One day, she will realize that her attempts are futile, Elinor thought, amused but weary at the never-ending attempts.
“Ah.” Elinor shrugged. “I read a great deal, so I was rather tired?—”
“Anyway,” Belinda interrupted. “Mama, do tell Elinor about our very positive interaction.”
“I am getting there, Belinda,” Elinor’s stepmother chuckled, patting her daughter’s hand.
Meanwhile, Joanna looked between Belinda and Elinor, her mouth downturned. Opposite the girls, Gilbert watched the whole ordeal, a permanent sneer to his mouth.
“I had many advantageous conversations with many lords regarding their interest in my daughters,” Lady Morland drawled, lazily sipping at her morning tea, as if Elinor cared. As if Elinor was a fellow mother who she needed to compete with. “But then we spotted one man in particular?—”
“The Duke of Fairmont,” Belinda cut in, clearly too excited to wait.
Elinor knew it was coming, especially with the duke himself telling her the night before, but her stomach still dropped. That doubt rose in her mind once more as Belinda dropped three sugar cubes into her tea.
How can he ask me to pretend to be his betrothed when somebody like Belinda is right there, more his type, if his roguish personality is anything to go on?
“He was most taken with me,” Belinda triumphantly told her. “He could scarcely keep his eyes off me, could he, Mama?”
At her boast, Elinor recalled something the duke had told her.
“Indeed, he could not,” Elinor’s stepmother answered demurely.
Elinor sipped her own drink to hide her amusement as she recalled the duke’s words.
It is refreshing from the women who dress in gaudy things to distract a man from their bland personalities.
“You are jealous, no doubt,” Belinda said, watching Elinor’s face. “After all, it is not as though you would have captured the attention of a duke had you been present.”
Elinor only hummed. No, she certainly wouldn’t have, but somehow she stillhad, just not at a ballroom. She had been seen for her value in teaching, and that was far greater than wooing any man, far greater than being noticed in a ballroom.
“Whatever you think, Belinda,” she mused, emboldened by her meeting with the duke.
She tried to focus on her food, but she only pushed it around, finding herself with no appetite. Whether it was worrying over her new arrangement and her family finding out, or if it was her exhaustion, she did not know.
She couldn’t fight back a yawn as she set down her utensils.
“Are we boring you, Elinor?” Gilbert asked. “I know I do not visit often, but one would think my presence is exciting enough to enjoy.”
“No, that is not it,” she quickly muttered. “I am merely tired.”
“I really did hope you could rest last night,” Joanna said kindly. “Or tonight, perhaps. Maybe even a short, afternoon nap?”
“Joanna.” Elinor’s stepmother’s snap silenced the table, even Belinda’s continued tirade about how she could meet the duke again. “Elinor deserved her punishment. It was her choice not to sleep when she could have, but she deserved to stay home. She must learn to watch her behavior.”
Elinor’s shoulders drew together as the misery built in her mind. Last night, she had felt elated, belonging, back there in that classroom. She wished she was back there, not here, listening to Belinda’s boastful lies, and her stepmother’s scheming, and Joanna attempting to pitch in.
Even Gilbert’s eyes remained heavily on her, and she cringed, wondering if he knew something was amiss about her. Elinor quickly pushed her chair back, suddenly under the scrutiny of four pairs of eyes.
“I must be excused,” she said. “Forgive me. I am not hungry.”
“And where must you be instead?” Belinda asked. “You have no friends, no commitments to attend.”
“I just wish—” Elinor looked pleadingly at her stepmother. “Please, I just wish to be excused. After all, I do not want you to think I am bored. I am not, but I am rather tired.”
“Just go.” Her stepmother shook her head, dismissing her with a flick of her hand.
“Are you certain?”