“You have a daughter,” she realized aloud. “When were you going to tell me that you had a daughter, Your Grace?”
In the background, she heard Mrs. Barnes tutting again and muttering something about the foolishness of menfolk.
“Miss Holt, this is Lady Lilian,” the housekeeper said, when she saw that there was no explanation immediately forthcoming from anyone else. “The woman on the staircase is Miss Osborne, Lady Lilian’s governess. Lady Lilian, this is Miss Cecily Holt. I’m sure she is very pleased to meet you.”
Taking her cue, Cecily crouched down and looked into the unhappy eyes of the tousle-haired little girl. Indeed, she was very much like her father.
“I am very pleased to meet you, Lady Lilian, although I did not know that you would be here to greet us. It is very late, as your father said.”
“Who are you? Why are you even here?” Lilian threw back angrily, regarding her only with suspicion. “Are you taking Papa away?”
“Your father is helping me find my sister,” Cecily explained, deciding to leave all news of their potential wedding to the Duke.
“Find her by yourself and leave Papa here,” Lilian responded rudely. “You don’t need him, but I do.”
“I’m sure your father will have time for you soon,” Cecily assured her, thinking that she had never seen a child so desperate for their parent’s attention, nor one so spoiled that she could shout so rudely at strangers, demand cake in the middle of the night, and hit her own father. “I hope it will not take us long to find my sister.”
“Not long at all,” the Duke confirmed. “Then, I shall marry Miss Holt, and she will come here to keep you company, Lilian. I shall visit you both often. Won’t you be happy to have a mother?”
The stupidity and insensitivity of such an announcement were shocking. Both Cecily and Mrs. Barnes shot him accusatory looks that he seemed unaware of.
“I hate you!” Lilian shrieked at the top of her voice, addressing first her father and then fixing her angry eyes on Cecily. “I hate you more! You will never be my mother!”
She ran back up the stairs at full speed, eluding the hands of her governess, who followed in her wake, still calling her name rather weakly as she went.
“Why did you say that?” Cecily hissed, rounding on the Duke.
“Well, it is true, and Lilian will have to know sooner rather than later,” he answered with a shrug, seeming genuinely puzzled by the two women’s reactions.
“You cannot just give a child this kind of news so casually,” Cecily protested, flabbergasted that he did not seem to understand. “Aren’t you going to go after her and explain?”
“Miss Osborne can take care of everything,” he said, seeming to feel no more responsibility for his child’s actions than he did for his brother’s.
“Can she?” Cecily challenged, feeling unconvinced by the scene she had witnessed. “You may find that a father’s intervention is more effective than that of a governess.”
“You may be right, but there is no time tonight,” he answered breezily.
If it hadn’t been for Mary’s safety and the need for the Duke’s assistance, Cecily might have kept arguing with him. That girl clearly required both love and discipline and was being denied both.
Reluctantly, Cecily set her jaw and suppressed her anger. This issue was only delayed, not resolved.
“Come, Miss Holt. I will have your bath drawn and show you to your room myself,” the housekeeper said warmly, touching her elbow and encouraging her to follow.
As Mrs. Barnes set off up the staircase, she threw up her hands and rolled her eyes helplessly, from which Cecily gathered that the housekeeper agreed thoroughly with her upbraiding of the Duke over his daughter but would not venture to say so aloud.
Within a single day, Mary had eloped with a man she barely knew, Cecily had betrothed herself to a handsome but maddening duke in exchange for his help in finding her sister, and then run away from home with him in the middle of the night. Now, she was apparently also to be stepmother to a child determined to hate her.
What in the world have I gotten myself into?
* * *
“If you ring when you are out of the bath, one of us will attend you,” Mrs. Barnes told Cecily once she was content with the water’s depth and heat, which had been drawn by an efficient but yawning maid. “I must go see His Grace now.”
“There is no need for anyone to attend me tonight,” Cecily responded quickly. “I will only be going straight to sleep and can put on my own nightdress. You have already shown me my room and filled the bath. There is no need for either of you to stay up so late on my account.”
Thankfully, the servants bid her goodnight without arguing.
Cecily closed the bathing chamber door before stripping off her clothes and sinking down into the water with a sigh of pleasure. After the stress of this long day and night, a warm, solitary bath was both a relief and a comfort.
