“You don’t have to do that, Your Grace,” she said softly.
“I know. However, I will still walk in if I hear her abusing you. Someone must stand up to that woman. Mina, forgive me.”
Wilhelmina sighed and shrugged. “I know my mother well enough to know she deserves such condemnation.”
Straightening her back, Daphne held her head high as she strode forward to meet with her mother. A maid served them tea and quickly retreated. She could not blame the young woman; her mother was a deplorable person.
The Dowager Countess of Grisham sat with her back stiff on an armchair. Daphne could not stomach the grim satisfaction on her mother’s face.
When will this woman finally learn to love her children?
“I am here for reasons you may already suspect, Daphne,” her mother declared regally. “Why are you here? Why would you not be upholding your duties as the Duchess of Wolfcrest? Surely you know that whispers have begun circulating among theton. I will not tolerate your attempts to ruin the family name. Do think about your unmarried sister, Victoria, your twin no less! How will anyone want to marry her if the supposed better behaved of the two of you is toeing the edge of scandal?”
“Mother…”
“I am also here for another reason. Briarwood is dead. I don’t know if you have been reading the news. I hope you are. You need to look out for your name, which is in danger of being mentioned at some point. A husband who might have owned a gaming hell. A former suitor burning alive. Then, you are here away from your husband.”
Daphne did not know what to say about that. She felt numb. There had been no reason to suspect anything had happened toLord Briarwood. All her siblings knew better than to mention his name in her vicinity and she had most dutifully avoided reading the newspapers.
Was she relieved he was gone? Yes! Did she want him to die? No. She was not that kind of person. She’d rather he was alive and ready to atone for his sins to humanity.
“How did you know I was here, Mother?” she asked, instead. “We told nobody where I was going. My siblings would not reveal my secrets so willingly.”
Of her siblings’ loyalty she was certain. None of them liked the Dowager, but the woman did not really care.
Her mother made a derisive sound. “Are you truly asking me that question? I’ve been here in this world for more than forty years, navigating Society. I know everything that happens in my own household, Daphne. My own family. Everything. I know of every whisper, scheme and even attempts to sneak around,” she said haughtily.
Daphne could not help but feel a chill. Her mother had always been calculating and manipulative, but did she really know everything?
“I knew when you plotted to head off to the vicar’s cottage to escape Briarwood. I knew where you were and what you were planning to do.”
Daphne stared at her own mother in disbelief.
What does she think I planned to do? Is this a fresh attempt to accuse me of luring the Duke into a false marriage?
Before Daphne could voice her concerns, something niggled in her mind. A memory. She didn’t want to call for help, but she needed an answer, at least.
“Mina! Come here, please!” she shouted, wondering if her mother could hear the apprehension in that cry.
Wilhelmina quickly entered the parlor, her body rigid as if priming for a fight. She was telling the truth when she’d said she would be there for Daphne, and that made the latter’s heart soar.
“Did we ever tell Mother about the plan for me to stay at Reverend Nicholson’s?” she asked, trying to keep her voice calm and even. “Did anyone give her the precise location of his cottage?”
“Never,” Mina said, looking confused. “Mother had already left before we’d come to that decision. Our family and Mr. Finch alone had an idea what we were up to.”
The truth dawned on Daphne. It struck her with so much force, she could not help but exhale sharply and straighten her body, almost lifting herself up from her seat.
The woman sitting across from her was supposed to be her protector. She was her mother! Mothers were supposed to be caring. They didn’t lead their children’s enemies toward them when they were hiding. But that was what she did.
“You,” Daphne spat, that one word filled with disgust and accusation. Worse, she felt the horror surround her whole body, shaking her to her very core. “Youinformed Briarwood of my location. You didn’t hesitate to point him toward the cottage. I didn’t leave so I could wriggle away from a marriage to a decent man, Mother! I escaped a scoundrel, but you made certain he’d find me.”
Daphne wondered then what would have happened if Adrian were not there at all to provide her with an alternative. She was grateful for his intervention, even though she was still furious with him.
The Dowager tilted her chin up, proud of what she had done. This was not a woman who would admit to a fault.
“I did it for you, ungrateful girl! I was not going to let everyone whisper about my disgraced daughter. Imagine if they had found out that my daughter was hiding with a vicar’s family! It was better for the Earl to find you and make you his wife rather than bring any further speculation to our doorstep. You were rebellious, Daphne. I had to do something!”
Wilhelmina shook with fury, her face turning pale. Even through everything, Daphne had not seen her sister like that.
