The place I ran away to was paradise

Cecilia was the most famous woman on the continent. She was beautiful. She was rich. And she had been married seven times. Her birth mother died of puerperal fever only days after giving birth to her. Her father? Unknown. Her mother’s elder brother, Duke Jericho, took pity on his orphaned niece and raised her himself. A mother who died unwed after bearing a child of unknown parentage—by any standard, Cecilia’s lot in life should have been a hard one. Even with her uncle as guardian, she should have grown up a disregarded burden. But under the Duke’s lavish patronage, Cecilia bloomed in innocence and ease. By his order, no one dared treat her disrespectfully. He seemed to care for her even more than for his own children. Then, when Cecilia was twelve, Duke Jericho sold her. Her groom was Du