Her father had the decency to look ashamed. “My apologies. My words came out much harsher than I had intended.”
“But you said them, none the less,” Simone argued.
“Yes, but I could have said it differently,” her father said.
Simone stared at her father in disbelief. She knew that people always had a way of revealing who they were. You just had to give them enough space and time to do so. Why did she think the best in her father? He just kept disappointing her, over and over, proving to her that he was not the man she thought he was. It was time to stop seeing the good in him and start seeing what he showed her.
Her father turned his attention towards Juliette, for which Simone was most grateful. She was done with this conversation. “How do you intend to spend your day today?”
Juliette smiled, one that she seemed to reserve only for her father. “I have loads to do today, including the final fitting for my ballgown,” she said.
“Why doesn’t the dressmaker just come to the townhouse?” her father asked.
“I have a few other errands that I must see to and it only made sense for me to go to the dressmaker’s shop,” Juliette replied.
“Perhaps Simone can go with you,” her father suggested.
Simone went to object but Juliette spoke first. “I do not think that is a good idea. She would no doubt get bored with everything I must accomplish today.”
Now Simone’s curiosity was piqued. “What errands must you see to?” she asked.
“This and that,” Juliette remarked dismissively.
Her father reached for Juliette’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “I am needed at the House of Lords today, but I shall return home for dinner.”
“Wonderful,” Juliette said. “I shall have the cook prepare your favorites.”
He shoved back his chair and rose. “Simone,” he muttered before he walked out of the room.
Juliette’s eyes trailed after her father as she remarked, “Your father does not seem pleased with you.”
“He never is.” And that was the truth. With every passing day, her father seemed to look at her with more and more contempt. How would he treat her when he discovered that she had claimed her inheritance?
Leaning back in her seat, Juliette shared, “I didn’t have a close relationship with my father either. He was always disappointed that I was born a useless female.”
“But he did have a son.”
Juliette waved her hand in front of her. “Yes, he did have Victor, but he believed I would become an utter drain on his finances,” she said. “The moment I was able to leave his household, I seized the opportunity to make it on my own.”
“What of your mother?”
Looking unimpressed by her question, Juliette replied, “My mother was weak. She looked at my father like he was God’s gift to her, but he was just a drunk. He would beat her relentlessly.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Simone said.
“He beat me, too, but it wasn’t as much fun when I fought back,” Juliette admitted. “Before I left, I told my father that if he ever hit my mother again, I would kill him.” She paused. “It was his last mistake that he didn’t believe me.”
Fearing she misunderstood Juliette, Simone asked, “You killed your own father?”
Juliette shrugged. “I killed a monster, who happened to be my father,” she said. “I don’t regret what I did, and I freed my mother from the prison she was in.”
Simone didn’t think it was possible but she felt a twinge of sympathy for Juliette. She had protected her mother from a fate that was far worse than death. She questioned if she would have done the same.
With a glance at the footmen standing guard, Juliette ordered, “Leave us.”
The footmen promptly stepped out of the dining room and closed the door behind them.
“Finally, we are alone,” Juliette said. “I do not know how to deal with servants constantly being underfoot.”
