The Duke's Secret Bride
公爵的秘密新娘
by Xnoval Originals · Romance · 8 chapters · complete series
The Duke's Secret Bride is a Romance web novel by Xnoval Originals, with 8 chapters.
Synopsis
London, in the Regency era. When Cecilia Wentworth flees on the morning of her wedding, her younger sister Clara is veiled, rushed to the altar, and married in her place to Theodore Ashworth, Duke of Harrington, a widower whispered to have buried one wife already and to want this marriage only for what hides inside the Wentworth dowry. Clara is not who the duke believes her to be. But neither, though she does not yet know it, is Cecilia. Swapped in the cradle by an uncle determined to steal an inheritance, Clara is the true Wentworth heiress, and the will that would prove it has travelled to Kent inside her own dowry chest. On her wedding night the duke lifts her veil and says, quite calmly, that he knows she is not Cecilia, and asks where she has hidden the real bride. Trapped between a husband who sees through her, a sister who must never be found, and an uncle who will bury the truth a second time, Clara must decide what her real name is worth. A substitute bride, a stolen birthright, a duke with secrets of his own: some marriages begin with a lie and can only be saved by the truth.
摄政时代的伦敦，温特沃斯家的长女塞西莉亚在婚礼当天逃婚，次女克拉拉被蒙上面纱、匆匆送上祭坛，代嫁给传闻克妻、深居简出的哈灵顿公爵西奥多·阿什沃思。没人知道，克拉拉其实才是温特沃斯家真正的继承人——出生时她被叔父塞德里克调换，姐姐塞西莉亚才是那个冒名者；而公爵执意迎娶『温特沃斯小姐』，为的是一份藏在新娘嫁妆里的遗嘱，它能证明谁的血脉才名正言顺。新婚夜，公爵挑起她的面纱，平静地说：我知道你不是塞西莉亚。一个代嫁的新娘，一个被偷走的人生，一位藏着秘密的公爵——这桩始于谎言的婚姻，要靠真相才能走下去。
Chapter 1: The Fugitive Bride and the Stand-in
By the time the church bells rolled over the rooftops, nothing remained in Cecilia Wentworth's room but a single letter.
Clara stood at the doorway, the bouquet she had prepared for her sister still cradled in her arms. Mother rushed to the dressing table, snatched up the letter, and after reading a scant two lines her face went the colour of parchment. She wheeled around, took the veil that had been draped over the back of a chair, and pressed it onto Clara's head without so much as a word.
"Put it on." Mother's fingers trembled so badly she could not tie the satin ribbon steady. "The bride today must be you."
"Mother, please look at me—I am Clara."
"I see clearly enough." Mother smoothed the edge of the veil down, inch by inch, as though she meant to swallow Clara whole inside it. "Because I see clearly, it can only be you. Your sister is gone and will not be found before dawn. The bells have already rung, the guests are on their way to the church, and the Duke's carriage is idling at the corner of the street."
Clara gazed out through the veil, and everything in the room swam behind a wash of white. Her sister's letter lay open on the dressing table, the hand hurried, the ink bled in two places where tears had gone on it. The letter held little more than a few jagged lines: she would not marry that widower, she could not bear the name that clung to his estate, she had gone, and she begged them not to hunt her down—only to keep Mother safe.
"She wouldn't even write where she went." Clara's voice was barely a breath.
Details
- Author
- Xnoval Originals
- Genre
- Romance
- Status
- Ongoing
- Chapters
- 8
- Length
- 29373 words
- Updated
- Updated 2026-11-10
- Languages
- 简体中文, 繁體中文, English
Frequently asked questions
Is The Duke's Secret Bride complete?
Not yet — The Duke's Secret Bride is still being serialized, with 8 chapters published so far.
Who wrote The Duke's Secret Bride?
The Duke's Secret Bride was written by Xnoval Originals.
How can I read The Duke's Secret Bride?
You can read The Duke's Secret Bride online on Xnoval. The first 3 chapters are free, and the book is available in 简体中文, 繁體中文, English.