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“Oh, and I’m sure the ducks appreciated your thoughtfulness,” her mother returned mirthlessly. “I feel as though when your sister and father died, they took a little piece of you with them. Their deaths changed you, and once they left us… instead of leaning into the family, you fell away.”
“Fell away?” Eleanor repeated.
The Dowager Countess chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip. “Some people, when they grieve, find solace in their friends and family members. Frederick and I, for instance, grew closer. But you… you went further away from us. You became this person I don’t even recognize, while Frederick… let’s just say your brother would never bring shame or ridicule on our family. He knows how important a person’s reputation is. Frederick ached when your sister and father died, but he never rebelled. He found a way to uphold our family name, while you tried to dishonor it.”
“I…” Eleanor stammered. “Dishonor… I never meant to…” She rose, suddenly struck rather ill. Her stomach ached and her pulse began throbbing in her head. “Do excuse me, Mother,” Eleanor said as she ran from the room.
Eleanor had always known she was not her mother’s favorite. It didn’t matter if it was Caroline or Frederick, there was always another child her mother preferred. And that was fine. Parents were entitled to their own feelings. But this… Eleanor felt like this was more than a parent preferring one child over the next.
My mother genuinely does not like me. She thinks I intentionally embarrass her.
Never, not once, had Eleanor meant to embarrass her mother. She knew that she was unlike other ladies of theton, but she had never gone out of her way to showcase that fact. Everything she’d ever done had been because it brought her some sort of happiness or joy. It wasn’t as though she enjoyed being dubbed “eccentric.”
Eleanor did not wait for the servant to open the sitting-room door. As it was already ajar, Eleanor stepped forward and pushed it out of the way.
The door met with a little resistance, so Eleanor gave it a harder push.
“Oof,” a man’s voice said, and then the door swung wide open.
Who is listening at the door?
Eleanor came around the door, placing her hands on her hips, ready to scold whoever had been eavesdropping, but then she saw Henry standing there. His face looked stricken and pale. His blue eyes were wide and frightened.
“Eleanor,” he whispered and all at once, she threw herself into his arms. She caught him off-guard and so it took him a minute to put his arms around her, but when he did… the sensation was wonderful. She leaned into his chest and put her ear over his heart, listening to the steady thumping.
“Are you all right, Eleanor?” Henry whispered, holding her very closely so that he might speak right into her ear.
Eleanor allowed herself a stiff nod. “My mother hates me,” she returned.
She felt the way Henry shook his head quickly as his chin was nestled on top of her head. “She doesn’t hate you, my darling. She just doesn’t understand you.”
“No,” Eleanor sighed. “She despises me. She thinks I’m an embarrassment.”
Henry pulled away from Eleanor then and he looked down, directly into her eyes. “Eleanor,” Henry said firmly, “are you listening to me? BecauseI want to make sure you understand this.”
Eleanor nodded.
“You are not an embarrassment. You are…” Henry continued talking, but Eleanor could no longer focus on his words. Her vision blurred around the edges and the cramp that had appeared in her stomach just moments before spasmed.
“Henry,” Eleanor interrupted. “I’m not feeling very well.
