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Ellie hadn’t realised that she had been gritting her teeth until she felt a throbbing in her mouth. She loosened her jaw.
“Alright, fine. Maybe I am a little tense. But you know what I’m like with these situations, Dorothea. I don’t like social gatherings of more than a few people.”
“I understand, but this is not something we can change.”
Ellie wished she could. When Derrick told her that they had been invited to dinner with an old friend from school, she had thought the event would be small and cosy. It was perfect for her, and Ellie wouldn’t feel overwhelmed. But it wasn’t like that at all.
Almost twenty guests, and while Ellie was working hard to interact with everyone and be a good guest herself, it was getting to be too much for her. She could feel the headache pressing on her temples, and she struggled to hold it back.
It had been far better when she had been the chaperone and was able to blend into the background. Ellie liked to watch people and have the attention off her, but she couldn’t handle it in the middle of the group. And given she was a newlywed, there were a load of questions in her direction.
Especially from Lady Catherine Saxton. She had made quite a few remarks that were borderline rude. Derrick had given her sharp looks each time, and he had answered for Ellie a couple of times in a curt manner that didn’t suit him at all, but while it made Lady Catherine back off, she didn’t completely stop.
Now, they were away from Derrick, and Ellie could sense something was happening.
It was getting a little suffocating.
Ellie stood up. “Why don’t we go and sit by the window?” she suggested. “It’s open, and the breeze would be welcoming.”
“Of course.” Dorothea got to her feet. “Let’s do that. It’s a bit warmer than I expected.”
Ellie wasn’t aware of Lady Catherine standing up as well until she was turning around, and they bumped into each other. There was a gasp, a clink of glasses, and then Ellie felt something cold on her chest. Lady Catherine gasped and jumped back.
“Oh, my! I do apologise. I didn’t realise you were there.”
For a moment, Ellie had no idea what was going on. Then she looked down and saw that there was a wet strain across her dress and down the bodice. On the pale pink fabric, the dark brown stain was very visible.
And it was very cold.
“Ellie!”
Regina came hurrying from the other side of the room. Lady Northampton wasn’t far behind her. The dowager countess took one look at Ellie’s dress and took her arm.
“Come on. Let’s go and get that cleaned up. Hopefully, we can save the dress.”
“I do apologise for what happened,” Lady Catherine said smoothly. “It was an accident.”
Ellie caught sight of the look on the other woman’s face before she was tugged away, and she didn’t like it. The smugness, the twitch of her mouth as she fought back a smile. Nobody else was paying attention to her, though, so it went unnoticed by the others in the room.
Before Ellie could snap at her and say something she would regret, Lady Northampton was leading her out of the room, Regina following close behind.
“Let’s go sit in the laundry room,” the dowager countess said briskly. “I’m sure one of the servants will be able to get the stain out.”
“I don’t think we’ll be able to,” Regina responded as she caught up with her sister and the older woman. “Not unless Ellie’s willing to strip down.”
Ellie squeaked. “What?”
“The only way we’ll get the stain out is with warm water and soap. And we can’t do that when you’re wearing the offending gown.”
“There’s no need to say that,” Lady Northampton cut in. “We can do it with a cloth, as long as we’re quick.”
Ellie didn’t say much more, just allowing her mother-in-law to lead her through the house and into what looked to be the laundry room. Lady Northampton urged Ellie to sit down.
“I’ll go and find a maid to help us with this.” The older woman didn’t look happy. “The quicker we get the dress cleaned, the less chance of it staining.”
Ellie looked down. The port was making her dress stick to her, and it was horrible. She had been in situations where her clothes stuck to her due to the cold, and it never got any better. She was shivering now.
“I’ll go, Lady Northampton,” Regina said quickly, heading towards the door. “I need to notify Lord Northampton as well.”
