week. There she would be expected to await her new