AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thank you so much, Jenny,” she whispered. “I thought I might never laugh again.”
“Well, now, ye must dry yer pretty eyes,” Jenny smiled at her, patting the damp cloth on her tear-streaked cheeks.
“The whole Ton is probably talking about what a despicable woman I am,” Emily muttered sadly. “They probably think I have such loose morals and—”
“Well, they prob’ly have their knickers all in a bunch ‘cause ye have two handsome men fightin’ fer yer hand,” the maid stated in a tone that brooked no argument. “Why, just two weeks ago, Lady Horatia was declarin’ they’d never be able to marry you off. Now, they can’t decidewhoshould marry you.”
Emily smiled through her tears. “Well, I am pretty certain that His Grace does not want to marry me. That should narrow down the choices to just Lord Chaney.”
“Well, in my honest opinion, he’s got a screw loose somewhere in his noggin’ if that’s so,” Jenny scoffed. “I’ve seen the way that man looked at ye in the Park, and…”
“And what?”
“And he looked like someone who’d sell his soul to the devil just to see ye smile.”
Emily pursed her lips. Jenny made it sound absolutely romantic, but that wasnotthe way the Duke looked last night when Benedict demanded that Daniel marryher.
“Has he…has he come by today?” she dared to ask her companion.
Father told him to, but it’s not like anyone can make the almighty Duke of Gilleton do something he does not want to.
Jenny’s face told her all that she needed to know—Daniel had not come by earlier. That meant that he did not wish to marry her which also meant she only had two choices left—either she married Lord Chaney to ensure his silence on the matter, or she could refuse and risk ruining not only herself but her entire family as well.
That, Lady Horatia would never allow. If she could, her stepmother would probably tie her up and personally deliver her to the Viscount.
“By the way, Milady, ye’re new dresses arrived this mornin’ while ye were sleepin’. Good thing the Marquess was there, or I feared that Miss Amy would’ve torn them to bits!”
Emily had almost forgotten the dresses from Madame Dubois—the very same ones Benedict had had made for her to help her find a suitable match. They were mostly useless now, though.
“Let me just dress you in one of them,” Jenny wheedled, a pleading look in her clear brown eyes. “Who knows? Ye just might feel better after ye’re all clean and prettied up!”
She allowed Jenny to choose a lovely, pale green dress with delicate leaves and vines embroidered in gold thread. It was truly a wonderful dress—one she might have been excited to wear if things were not so dire.
“It is just as well that I am confined here to my rooms, Jenny,” Emily sighed despondently after the maid had fixed her hair. “I truly do not wish to see anyone else today.”
The maid nodded. “I understand, Milady. Do ye want me to fetch ye somethin’ from the kitchens? Ye have not eaten a bite since last night.”
Emily shook her head. “No, I just want to sit here.”
And if I could disappear, that would be wonderful, she mentally added.
“But ye need to eat somethin’,” Jenny coaxed her gently. “That way, when His Grace comes a-callin’, ye’ll have enough strength in ye to tell him that he’s—he’s…Well, I haven’t the words for it, that’s what!”
Emily wrinkled her nose and smiled at her maid from the mirror. “It’s the first time I have seen you at a loss for words.”
“Well, I’m savin’ them for when I see him!” Jenny blustered.
After Emily was clean and dressed for the day, Jenny excused herself to tidy up and bring out the dirty water. Emily vaguely remembered nodding before turning her gaze out the window once more.
Outside, the entire London sky was covered in gray, foreboding clouds without a patch of blue to be seen.
Even the weather feels as miserable as I do, she thought.
“Is it not amazing how you can sit there calmly when you have all but destroyed the good name of our family?”
Emily turned her gaze slowly to the door only to be met with her sister’s furious gaze. Amy stood there, her pretty features twisted in anger, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
“You were not good enough to find a suitable match in two seasons,” she ranted. “But you are enough to ruineverything!”
