Page 3 of The Lady
To protest would be churlish, especially as Lord Greene had ensured Delilah could have the full Season he’d promised. No matter what, she would find a way to get along with his aunt and nieces.
“Thank you, my lord,” she said, imbuing her voice with as much sincerity as she could. It became easier as she focused on what he had done for her, rather than her immediate future. “Your generosity and thoughtfulness are so very much appreciated. You and Lady Greene have done so much for me, I cannot thank you enough. I hope everything goes much more easily for her in the country.”
The smile that lit up his face at the thought of his child warmed her heart, and she was glad she had not burdened him by requesting a different chaperone. Somehow, she was sure she would manage.
* * *
Two Weeks Later
Livingwith Lady Felton and the two vipers she called granddaughters was a nightmare. Everything lovely about Delilah’s Season was swiftly falling to pieces.
Hidden as best she could be behind the curtain of the window seat in the parlor, staring blankly out into the streets of Mayfair, Delilah bleakly wondered if she might not have been better off accompanying Lord and Lady Greene to the countryside. At least there, she would have been able to enjoy herself, even if her prospects for a husband would have been dismal.
Ever since the Greenes had left London, her prospects had become more dismal by the day, anyway.
It was clear, Lady Felton was not only uninterested in assisting Delilah in finding a husband, she was actively workingagainstit in favor of pushing her two granddaughters to the fore. One of Delilah’s most promising suitors had already fled the scene, rather than brave Lady Felton and the twin terrors, and rumor now had him paying court to Lady Cynthia Starrett instead. Delilah did not blame him in the least, but it did not helphersituation at all.
She was hemmed in at every ball by the three women, unable to even speak to a gentleman. The moment one even attempted conversation, the women talked over her as if she was not even there. It had been over a week since she had been able to accept a dance with anyone. At first, Lady Felton had allowed it, as long as her granddaughter’s dance cards were full... but they had not been full for days, which meant Delilah did not dance at all.
There was no peace to be found at Felton House, either. Her room was small, with barely enough space for her things. The window opened over an alley, which was full of wretched smells, but the moment she left its unpalatable confines, the twins would pounce. They delighted in tormenting her with words, small pinches, and blaming her for any misdeeds they performed.
The staff seemed sympathetic to her plight, but there was only so much they could do. Their small kindnesses were all that got her through the day sometimes. Bread and butter left outside her door when she’d been sent to bed with no supper, blamed for spilling ink on Amy’s dress, when the twit had done it herself. Maids would help her tidy any messes they found before Lady Felton saw them and inevitably blamed Delilah, even though it was the twins’ doing. She had no coin to pass on to them, as Lady Felton held her purse strings very tightly, but she did what she could to return their kindness.
Still, her life had become miserable, and the misery seemed to increase daily. At least today, after the housekeeper had chased Amy and Sylvia away from her door, she had been able to slip out of her room and sit in the front window to watch passersby. They had been trying to coax her into the hall, intent on some sort of mischief. Delilah knew better than to trust them. She’d learned that lesson the very first day she had come to stay with them. She’d put on her favorite pink walking gown, the last one Lady Greene had bought for her and was staring out the window, imagining she was one of the people walking along the street.
Sadly, her peace was not to last.
“There you are! We have been looking everywhere for you.” The gleeful announcement made Delilah wince, and she automatically tried to make herself smaller, but it was too late. She had stayed out of her room, lost in thought, for too long. The curtain was yanked back, and Amy was smiling down at her. It was not a nice smile, and Delilah shrank back, her heart already beating faster. The cramped, smelly quarters of her room had felt like a jail cell earlier, but now, she longed for the scant safety it provided.
“What are you doing in the window?” Sylvie asked, coming up beside her sister. They were both very blonde with large blue eyes and delicate porcelain features. Nearly identical, except Amy’s nose was a bit longer than Sylvie’s, and Sylvie’s hair was a touch darker than Amy’s, but such small differences were only truly noticeable when they were standing beside each other. Usually, Amy wore lavender, and Sylvie wore cerulean, but even that was not always guaranteed. Sylvie sneered down at Delilah. “Are you flaunting yourself to the gentlemen passing by?”
“No!” Delilah was aghast. “Of course not.”
“Hmm.” Amy arched one delicate eyebrow. “Why else would you be hidden away in the window seat with the curtain drawn around you?”
“I just wanted to look outside,” Delilah protested, her chest tightening. She knew it did not matter, they would twist anything she said, but she could not stop from defending herself. “I was not doing anything inappropriate!”
Making a tutting noise, Sylvie walked away, moving over to the other window to look outside. “I do not see anything very interesting. I think she is lying to us again, Amy.”
“I am not!”
Amy backed away from Delilah as well. The space they were giving her made Delilah very nervous. Normally, they crowded her, so they could pinch and poke at her. The change in their demeanor did not bode well. She could not even anticipate what they might be up to.
“You should tell us the truth,” Amy said, meandering around the room. The parlor was full of little decorations on display, and Amy started touching them as she passed. Many were quite delicate and breakable, and Amy’s demeanor was… worrying. Delilah’s heart was racing, her breath coming faster in anxious anticipation of something awful.
“I have.” Delilah stood, brushing off her skirts. Perhaps if she was quick enough... She began moving to the door, but of course, Amy immediately crossed in front of her.
The smile curving her lips was even crueler than the one before.
“I do not believe you. Tell us what you were really doing, or Sylvie is going to break that little blue vase my grandmother loves so much, and we will say you did it.”
Fear surged inside of her. Fear, resentment, frustration. Delilah had never been able to say she hated someone before, but right now, at this moment, she hated Amy and Sylvie with a passion she had not known was possible. They were truly awful young ladies for no reason she could see. They were beautiful, rich, and if they did not find a husband this Season, it would be no hardship for their family to sponsor another Season for them. They had every advantage in life, whereas she had so little, yet they were so needlessly and meaninglessly cruel.
Tears sprang into the back of her eyes, but she clenched her jaw, blinking them back. She would not give Amy the satisfaction of seeing her distress, not if she could help it. A part of her mind raced for a plausible lie, but the rest of her already despaired, knowing how this would end. Knowing nothing she could say would satisfy the twins. Hopefully, they would not actually break one of their grandmother’s beloved heirlooms. She was fairly certain they were just toying with her, but she could not risk it.
She had to get out of this room.
“There is a particularly handsome lord, I do not know his name, who walks by the house every morning,” she lied. “I was just hoping for a glimpse of him.”
