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Without another word or even a backward glance, he strode from the room.
The world seemed to sway, and there was a high ringing sound in her ears. She collapsed back into the chair, feeling as if the world had tipped sideways and thrown her off.
Disowned. She had not thought…
A hand jerked her from her thoughts. She looked up to see her mother’s tear-stained face. “Mother…”
“Hush, child. You must pack.” Her mother’s hand was firm as it guided her to her feet and toward her own rooms. “You heard your…. Lord Beaumont.”
“Can you not speak to him?”
“Not now. He is far too angered. I will do what I can when his temper cools. But for now, you must leave.” Her mother led her upstairs and summoned a servant to bring two modest traveling bags. Together they packed a few essentials, a few of her plainer dresses, and other items.
Once the bags were packed, her mother gestured. “Downstairs and wait for me.”
Eleanora obeyed, feeling lost, sick at heart. She couldn’t seem to breathe properly.
This cannot be happening. It cannot…
But the packed bags were evidence, their very size a testament to her circumstances. Her vacation to Bath had taken twice the luggage easily. Her stomach churned, and it took all her willpower to stay on her feet.
Her mother appeared moments later, carrying a packet and a purse. The packet she tucked into one of the bags. The purse she folded into Eleanora’s hands. “This is the best I can do. It will at least give you a little help, I hope.”
Eleanora felt the tears she had not shed during the argument with her father break free. She gasped on a painful sob and huddled into her mother’s arms. “Mama... I am so sorry... I…”
“I know, dear. I know, my little Nora. But there is nothing to be done.” Her mother sighed. “I could wish you had shown more discretion or more obedience to your father. But your father is wrong to think that Society would not guess the truth of the matter if you were suddenly married to Lord Graven. And he might give you shelter, but I do not think he would lie for you. You would still be ostracized and seen as a wanton woman who preyed on a decent man when your ways caught up with you. Far worse, in the end, I think.”
“What am I to do?”
“Find a place in London or Bath. Do what seems best to you.” her mother’s clasp tightened a moment, then released her. “Be careful. Be safe. And write to me. At least…” Her voice cracked on fresh tears. “At least do send me word when my grandchild is born?”
“I will, Mother. I will.”
The clock chimed the hour. The family trap, an unassuming thing they seldom used, clattered to a stop. Her mother must have sent for it at some point. “Goodbye, darling.”
She swallowed back further tears and the pain that threatened to send her to her knees on the cobbles. She forced herself to pick up her bags and lift her chin. “Goodbye, Mother.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
It was the hardest thing she had ever done; turn away and climb into the trap. To set her bags at her feet and direct the driver to start. Even then, she could not help looking back.
It was nearly her undoing. Fresh tears started on her face as she watched her mother—slender and pale with her sorrowful gaze—disappear around the bend of the drive.
For better or worse, she was disowned. The house she had grown up in was no longer her home.
She would have to find a new one.
* * *
London, in the days after the Season, was a cheerless place. And all the worse, if one was without friends or family to call upon.
Eleanora staggered to a stop, shivering as thunder rumbled threateningly overhead, little swirls of wind doing their best to sneak through her dress.
She’d decided, after some thought, to go to London. She was fairly certain her aunt would take her in but equally certain that her aunt would be as appalled as her father at her actions. And even if she was not, even if she offered shelter and care, it would drive a rift between her aunt and her father, and she’d no desire to cause further harm to her family.
She had not thought of what it would be like to be in London in her current state. Disowned, she could not seek shelter with anyone who might have known her or her father. And in any case, most of thetonwere in the process of leaving for the country now that the Season was ended.
