She should be grateful.
A woman like her could fare much worse. And yet she deserved the world on a silver platter. All he felt was an overwhelming, crushing emptiness.
“Your Grace.” Mrs. Whipple appeared in the doorway, a small tray in hand. “It is lunch time. I thought to bring you a simple tray with finger sandwiches, some hot tea, and?—”
“Leave me,” Hugo barked, slamming his fist on the table.
“As you wish, Your Grace,” Mrs. Whipple said, leaving the tray on the table by the door and turning around. “As you wish…”
I must get through the charity event, this cursed test. No matter what he says, no matter how confusin’ this all is, I must do right for these lads. Me own life can wait. They need me.
After that fated morning, Elspeth had thrown herself into the preparations for the upcoming charity event. She inspected the table linens that had recently arrived, unboxing them with the staff, who took them downstairs for pressing. She received the flower deliveries and carefully placed each bloom in ornatevases. She dictated menus to Mrs. Whipple so that Monsieur Henri could review the final orders. Unfortunately, her Scottish French was too unrefined for his Parisian ears.
“So that covers all of the courses,” Mrs. Whipple said with a final flick of her quill. “That will be nine in all, ten including dessert, and a quartet for entertainment between dessert and digestifs in the ballroom. Have the boys finished rehearsing their number?”
“Aye, they sound most lovely.”
“Then I think that’s it, My Lady.”
“I think it does cover it all,” Elspeth agreed, running through her own mental list. “I cannae believe we are almost there. So much work for one evenin’!”
“But what an evening it will be, Lady Inverhall,” Mrs. Whipple said with a warm smile. “You have done as well as any duchess I have ever seen. You have a knack for this, whether you can see it or not.”
“Thank ye.” Elspeth felt a flush rise to her cheeks.
“Any duchess I have ever seen…”
“Let us hope that the boys can behave during their part. That is what I am concerned about most!”
“I can only pray that they do,” Elspeth said, looking up at the sky. “Now, I think there must be another million things I must get to!”
Her every movement was precise yet detached. It was almost as if she were a machine going through the motions while her soul was floating elsewhere.
She knew in her heart that it was a way to numb the pain. She needed to give her hands something to do… while her heart shattered into a million pieces. She could not allow herself to think of why Hugo had rejected her. She would not let herself wonder why she was not happier at the prospect of returning to Inverhall at the end of it all.
I must stay focused on the here and now.
“Good afternoon, Lady Elspeth,” the Dowager Duchess greeted as she approached her.
“I am sorry, I dinnae hear ye come in, Yer Grace. What do ye think so far?”
“You are doing well enough with these final arrangements, but I cannot help but notice there is something absent from your perennially sunny disposition. I cannot put my finger on it. Are you well?”
“Well enough,” Elspeth replied with a fake smile.
“Please do not tell me you are coming down with an ailment this close to the festivities.”
“It is nothin’, Yer Grace,” Elspeth mumbled, looking down at her hands as she wrung them.
“Hmm.” The Dowager Duchess drew closer to her. “If there is something wrong, some trouble, it is better to spill it out now.”
“No trouble,” Elspeth insisted, her shoulders slumping as she looked down at her feet. “I am just nervous about the upcomin’ event. That must be it.”
“I do not believe you, Elspeth. And you must keep your shoulders back and your head held high,” the Dowager Duchess said with a click of her tongue. “I know you have much to focus your energy on. I will not distract you from your work.”
Elspeth watched her turn on her heel and walk with purpose down the hall.
Oh no.
