Lady Anne met her gaze in the mirror’s reflection. “I know I have been a poor example of a mother to both you and Coco over the past year. I should have been here and made certain of your success while out in society. It was wrong of me to stay in Rome. Since my return to England, I’ve come to understand that you and your sister endured some small hardships while I was away, and I’m…”
The duchess didn’t finish her sentence. Victoria wished she would. Wished that her mother would finally offer up a long-awaited apology.
Small hardships—she has to be in jest.The truth was that pretty much the entirehaut tonhad turned their backs on the Kembal family. Social invitations had shriveled away to nothing. The other matrons of the extended family, including the Duchess of Strathmore, had done their best to protect both her and Coco. But, in the end, the two young women were forced to leave London and retreat to the Mowbray family estate in the Leicestershire countryside.
Victoria couldn’t find the words to tell her mother just how horrible things had been for the family once news of her having left the duke had broken in the London press. While the duchess had been enjoying herself in Rome, the rest of the Kembal family had been made to suffer.
But her mother hadn’t been told of what had happened in London during that dreadful time. She didn’t know that the grief-stricken duke had been in agony and had refused to leave his bedroom for weeks. Before he’d departed for Rome, Gideon had made his brothers and sisters swear an oath to keep as much of what happened during that awful period a secret. Even from the duchess.
She met Lady Anne’s tear-filled gaze in the mirror and forced herself to say, “What is done is done, Mama. You came home. You and Papa are reconciled. Time will heal everything else.”
Her words of comfort were empty. There had been a time when her resentment toward her mother had run fierce. She was slowly moving toward forgiving her mother, but it wasn’t easy.
“I am so sorry, sweetheart.”
Victoria sighed, slowly shaking her head. She stepped away from the mirror, not wanting to hear any more. This apology should have been offered to all the Kembal offspring, not just her. But she knew her mother only too well, the words of sorrow were not just a spontaneous outpouring of emotion. Everything pointed to Lady Anne having her own agenda.
She is planning something.
“Why are you here, Mama? And don’t bother trying to tell me this is some sort of feeble attempt at an apology.”
A gasp of shock escaped Lady Anne’s lips as the blow landed, but Victoria calmly held her gaze. The events of the past year had hardened her.
“I have much to atone for, especially with you girls. The boys. Well they are men, and things are different for them. Gideon came home from Italy with a wife. Richard and Matthew will find their own way in life. But it’s a mother’s responsibility to see her daughters well settled.”
But you didn’t think about that when you left us.
“So what do you have in mind, Mama? I assume from this little chat that you have already hatched some sort of plan to secure me a husband,” snapped Victoria.
The duchess flinched. “That’s an unkind remark, Victoria dear. I am simply trying to do what is right for you.”
“Right for me or for you?” She was tired of her mother’s machinations, but even more hurt by the fact that the duchessdidn’t seem to comprehend how much she had hurt her children. How Victoria had felt abandoned.
This conversation couldn’t have come at a worse time. After the disappointing evening she’d endured last night, Victoria wasn’t in a charitable mood this morning. The food at the restaurant had been tasteless. Even her interest in the spice war couldn’t spark her into a better frame of mind.
Victoria nodded in the direction of the gown which lay on the bed. “New gowns won’t fix all ills, Mama. Nor will they secure me love.”
The duchess moved toward the bed. She picked up the gold colored dress and returned to Victoria’s side.
“You are right, new gowns won’t undo the pain and scandal that my behavior wrought upon this family, but they will help to get you back into society. And to find you a suitable husband.”
Her heart stung as she noted that her mother didn’t mention the word love. Unlike the love-filled unions of her older brother and sister, it seemed that her marriage was going to be one born of necessity, not affection.
“And of course this search for a suitable husband will no doubt benefit you.”
“I will admit that what works for you, will assist this family,” replied Lady Anne.
I knew it. She’s using me as a means to get back in circulation.
Her hands balled into fists. The weight of her mother’s expectations now settled heavily on her shoulders.
How dare she place me in this unenviable position.
Hot tears stung Victoria’s eyes. The temptation to say something even more hurtful, to strike out at her mother, was almost too much to bear.
But then the thought of her father, of what he’d been through, drew her up sharp. Only yesterday, her heart hadcaught at hearing his laughter once more. The light and spark had returned to the duke’s eyes. She couldn’t take that away from him.
If she took her place in society and secured a respectable husband, the rest of the Kembals would be able to move more freely about theton. People would have her wedding to talk about rather than her parents’ scandal.
