Page 13 of Unbound Duchess

“Good day,” Ellen and Judith replied in unison.

“I do apologize to keep you waiting! My name is Madame Tilde and this is my shop. Are you Lord Highcastle’s betrothed?”

“She is!” Judith said excitedly, pressing her hand to Ellen’s shoulder as she smiled widely.

“Oh, you lucky lady, you!” the modiste cooed. “Your betrothed was most serious in his letter that I should take the best care of you! Not all men do that, you know—involve themselves in the wedding affairs.”

Ellen lifted her lips in the direction of a smile but only made it about halfway. A fresh wave of pain started to ebb from her jaw. Benedict’s touch had left red marks on her chin; she and Sarah had been forced to figure out how to apply the heavy cosmetic paint Judith had left behind from the masquerade party.

“That is what I keep telling her!” Judith answered for her yet again. “Oh, but she’s a strange one. Shy in front of strangers, yet so capable in her own home!”

Judith’s smile seemed strained and overly fond as she looked up at Ellen.

“She has no idea how blessed she is to be marrying at all, let alone someone as doting as her betrothed.”

Annoyance and hurt laced through Ellen as she heard her friend’s condescending words.

“Madame Tilde, would you mind if we browsed the fabrics a bit more? I want to choose before we move on to the design,” Ellen said politely, finally able to feign a smile.

“Of course, of course, ladies! Please take your time. I have blocked out the rest of my afternoon for you,” Madame Tilde answered. “I shall be in the back warming you with some tea and refreshments.”

Ellen thanked her and waited until the modiste was no longer in earshot. Then turned to Judith, who was already rolling her eyes.

“Oh, look, I know I sounded a bit harsh there, but⁠—”

“No, you are right,” Ellen cut her off. “It is a bit strange that someone like Benedict wants to marry me, don’t you think?”

She stepped closer and lowered her voice.

“He is my cousin, Judith. My first cousin! He is handsome and wealthy of his own doing, so why would he settle for marrying someone like me? Someone who you say is strange in nature, especially when he could have any highborn lady he wanted?”

Judith’s brows furrowed as she gripped Ellen’s arm.

“You of all people, my dear friend, should not be looking a gift horse in the mouth,” Judith whispered. “So what if he is your cousin? As you said he is handsome and wealthy and he wants to take care of you!”

“But what about what I want?” Ellen asked, feeling her discomfort growing by the second. “I do not want to marry him, Judith. He is family! And, in truth, he is behaving so differently than the boy I grew up with. He used to be so kind…now he has these moments of harshness.”

“All men have those,” Judith sighed, as if she and every other woman in the world knew such a thing, “You just have to be sweet to make it up to him and the harshness will pass.”

“You are not hearing me, Judith,” Ellen insisted, feeling her stomach twist painfully again. “I do not want to marry him! Something is not right!”

Ellen’s words ended with a sharp gasp as Judith suddenly grabbed her upper arms and pressed her into the nearby wall of lace, her narrowed eyes locked on Ellen.

“Listen to me,” Judith said with strained politeness, “I say this as your friend. You have no other choices. You allowed yourself to age out of the marriage mart so you could take care of your father and his house. No one else wants you, and now that your father is gone and has left not even so much as a dowry, you will be forced into one of two lives if you do not marry Lord Highcastle.”

Judith lifted one of her hands from Ellen’s arms and held up a finger.

“You will sell your dresses and jewelry to pay for a tiny little space in a board house for a time, but eventually money will run out, and you will become homeless.”

Judith held up a second finger.

“You pledge your life to God, and go and live in a convent full of women who, like you, missed their chance at companionship for one petty reason or another. Now tell me, Ellen, do you prefer either of those choices? Do you want to abandon the comforts you’ve always known for a life of hardship?”

Ellen blanched. Not because Judith had a valid point, but because she sounded just like Benedict did the night before. She took in her friend’s stern look, her tight grip on her upper arm, and silently wondered if Judith was better suited for Benedict than she was. For, she now understood, they both had an undercurrent of cruelty beneath their pretty exteriors.

“You are right, of course,” Ellen replied. “I am being silly. I should marry Benedict.”

The lie came smooth and readily, as if every part of her knew it was necessary. She would find a way out. She would just have to do it on her own.