“Oh, Mercy.” Mama shook her head like she was speaking to a child. “You canneverbe certain you will be happy with someone. And you will never know them fully until you are married. Perhaps not even then.”
“But you and Papa were different. You loved each other deeply when you married.”
“That is true,” Mama said. “But—”
“And Rosalind was practically mad over Richard.”
Mama took a deep breath. “I did love your father, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t scared about what I was getting myself into. I knew happiness wasn’t guaranteed simply because we loved each other.”
“Why did you marry him, then?”
“Young lady...” Papa’s eyes were furrowed, but his disapproval was playful.
Mama rose, stepped behind Papa’s chair, and placed both of her hands on his shoulders, then kissed him on the top of his head. “That is easy to answer. As scared as I was, I couldn’t imagine living my life without him.”
Papa reached up and squeezed her hand. Normally, Mercy would be moved by such displays, but not this morning. Not when the life she had made for herself, as well as the future she had planned, were being threatened by a small scrap of thickly embossed paper. “Well, I can most certainly imagine my life without the duke. He only entered it a moment ago.”
Papa handed her the note. Just as before, the handwriting was careful, straight, and without flourish. Even the way he wrote was proper and uninspiring. How could her parents be so blinded by the man’s title that they didn’t see how unsuitable he was for her? She needed more than straight lines and perfect flowers that blossomed exactly on schedule.
Papa cleared his throat. “So, if he asks for your hand, would you like me to say no?”
Mama sucked in a breath and looked as though she might faint, but a wave of relief washed over Mercy. Papa was Papa again. She reached across the table and grasped his hand. “I hardly care what you say to him. If I don’t want to marry him, I will tell him myself. But thank you, Papa, for being willing.”
Papa tipped his head to one side and squeezed her hand in return. “Of course. Your mother and I would like to see you settled down. But more importantly, we want you to be happy. We are excited about His Grace’s interest in you. I know him to be a good man, he is proper to a fault and would never dream of doing you harm, and as much as your mother and I have talked about love and happiness in our marriage, goodness is at the root of all of those things.”
She couldn’t deny that. She had never heard a bad word said about the duke. And every interaction with him thus far hadbeen decent and good. But even though she knew Papa was correct, goodness wasn’t the easiest thing to get excited about. A man who didn’t leave a blot or a smudge on his letters certainly was not the kind to seek a stolen moment during a party and pull her out of sight and kiss her. “I suppose we will simply have to find out what he has to say this afternoon.”
The air in the house felt different all morning. If she didn’t know better, she would say it was humming. Mama was in and out of Mercy’s room while Kate pinned her hair and helped her dress. At first Mama had insisted Mercy wear the only short-sleeved, low-bodice afternoon dress she had, but then she changed her mind, and Mercy had to start the dressing process all over again.
Kate fastened the last button high on Mercy’s neck, and Mama gave them both a nod. The deep-blue dress only had a bit of lace at each sleeve and covered nearly every inch of Mercy, but the cut and quality of the dress were masterful, with pieced diagonal fabric on both sides of her waist, creating a figure where she barely had one.
“You always look stunning in this dress.” Mama nodded and put her fingers to her lips. “I’m only debating what necklace will look good over the high neck.”
“None, Mama. It isn’t as though we are going to a ball or the theater. Who wears large pieces of jewelry at home?”
“Typically, no one. But the Duke of Harrington isn’t a typical visitor.”
Mama unlocked the jewelry case she had brought. The three of them peered inside. The emeralds were obviously not correct. And while the pearls might work, she had already worn them. Truly, any necklace would look out of place. Kate tentatively pointed to a pair of earrings at the back of the box. The earrings were a perfect compromise of excess and class. Mercy had always loved wearing them. Grandfather had brought thestones home from a voyage to Russia. They were a unique stone of glossy yellow, found only in the Ural Mountains. The large stones were polished but still had some of their natural curves and edges, and when worn, they hung from her ears like two rough-shaped stars.
Mama nodded at Kate, and after the earrings were put into place, Mama finally left the room to finish her own preparations for the evening.
Kate laid rejected ribbons and trimmings neatly back into Mercy’s dresser. Every few seconds, she would look up at Mercy as if she wanted to say something, but then she would wince and go back to her work.
“Do you need something, Kate?” Mercy asked.
“I hate to ask.” Kate’s voice was soft and careful, as if she were trying to cover her Irish accent. “I spoke to Mrs. Brooksby, but she said I should speak to Lady Driarwood, but I thought perhaps speaking to you first would be the best idea.”
“Speaking to me about what?”
Kate dropped the last of the ribbons into the drawer and turned to Mercy completely. “I’ve a cousin—her ma and pa just died. The family is planning to send her to Canada in hopes that she can find work there.”
Mercy stilled. To hear Kate, whom she saw every day speak of death so stoically, made her heart sputter. “Does she want to go to Canada?”
“What she wants is work. But, ma’am, she’d be going on a coffin ship. They’re affordable, but not safe.” Kate shuddered. “Bridget is good and strong. I know she is a hard worker. I thought perhaps your family could use another scullery maid.”
Mercy’s shoulders lifted. This, at least, was something she could do. The coffin ships were built to bring lumber from the New World and were never meant to be passenger ships, especially not to passengers who couldn’t afford to bring enoughfood for the long ocean voyage. The thought of any family member of Kate’s making such a journey made Mercy’s stomach queasy. Mama would feel the same. “Of course we could use a scullery maid. I’ll speak to Mama about it tonight.”
Kate put her hands to her chest. “Truly?”
