Page 19 of To Wed an Heiress
“Don’t you talk back to me, child. I’m not yet infirm, either.”
Nor was she very likable. Four years had changed her grandmother. There was a bitter edge to her now that hadn’t been there before. She could remember her grandmother laughing, but the woman seated in front of her now didn’t seem capable of amusement.
“I can’t take it back,” she said. “I’ve come all this way to give it to you.”
“Then you’ve been extraordinarily foolish,” Ailsa said. “Go home, Hortense. You’re not wanted here.”
Mercy glanced at her aunt. Elizabeth grabbed the valise, closed it, then reached out and took Mercy’s arm.
They didn’t say anything as they left. Nor did her grandmother speak.
Charity? It hadn’t been charity. Nor was her father’s money somehow tainted. Ailsa Macrory Burns, however, didn’t want to hear contrary thoughts or protests.
Her grandmother was right. She’d been extraordinarily foolish.
Chapter Nine
When Elizabeth opened a door in the middle of the corridor, Mercy saw that her baggage had been delivered to her room. A young girl, attired in a green dress with a white apron and cap, was finishing unpacking Mercy’s trunk and hanging up her garments. No one but Ruthie had ever touched any of her things and it was an odd experience having a stranger go through her clothing and personal articles. But Ruthie shouldn’t be working until she was feeling better.
“This is Lily,” Elizabeth said.
The girl curtsied to her, the first time anyone had ever curtsied in Mercy’s presence.
“If you need anything at all you have only to ask Lily.”
Mercy nodded. “Thank you, Lily.”
Inwardly, however, she vowed to do things for herself. After all, she hadn’t always had Ruthie. Nor was she helpless.
When Lily left, Mercy went to the chair in front of the vanity and sat heavily.
“Seanmhair hates me, doesn’t she? And Mother? Does she hate her, too?”
“She hates the world right now, Mercy. She lost everything she knew. Thankfully, Uncle Douglas welcomed us with generosity and affection. She isn’t treated as a poor relation here, but as a member of the family who’s finally come home. For the first time in a long time, it’s given her some kind of position.”
Her aunt had been forced into the same situation, with the added loss of her fiancé, yet she hadn’t descended into bitterness. The events Ailsa had endured had only whittled down her sharpness. It had always been there, ready to be a weapon.
“If Father’s messenger had found you in North Carolina, would she have taken the money then?”
“I don’t know,” Elizabeth said. “I hope she would have. Things were awful there, Mercy. It would have been an act of foolishness to refuse, but Mother has her pride.”
Mercy nodded. She’d met her share of prideful people today.
“I can’t leave right now,” she said. “Ruthie needs a chance to recuperate.”
“Of course you can’t. If nothing else, I want to spend some time with you. Besides, Mother didn’t really mean what she said.”
Mercy was certain that her grandmother had meant exactly what she’d said.
“Did Fenella really send you here?” Elizabeth asked.
She couldn’t lie to her aunt. “No.” Her mother would have been terrified by the idea.
“I think it was a very generous gesture to bring the money to Mother, but I suspect it is not the true reason you’re here.”
Elizabeth returned her gaze and it was almost like seeing a younger version of her mother. Both women had suffered losses. Both had a look on their face that said they were anticipating being hurt again.
How could she explain, without sounding ungrateful, that she’d desperately wanted her freedom?
