Chapter 25
What wonderful news! Mary smiled after reading the letter from Daisy giving details of her new employment at the home of Duke Edmund Smith. To know that Daisy had a nice home and an employer who would treat her well felt fantastic. Of course, Mary wished that she could do the same for all of the staff that had once worked in her home, but she felt stretched too thin as it was. It was challenging enough to work out what she was going to do with her life next, never mind anyone else. Daisy was her friend anyway, she rationalised, and she could not be responsible for everyone.
“I am sorry to drag you out like this,” Charlotte said to Mary in barely a whisper. Her voice was quiet and strangled, just how she felt inside.“I am sure that clothes shopping is the last thing that you wish to be worrying about right now. It is only ...”
“Yes, I know.” Mary could not stand to hear the rest of that sentence, nor could she bear to look at Charlotte for even a second. That shining bruise below her eye killed Mary and the fact that Charlotte utterly refused to discuss it left her with little to say about the matter. “I know that your husband wishes you to get something nice for the event tonight.”
Mary had purposely not asked Charlotte where she was going with her husband because she didn’t want to know anything about their lives together. Being around them was making her feel incredibly ill because she did not know how to fix it. The last time they spent the night out together, at the opera, it ended in disaster with Lord Jones finally learning about the pregnancy, and things had been going downhill ever since.
Mary could not stand to go through all of that again.
Charlotte glanced at her sister with ice-cold guilt sitting firmly on her chest. She could sense that Mary was pulling away from her and could hardly blame her. She knew that Mary only liked to deal with problems that she could solve, and her toxic marriage that was falling apart at the seams had no solution at all.
Charlotte ran her hand over her ever-growing bump, praying like she did all the time for a way out. There was not a way out, she knew that. Even when she and Mary used to discuss running away together with the inheritance money, she knew that was not possible, but she still prayed all the same.
“I think that this is the shop,” she eventually said quietly, grabbing Mary’s attention again. “Let us go in here. I will not be long, I promise you.”
“You take as long as you want,” Mary told her seriously. She knew that the longer Charlotte was out of the house, the less time that she had to spend with him. “I am in no rush. I can sit with you while you sort out dresses all day long.”
Mary smiled at Charlotte, but they both knew that it was fake. Charlotte could see that her eyes were glazed over; she could tell that Mary was refusing to look at her, and Mary was really lost in her own thoughts. Every waking moment she tried to plan a way for Charlotte to escape, and even sometimes in her dreams as well. She found her brain working overtime as she slept, scrabbling around in her subconscious to see if there was something there that she could not access while she was awake.
So far, there had been no luck.
Mary took a seat in the dress shop while the assistants fussed around Charlotte and ignored her. Maybe if she were not so distracted, she would have wondered if their neglect was because they knew her name and her reputation, that they understood she was unwed with no money of her own. Of course, it was possible that they weren’t giving her any attention because Charlotte had asked for help and she had not, but her mind would have undoubtedly read something into it.
Luckily, she was distracted, so she barely paid any attention at all. In fact, she felt grateful that she could become part of the furniture; it gave her some time to think.
“Lady Mary Roberts.”
All of a sudden, a gasping voice broke through Mary’s thought barrier. She glanced up slightly bleary-eyed to see a very glamorous Lady with long dark hair and piercing dark eyes staring down as if she recognised her. Mary blinked a couple of times as she tried to force some sort of recognition there, but there was nothing. No matter how hard she tried.
“Yes ...” she drawled slowly. “That’s me. Why ... who ...?” She didn’t finish that sentence but continued to look up blankly as she waited for the moment when everything would become clear. She coughed awkwardly. “I am terribly sorry ...”
The girl flung her hands onto her hips. Her slim waist suggested that she had a very tight corset on under her silky material. Mary could not help wondering how she was even breathing. “I am just surprised to see you here, Lady Roberts, in a place like this,” the newcomer said coarsely. “I thought you had been ruined.”
Mary’s cheeks flamed as she realised what was going on here. This girl knew her, knew what had happened to her, and wanted to humiliate her because of that. She felt herself blushing, then all the colour drained from her body completely, leaving her pale and icy as she continued to stare up at the girl. Yes, she was going through a terrible time, but it was not her fault. Who would take it upon themselves to be so unnecessarily cruel?
Mary tried to glance over the young Lady’s shoulder to find her sister, but Charlotte was stuck with the sales assistants. She truly was on her own with this one.
“I do not know what ...” Mary felt tears well up in her eyes. She would have given anything to run away. “I ...”
“I suppose you are here with someone else.” The Lady flicked her hair over her shoulder in a dismissive gesture. “But that is hardly why I wanted to come and speak with you.”
“It is not?” Now Mary felt very uncomfortable and a little scared too. This was clearly not going to be a pleasant conversation.
“I suppose you think that you are very clever, agreeing to marry Duke Smith?”
“Pardon?” Of all the things that Mary thought this girl might say next – not that she really had any ideas – this was not it. How did this Lady know about the arrangement? And how did she not know that it was not happening? “Duke Smith?”
“Yes. But I do think that it is important you understand that he is not the man he pretends to be ... since you do not seem to already know that.”
Mary’s heart hammered hard against her ribcage. Was she about to learn that her worst fears were correct? She and Edmund had been through a very confusing time during their acquaintance. It was safe to say that it had never been very straightforward between them. She was afraid to learn that another horrible thing might come her way.
Unfortunately, due to her silence, the Lady took it upon herself to continue. “He ruined me. He took it upon himself to ruin my reputation, then not marry me.” The Lady’s face flamed with rage, and she curled her fists up into tight little balls of anger. “He is a horrible man who does not deserve anything.”
A light flickered in front of Mary’s eyes, and all became acutely clear. She knew exactly what was going on here now; it was so clear. How had she not picked up on it sooner? “You are Lady Victoria Hartmon,” she gasped. “I know who you are now.”
Victoria’s eyes flashed. She had not been expecting this at all. When she started talking to Mary, she assumed that she knew nothing at all, but it seemed she had simply been playing dumb. Maybe it was better that she knew – maybe that gave her something more to work with; after all, she had set her eyes on the Duke, and she still wanted him to be hers. She knew that if he did not have any other option, he would eventually come back to her, and she could finally have a husband, a baby, and the incredible lifestyle that she had always dreamed of.
Duke Smith was to be hers, no matter what it took.
“Yes, I am. You have heard my story then.”
Mary pushed herself into a standing position, and she met Victoria eye to eye. She was no longer intimidated by Victoria now that she knew who she was. This Lady was no better than her. Mary’s misfortunes had happened to her. What had occurred to Victoria had happened because of her own actions.
“I know that His Grace did not try to ruin you,” she said coldly, refusing to back down in the face of this adversity. “He has already told me what had happened. He danced with you, as expected of him, and then he left. You followed him, and you made the move on him.” Mary had not been one hundred per cent convinced by Edmund’s words when he told her the tale, but as she spotted a flicker of uncertainty crossing Victoria’s face, she knew that it was the truth. Her heart lifted with glee as she realised that Duke Smith was who he told her that he was after all. “So do not come to me and tell me all these lies because I know the truth. I know the truth.”
Victoria’s lips parted, but Mary already knew that no sound would come out before the silence rang between them. This Lady had expected her to fall apart and cry at her words, especially since the rest of her life was falling apart around her, but she had not. She had not said anything that showed weakness at all.
Mary was proud of herself as she realised just how far she had come through all of this adversity. The shy girl who would not dare confront anyone was long gone. Now she was strong and powerful. She embraced this change within herself.
“I do not ... I do not think that you should marry him,” Victoria stammered having been knocked off her feet. She was usually the strongest woman in any room, but she had undoubtedly met her match with Mary. After everything that she had heard about her, this was totally unexpected. “He is not a nice man. He will not treat you well.”
Those words coiled a vicious snake in Mary’s stomach, but not because she believed them at all. It was because she knew with absolute certainty that Edmund would treat her well if she were to marry him. He was a nice man, and had proved himself over and over again to her, even when she had doubted him. Even now, he had offered to marry her, and she had turned him down because she wanted to protect her sister. That was a very big mistake.
“I do not need your opinion,” she hissed at Victoria, unable to keep the emotion from balling up thickly in her throat. “What I decide to do is up to me. It has nothing to do with you. I suggest that you leave me now, and you never involve yourself in my life again.”
Victoria took a step backwards and shook her head slightly. For the first time in her life, she did not know what to say. There were words spinning about in her brain, but she knew that none of them were right. She figured that it was so much better to say nothing than to embarrass herself. If there was one thing that she had learned from a life of being told to keep silent, it was how to remain quiet.
Once she left through the shop door, Mary let out a deep breath of relief that she had not even realised she was holding. Seeing Victoria leaving left her all tied up and confused, but happy too. She was glad that at least she was right to trust Edmund. It was just a shame that the realisation came far too late. There was not much that she could do about it now.
She sat back in her seat and stared blankly forwards with a serious expression. The funny thing was now that she actually had some time to think, her brain was the blankest that it had been in a very long time. There weren’t any thoughts racing through her mind. Instead, she was sitting in the knowledge that she might well have messed everything up in an irrevocable way.
“Are you ready to leave?” Charlotte finally asked her once she had a bag of clothing in her arms. She was sick of the store, she had been feeling sick the entire time that she was there, and judging by her sister’s face, Mary was not doing much better herself. She looked like she was about to throw up all over the store floor which would be very humiliating for the both of them. “Mary, are you alright?”
“Hmm? Yes.” Mary bolted up and tried to rearrange her expression so that she could at least look normal. She had almost forgotten where they were because she had gotten so lost in her thoughts. “I am ready to leave.” Just before they could leave, Mary grabbed onto Charlotte’s arm and stared deeply into her eyes. “Actually, before we go home, is there any chance we could stop somewhere on the way? There is someone that I wish to speak with.”
Charlotte did not know what her sister was talking about, but she could tell from Mary’s expression that this was something very serious, something that could not be denied. After everything that Mary had done to help her, she would have done anything to reciprocate. “Of course,” she gushed trying to be helpful. “Whatever you need.”
Mary rushed off to the carriage and sat very stiffly in her seat while she waited for them to leave. She reeled off the address that she wanted to visit to the driver and then remained frozen with her back straight until it took off. She could feel her sister shooting her odd looks as they moved, but still she had nothing. She needed to think of nothing while they travelled because she needed a clear brain. It was the only way she was going to do this without completely losing her head.