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Mrs. Emerson started to lie, but the frown on the dowager duchess’ face daunted her. She mumbled, “No, Your Grace. It, ah, slipped my mind.”
Alyssa kept her gaze on the housekeeper, wanting to see the woman squirm some more. Finally, she said, “Please make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Alyssa gave the servants a cool nod, and the two quickly left the room.
The housekeeper’s fists clenched after closing the door behind her. The bitch was going to pay for making her lose face in front of the dowager duchess.Soon, bitch, soon.
When the servants left, Alyssa said gently, “You should not let them treat you that way. You are Rathe’s woman, which means his authority in this household is yours to wield when he’s not around.”
Mary mumbled, “I’m n-not used to having servants at all. I don’t know how to treat them.”
“I completely understand. I didn’t grow up this way, either. But then, with Warren, I had to learn, the same way you have to learn. You must learn to make people respect you, and the first step to doing that is respecting yourself. Remember that.”
Mary nodded. “I w-will.”
“I know it sounds a lot, but I’m afraid it comes part and parcel with loving my son.”
Mary wanted to disappear. Had her feelings for the duke been so embarrassingly obvious?
“Oh, please don’t be shy. As a mother, I’m beyond happy that there’s someone who genuinely loves my son.”
The sincere words helped ease her embarrassment, allowing Mary to mumble, “H-he’s not a hard man to fall for, Your Grace.”
“Alyssa, please.” The older woman’s eyes twinkled. “Or perhaps Mother?”
Mary’s cheeks flamed with color once more.
Alyssa laughed. “Too soon? Then Alyssa please.”
A shy smile as the younger girl agreed, “A-Alyssa.”
Alyssa beamed. “There. It wasn’t that bad, was it not?”
The smile widened. “N-no.”
Alyssa patted Mary’s hand once more. “You are such a sweet girl.” She looked around. “Is Rathe home?” Her eyes narrowed when the question had Mary’s smile dimming. She asked frankly, “You had a fight with my son?”
Mary’s head jerked up.
Alyssa gave her a reassuring smile even as she persisted, “Did you, my dear?”
Mary’s shoulders slumped a little. “N-not exactly.” Haltingly, she told Alyssa of the ball she had missed last Sunday and why she had chosen not to attend. She deliberately avoided talking about the disastrous breakfast she had shared with Rathe, not wanting to paint him in a bad light.
“It’s been several days now, and we haven’t really talked. And,” she added miserably, “I c-can’t really blame him.”
Beside her, Mary heard Rathe’s oh-so-elegant mother snort, making her look up in surprise.
“You, young lady, are being too nice to my son,” Alyssa said severely.
“Too...nice?”
“Absolutely. If he really wanted you to come with him, he should have asked why you didn’t want to. Moreover, he should have told you that he would die of boredom without you by his side.”
“Err...” For the life of her, Mary couldn’t imagine the duke saying the last thing.
“The point is, my dear, he let pride rule his actions, which is wrong.” Alyssa pointed at her. “Unfortunately, you are wrong, too, for letting yourfearsrule yours.”
The words were painfully true, and Mary bit her lip hard. Shehadlet her fears decide for her, and even then, she had known it hadn’t been the right thing to do.
A part of her wanted to cry out that she was only human, that she was only eighteen years old and bound to make the wrong choices. But if she used those factors as an excuse, wouldn’t that make her appear even more unsuitable for the duke?
