Page 52 of Loving a Noble Gentleman
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 theeventtonight.”
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 withhim. “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.
