Page 73 of A Duchess Bound
CHAPTER 25
The next day, Bridget refused to leave her room. Dorothy had resolved to spend the day working on sorting through the lists of potential suitors, answering all the invitations which had not yet received a response, and making some measure of progress on the cushions which she was embroidering for the parlor.
Instead, she found herself struggling to complete even one of those tasks. She had begun embroidering the cushions but found that her thoughts kept wandering to Bridget.
Dorothy sighed deeply and gazed at the row of nearly finished foxgloves. Should she try to speak to Bridget, or would that worsen the situation? Dorothy chewed on her lip, thinking about what her sister had said the night before. Bridget felt as though Dorothy was smothering her, trying to be her mother, and if she was being honest, Dorothy found that she could not deny those accusations.
She happened to glance in the doorway and found Elias watching her. “Elias,” she greeted.
He smiled thinly. “Dorothy.”
Her brother took a seat across from her. “I do not mean to pry.”
“But you will,” Dorothy said. “That is always what people say before they begin asking uncomfortable questions.”
Elias inclined his head. “That is true.”
Dorothy set aside her embroidery and clasped her hands in her lap. “What do you want to know?” she asked.
“Has something happened between you and Bridget?”
Dorothy inhaled sharply. How had Elias guessed it so easily? “You need not worry so much,” Dorothy said. “It is but a small matter.”
“A small matter,” he repeated, “over which our sister has decided to confine herself to her room.”
Dorothy winced.
“What happened?” Elias asked, his voice softening. “You know that you can tell me.”
Dorothy bit the inside of her cheek and tried to ignore the little pang of hurt she felt when she recalled her sister’s unkind words. “I have been a little distracted of late.”
“Have you?”
“Yes. But last night, I resolved to focus only on Bridget. I wanted to be certain that she only danced with suitable men.”
“Of course.”
“And that upset her. She—” Dorothy cut off abruptly, remembering those awful words,You are not my mother. “She felt as though I was paying her too much attention. She implied that I should not watch her quite so closely.”
“I see.”
Silence, thick and uncomfortable, settled between them. Dorothy reached instinctively for her embroidery and tried to feign as though nothing was amiss, but her hands shook as she tried to make yet another flower.
“What has distracted you?” Elias asked.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” Elias said. “What has distracted you?”
Heat rose to Dorothy’s face. “It is difficult to say. I do not feel as though there is any particular thing. It is just that I have found my mind wandering more of late.”
“I see.”
Her brother’s tone was difficult to interpret. If she had not known him better, she might have assumed that he did not care at all.
“It is nothing that you need to be concerned about,” Dorothy added hastily.
“I am not concerned.”
