Elizabeth stayed rooted to the spot, breathing hard. Her pulse thrummed in her ears.
What had she just agreed to? Why hadn’t she simply refused him? Fled? Joined a circus?
Instead, she had made a bargain with a Highlander. One who moved like danger cloaked in charm and was close friends with a notorious rake.
How could this possibly end well?
She sighed long, low, and tired.
That moment of quiet was shattered as the door burst open again.
Wilhelmina stormed in like a gust of wind, her cheeks flushed with fury and curls bouncing with each step. “There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
“I—I was only trying to clean my dress,” Elizabeth offered weakly, instinctively taking a step back.
“I saw her,” Wilhelmina seethed. “The girl who tripped you. I know exactly who she is. I swear, Elizabeth, I will slap the powder off her smug little?—”
“I’m all right,” Elizabeth interrupted, summoning a smile she hoped looked reassuring. It felt brittle on her face.
Wilhelmina’s eyes narrowed. “You don’tlookall right, Lizzie.”
Something in her voice twisted painfully in Elizabeth’s chest.
It’s supposed to be me protecting you,she thought.Not the other way around.
Suddenly, she missed Marianne and her steadiness, her wisdom, her fierce devotion. The ache was sharp, unexpected.
“I’m just tired, Mina. That’s all.”
She didn’t say a word about the Duke. About the secret bargain. About the wild, impossible notion that maybe, just maybe, he could help her.
She didn’t say that somewhere in all the shame and chaos, she’d felt a flicker of something else.
Hope. Or ruin. She wasn't sure which yet.
But it had his name on it.
Chapter Nine
“You will not embarrass me again, Elizabeth,” Lady Grisham said, her smile razor-sharp as she waved to a passing acquaintance. “We’ve discussed thisseveraltimes.”
Elizabeth held her hands tightly together in front of her, her gloves soft but already damp from the tension in her palms.
“Yes, Lady Grisham. Charm. Manners. Grace,” she murmured. “Let them lead the conversation. Never me.”
Her stepmother’s painted smile didn’t budge. “Good. Donotbring up your opinions on Chopin or your fascination with the harpsichord. You’re not here to lecture some poor gentleman into a slumber.”
No,Elizabeth thought bitterly.Just here to be quietly impressive until I’m no longer interesting at all.
“I remember everything,” she said aloud, her tone flat but obedient.
“Then act like it,” came the sharp reply. “You are slouching again.”
Elizabeth straightened her spine at once.
“You’re not here to blend into the wallpaper.” Lady Grisham’s voice lowered to a hiss. “You've already caused enough damage at the Rippentons’ garden party. Tonight, for once, be… passable.”
They were moving now, sweeping slowly into the drawing room.