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“Diana!” Margaret called from the dining room as Diana set her foot on the bottom step of the stairs.
She had hoped to make it quietly to her bedchamber.
She walked into the dining room where Margaret and Florence were eating dinner. “Yes, Aunt Margaret?”
“Where were you?” Margaret asked, her cold gray eyes inspecting Diana’s appearance.
“I went for a walk,” Diana replied, keeping her face blank.
“On a horse?” Florence snickered. “Martha told Mother she saw you riding out of the stables.” Margaret always asked Martha to watch Diana, and for this reason, Diana avoided the maid whenever she could.
“I wanted to walk in the park and it is too far from here,” Diana said.
“Tell me the truth, Diana,” Margaret said slowly. “I heard you have taken to sneaking about as of late.”
“Whoever told you that has misinformed you.” Diana hoped nothing in her expression could be read by both women. “I was at the park this evening.”
“Were you there to meet a lover?” This came from Florence as she sipped her wine with a spiteful smile.
“If I had a lover, Florence, do you not think that I would have married him by now to get away from you?”
Florence laughed in surprise. “Mother, did you hear that?”
“I did.” Margaret slowly set down her fork before pushing back her chair and rising. She came to stand in front of Diana. “I will choose to believe you do not have a lover, but should I find anything that suggests otherwise, know that my generosity toward you would end. You would have to leave my house before you bring me and my daughter any more shame. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I do.” Diana did not look away as she was spoken to, but she could hear her cousin’s laugh.
“Good. Another thing I will mention is that I told your father you have several suitors vying for your hand. You must either accept Crawford’s suit or find a husband. If you do not find anyone by summer’s end, I will decide for you.”
Diana guessed what her aunt omitted at the end of her statement. She would leave the house if she did not find a husband by summer’s end. She could feel her complexion turning blue with fury, but Diana endeavored to remain calm as she asked, “Is there anything more you wish to tell me?”
“You may join us for dinner if you wish,” Margaret replied, returning to her seat at the table.
“I am not hungry.” With that, Diana turned on her heels and left the room, going up to her bedchamber and locking the door behind her. She leaned against the door, both her head and heart aching.
She remembered when Matthew asked her if there was something troubling her, and she wondered if she could tell him that she was being oppressed in her home. What assurance did she have that he would help her after learning the truth?
He might make her tell him the truth of her past, and that made her push any thought of going to him from her mind. Pushing away from the door, she went to sit on her bed, and as she looked sideways, she saw a letter on her nightstand. Diana picked it up and looked at the seal, supposing Abigail had left it there for her.
It appeared to be from Mr. Kingsley’s residence, and when she opened it, she saw that it was from Emma, and she was inviting her to have tea tomorrow afternoon. A small smile touched her lips, and she decided to accept the invitation. Perhaps she would find some peace while she was away from her aunt’s house.
“My brother said that you might not come because of how reserved you are,” Emma said as they sat down in the Kingsley residence drawing room. “We even made a wager.”
“Which you appear to have won,” Diana responded with a smile.
“I knew you would come because we are quite alike.”
Diana wanted to say that she was not reserved by nature but that circumstances that had surrounded both her childhood and womanhood had caused her to be so, but she only smiled at Emma and nodded.
A moment’s silence passed between them, and she could see that Emma was becoming shy again. Diana decided to ask her questions about herself. “Have you always lived here?”
“This house or Kent?” Emma asked, her tone jesting.
“Both.” Diana was pleased to see her nerves fading. She wanted Emma to be her friend, especially since she lost a dear one two years ago. She often wondered where Annabelle was and if she was married and had any children.
“I was born in Kent, and my brother acquired this house when he returned from the war. My parents are from Norfolk but for some reason that I do not know, they came to live in Kent after Albert was born.”
“Where were you when your brother was away?”
