“You already carry yourself well,” Serena observed during one practice session.
“Better than most debutantes who’ve been trained since childhood. It’s the competence, I think. You’ve spent years being the most capable person in every room. That creates a natural authority.”
“Use it how?”
“As a weapon, a statement. Every eye on you is an opportunity to demonstrate exactly who you are.” Serena stepped back, assessing her work.
“You’re going to be magnificent. They won’t know what to do with you.”
Mel met her eyes in the mirror they had been using for practice.
“Excellent.”
The word came out with more force than she had intended, carrying an edge of the anger she had been suppressing since this entire situation began. She was tired of being cautious. Tired of preparing for disaster. Tired of assuming that people who had never met her would decide she was unworthy.
Serena smiled, the expression carrying genuine approval.
“There it is. That’s what you’ll need. Not defensiveness, not anxiety, not desperate attempts to please. Just that, the certainty that you belong exactly where you are.”
“I’m a governess. I don’t belong in ballrooms and drawing rooms and whatever else society considers essential.”
“You’re a woman who raised three remarkable children, transformed a notorious rake into a responsible father, and earned the affection of a duke who had sworn never to enter into matrimony. You belong wherever you choose to be.” Serena’s voice softened.
“The circumstances of your birth and your employment are irrelevant. What matters is what you’ve done with them.”
Mel considered this, turning it over in her mind like a puzzle she was still learning to solve.
“You believe that.”
“I know it. I’ve watched women with every advantage destroy themselves through poor choices, and I’ve watched women with nothing build lives of meaning and purpose. Birth is an accident. Character is a choice.” Serena moved to sit besideher, the formal distance of instructor and student giving way to something warmer.
“You chose to cherish three children no one expected you to. You chose to bestow your favourable opinion upon a man from whom the rest of the world had withdrawn its countenance. You chose to stay when leaving would have been easier.”
“I almost left. I had my trunk packed and was on the verge of walking out the door.”
“But you didn’t. The children stopped you, yes, but you let them stop you. You could have pushed past them, made excuses, escaped before anyone could change your mind. Instead, you listened. You let yourself be persuaded by three six-year-olds using logic and evidence.” Serena smiled. “That tells me everything I need to know about your character.”
The door opened, and Rhys appeared in the doorway. He had been banished from the house during the lessons, relegated to estate business and outdoor activities with the children while Serena worked with Mel. But he checked in periodically, his expression carrying the particular anxiety of a man who was not entirely certain what was happening inside his own home.
“Is the duchess training progressing well?”
“It’s not duchess training.” Mel rose from her chair, smoothing her skirts.
“It’s strategy and social navigation. Entirely different things.”
“She’s doing beautifully,” Serena added. “Another day or two and she’ll be ready to terrify every hostess in London.”
“That’s not quite how I would have phrased it.”
“It’s exactly how I would phrase it. The best defense is a good offense, and Mel has offense in abundance. She simply needs to learn when to deploy it.”
Rhys looked between the two women with an expression that suggested he was uncertain whether to be pleased or alarmed by their evident camaraderie.
“Should I be worried?”
“You should be grateful,” Serena said firmly.
“Your future wife is going to be the most formidable duchess London has seen in a generation. Society will either adore her or fear her, either outcome serves your purposes.”
