Page 40 of Secret Dynasty

I wasn’t certain what to say, so I just nodded.

“You can arrange with Spencer to convert one of the rooms to a larger space.” She smoothed an invisible wrinkle in her silk blouse.

“I’m sure that won’t be necessary.”

“You haven’t seen the size of the closet,” she said pointedly. “Regardless, you can use any rooms you wish.”

I turned and sized her up. She was more put together than she had been at the funeral. Her blonde bob was coiffed to perfection, her makeup flawless, and her ensemble elegant. The only scent wafting from her was slightly too much Chanel No. 5. But though she looked the part, something about her had changed. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

“Which room would you like me to use?” I asked. If I was going to live here peacefully, I needed to be respectful as much as possible. This was her home. I didn’t want my presence to feel like an invasion.

“My dear, after next week, you will be mistress of this house. There’s no point in asking me what I want anymore.” The brittle words were bitter, and I realized that she didn’t see my arrival as an invasion. In her eyes, the coup had already taken place, and I had won.

“But I care,” I pressed. “I want us to get along. All of us.”

Caroline chuckled humorlessly, pushing her hair behind one ear. She looked around the room and smiled, but the gesture was as empty as her laugh. “What you want is irrelevant. With both my sons here, there won’t be any peace. You’ve walked into a nightmare. We can’t escape it.”

“There has to be something…” I trailed off. I didn’t want to admit that I agreed with her. Spencer’s decision to force us all under the same roof felt like a recipe for disaster, especially after I’d spent the night with both him and Holden. “Can’t we find a way to make it better?”

“Not for us. I’ve already enrolled Evie in Yardsdale. She leaves after Christmas.”

“You’re sending her away?” I asked. My heart ached at the thought of losing the only perpetually friendly member of the Byrd family.

“It’s for the best,” Caroline said, her tone leaving no room for discussion regarding the matter. “Her brothers have a tendency to wreck everything in their path. It’s always been that way.”

“They aren’t children anymore,” I said, even though I suspected she was right.

“And that makes them even more dangerous,” she warned me. She shrugged her petite shoulders as if to say what can you do. “You’ll want to hire your own lady’s maid. I would prefer to keep mine unless you’d rather she work for you.”

“That won’t be necessary,” I stopped her forced deference. “I have Giles.”

In fact, I hadn’t actually discussed him coming with me to Sparrow Court. I wasn’t sure I wanted him to or that he would be amenable to the idea. After discovering he had conspired with Tod and Iris to trick me into returning home, I didn’t trust him. But it wasn’t like I could trust anyone I hired.

“It’s not appropriate for you to keep a male assistant,” she said.

I couldn’t believe what she was insinuating. Clearly, she had never met Giles. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

“A lady’s maid—”

“Belongs in a Jane Austen novel,” I interrupted her. I’d struggled enough with the idea of an assistant. I couldn’t imagine what I would do with a maid. I imagined sitting in a chair while she braided my hair and I gossiped about the neighbors. That wasn’t the life I wanted. “I suppose as mistress of the house, it’s up to me.”

Her lips flattened into a tight line as if she was holding back a cutting remark. When she finally responded, her words were carefully measured. “Spencer won’t like it.”

“I guess it’s a good thing that he’s not working for Spencer,” I said hotly.

“You still don’t understand, do you?” she said, laughter spilling from her. “You might be the mistress of the house, but Spencer is the king.”

“Spencer is going to be my husband,” I reminded her. “We’re equals.”

Caroline stepped toward the door, and for a moment, I actually thought I’d won the argument. But she stopped short of leaving. She placed one manicured hand on the doorframe and turned a wicked smile on me. There was no false deference or feigned politeness. It was pure poison. “He might marry you, silly, arrogant girl, but you will never be his equal.”

She left me in my new home, her words hanging in the air, as inescapable as the truth behind them.

Chapter Twenty-Three

If my welcome had been awkward, dinner was even more uncomfortable. I arrived to the table promptly at seven per the instructions I was given. Instantly, I felt out of place. The rest of the family had dressed for dinner. The men wore suits. Caroline had traded her silk blouse and pressed pants for a long-sleeved floral gown. Even Evie, who was by far the least formal, had opted for a pink dress topped with a cream cardigan.

No one had told me that dinner was a formal affair. I looked down at my yoga pants and worn t-shirt from Oxford , which must have been from my university days, and felt even more out of place.