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From what he told her, he was much older than her – thirteen years her senior, but he was so sweet and kind, and Isabel didn’t think she could get any better.
You could get better. There is someone who would be a better choice. And you turned him away.
Bah! Who is going to be better than a duke?
“Listen, Isabel,” Lady Dunley put her book aside and stood up, “don’t you think you should be doing something else today?”
“Like what? How can I do something else when Lord Galliston is coming over?”
“Well, you haven’t read any of the books I brought with us from our home in Devon, choosing to go to the library instead. And I haven’t heard you talk about anything that used to interest youbefore.” Her mother’s mouth twitched a little. “I’m actually missing those talks, even if they drove me mad before.”
Isabel wrinkled her nose.
“None of that interests me at all, Mother! Why would I talk about the life cycle of a butterfly or the natural habitat of a vole? You didn’t like them before.”
“I may not have liked that fact you were being your usual strange self, but that was the daughter I knew. I saw the sparkle in your eyes whenever you were talking about something you were passionate about. And I haven’t seen that sparkle for a while.”
“Perhaps you haven’t been looking.” Isabel tossed her curls over her shoulder. “I haven’t been this happy in a long time, and I think it’s just what I’ve been waiting for.”
Lady Dunley didn’t look convinced. She was frowning now, folding her arms as she turned away and moved towards the window.
“Don’t you think you’re taking this a little too far, Isabel?” she asked.
Isabel blinked.
“Mother, you were the one who said that I needed to change to find myself a husband! You said I was going to need training to become a lady of the ton and look like I could handle myself in a room full of other members of the nobility. Or had you forgotten?”
“I hadn’t forgotten that this was my idea.” Lady Dunley glanced over her shoulder with a solemn look. “But I was not expecting you to forget yourself.”
“Forget myself?”
“Keep the genuine part of you there, so you were still the unique person I knew as my daughter. I didn’t want you to lose your identity, just become a little more refined so you could hold your own.” Her mother sighed. “And while I’m grateful for Lady Blythcourt’s help, I think she’s done a little too much. She’s replaced my daughter with someone I don’t recognize.”
Isabel planted her hands on her hips.
“I have changed, but in that I’ve grown up. What I was before was a child. I didn’t grow up until I came to London and realized my potential. Lady Blythcourt …”
“I don’t want to hear about Lady Blythcourt today,” Lady Dunley cut in sharply. She turned to her daughter. “She helped make you a perfect lady when it comes to etiquette and grace, but she’s also taken away the person you were before. I want that part of you back.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Why not?”
“Why would I want to go back to that?”
Lady Dunley’s eyes narrowed.
“And you think this is the genuine you, do you?” She gestured at Isabel’s attire. “Walking around like you’re Queen Charlotte or something? When you manage to get a proposal from a respectable gentleman, will you be able to keep up this facade? Or will it slip and you go back to how you were before?”
Isabel snorted.
“Why do you think this is a facade? I’ve merely grown up now, that’s all. I’m not going to go backwards and become a child again.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Why are you so unsure about my abilities now? You told me to do this!”
Lady Dunley looked pained.
