Page 74 of The Duke's Indecent Match
There were also several who looked askance at Julianna and Emma’s dresses, and even more who looked at Kalina with curiosity.
“Do you come to the village often?”she asked Julianna quietly as they entered the shop.
“No.”Julianna looked away, not meeting Kalina’s gaze, as if she was ashamed of the answer.
“Can I have a dress out of this?”Fiona asked.She was already more than halfway through the shop and holding up a prettily patterned multi-hued fabric.
Kalina was about to answer when a sharp voice snapped out, cutting her off before she could begin.
“Do not touch that.”A woman appeared from the back of the shop, coming forward.She was older, handsome in features, with pale skin that set off her dark hair and eyes.The frown on her face made her less attractive than she might have been otherwise.
Her gaze glanced dismissively over Margaret—who had taken up station by the door—Kalina, and Emma, but widened when they reached Julianna.
“My lady.”She immediately dipped into a curtsy and held it, head bowed so they could not see her expression.
“Mrs.Galbraith.”Julianna smiled tightly, sending a reassuring look to Fiona, who had frozen, still holding the edge of the fabric she’d been so entranced by.“You have not met my sisters, Lady Emma and Lady Fiona.”
“My apologies, my lady, I did not realize she was with you.”The apology sounded sincere enough as Mrs.Galbraith rose, but she also glanced at Fiona again, as if she expected the girl to start running amok.Then her gaze moved to Kalina.Traveled over her clothing, taking in the fabric, the fine work, and the jewels winking at Kalina’s throat and dangling from her ears.
Kalina had dressed to impress, knowing how important it was to make the right impression as Hereford’s duchess.She also wanted to avert any issues when it came to receiving credit from the shopkeepers.While she did not make an ostentatious show of wealth, any seamstress or modiste who saw her attire would immediately clock her as having money to spend.
“And this is my brother’s new wife, the Duchess of Hereford.”It rolled off Julianna’s tongue easily enough, but hearing herself referred to as such gave Kalina a start that she had to hide.
Mrs.Galbraith outright stared at Kalina in shock before Julianna made a small noise, and the woman dipped into another curtsy.
“Your Grace.I… had not heard that the duke had married.”The woman stumbled slightly over her words.
Kalina almost felt bad for her, except that there was something about the woman that made it difficult for her to find sympathy for her.Perhaps it was because she had snapped at Fiona when she had not been doing anything wrong.Fiona had recovered her movement, but now she was standing stock still with her hands behind her back, her joy dampened.
“It was quite recent,” Julianna said, causing Emma to press her lips together.Yesterday was quite recent indeed.Kalina was happy to let Julianna navigate the waters with the locals, as she would know them better even if she did not often come into town.
The modiste was looking at Kalina again, her gaze traveling almost impudently over Kalina’s face, a slight frown curving her lips.
“Is something wrong?”Kalina asked, raising one eyebrow.
“No, no, of course not, Your Grace.I just… I suppose I was not expecting him to marry a… a foreigner.”Mrs.Galbraith sniffed, smoothing her skirt down with her hands even though it did not need it.“Nothing personal, of course, Your Grace, it just seems strange that our nobles would want to marry outside of our own.”
Nothing personal.Of course.It never was.Not to Mrs.Galbraith because she was not on the receiving end of the thinly veiled insult.She would not like any foreigner marrying her duke.But it still felt intensely personal to Kalina.
She could at least take heart from the fact that Julianna and Emma were both now staring at Mrs.Galbraith, open-mouthed with shock and disapproval at her temerity to speak so dismissively of Kalina’s heritage.Margaret was bristling, obviously ready to jump to Kalina’s defense.Their reaction, and thinking of how Lady Astrid would reply to the woman, gave Kalina the courage to respond as she wanted to, rather than swallowing the insult.
“Perhaps if England wants fewer foreigners, she should stop claiming other countries as her own,” Kalina replied with a thin smile.“That is how my mother became part of the British Empire.”Mrs.Galbraith blinked owlishly, rather taken aback.But Kalina did not give her a chance to respond.She turned to Julianna.“Is there another dress shop here?”
“Yes.”Julianna shot a look at Mrs.Galbraith before turning away to meet Kalina’s gaze.“It is just down the road.”
“Good.We will be going there now.”Kalina raised her chin up, about to pivot on her heel, when Mrs.Galbraith came stumbling forward.
“Wait!Your Grace, I think you misunderstood me.”Mrs.Galbraith held her hands out beseechingly.“I did not mean to insult you.I was speaking generally, not to you personally.”
“Yet I am one of the people you are speaking generally about.”Kalina looked down her nose at the woman, who was only trying to correct herself now that she realized she was going to lose custom over it.“Did you really expect me to stay here and pay you for the privilege of being made to feel unwelcome?”
From the suddenly pinched expression on Mrs.Galbraith’s face, she had.Kalina nodded when the other woman did not respond immediately.
“Come, Fiona.”Kalina held out her hand, and the young girl immediately ran to take it.
Mrs.Galbraith bristled, and by the time they had reached the door, the woman had found her voice again.
“This is why no one likes you foreigners,” she shrieked.“You have no sense of how things are supposed to be done!”
