Page 29 of Disguised Desires of a Scarred Duke
“Nonsense. If we waste the Earl of St Coeur’s money by refusing his gifts, he will cut our income to the quick!” Margaret pointed again at the gown as if Eleanor’s refusal to wear it had insulted the fabric itself.
“Do you mean like you refused the gowns Harrison designed for us for the masquerade ball?” Eleanor stretched her torso up to stand taller and pushed out her chin with defiance.
“Don’t you dare speak to me in such a way, young lady. I’ve had enough of your insolence! Now get ready for the opera or prepare to see your sister’s night ruined along with mine.”
Margaret turned to leave the room, but Eleanor touched her sleeve.
“How would my not going to the opera ruin Regina’s night?”
Lady Whitfield cast an angry look at the hand on her arm until Eleanor removed it. Margaret brushed the spot as if to remove invisible lint, then folded her arms across her chest.
“If you don’t accompany Mr Phillips to the ball, I’ll have to insist Regina accompany him instead. I have carefully chosen Mr Phillips as your future husband. If you refuse him, you give me no choice but to match him with your sister instead.”
Eleanor stiffened and shuddered at the same time. The air in the room turned cold as a ringing in her ears grew from distant to deafening.
“You wouldn’t dare do that to your own daughter.” The words felt like they’d rumbled up from her gut and sliced their way out of her throat.
“Wouldn’t I? Cecil Phillips is a wealthy son of a viscount who is very agreeable to my goals for this family. If you don’t marry him, Regina will need to take your place. So, I suggest you get dressed for the opera now. And finally behave like the dutiful lady your father hoped you’d one day become.”
A single tear slid down Eleanor’s cheek as she worked to control the molten heat of her rising temper. It was one thing for Margaret to force her to marry a terrible man, but she could not allow it to happen to Regina.
She tried to think on her feet as Margaret stared her down, but it was no use. At the moment, she had no way of knowing if her stepmother was telling the truth. Margaret was as sinister as she sounded and quite capable of sacrificing a loved one for her own gain.
And Lady Whitfield knew that Eleanor would not sacrifice Regina’s happiness for her own. To take advantage of that fact in this situation was abominable.
Her stepmother had always been strict and ill-tempered, but that ultimatum was a new low. And a shocking one, even for the stepdaughter used to being the target of Margaret’s wrath.
Eleanor bowed her head in submission. There would be no rendezvous with Anthony in the park tonight. But she would send a note through the footman letting him know she would explain later.
For now, she was at the mercy of her stepmother’s whims. Tonight, for Regina’s sake, she would pretend to be happy to be on Cecil Phillips’ arm for all to see.
Eleanor felt a little better knowing that soon she and Regina would make their escape to the country for a week without Lady Whitfield. Maybe having some time away to think and plan would lead to a permanent solution that ended her stepmother’s control for good.
“Very well, Stepmother. I shall call for Lottie and get ready now. But Cecil Phillips is the wrong man for both of your daughters. I hope you will come to see that before it’s too late,” Eleanor said.
“Before it’s too late for what, child? For you to finally help take care of this family by marrying well? As we’ve already discussed, a young woman of four and twenty has already wasted many seasons avoiding her marriage responsibilities. And now there’s very little time left to …” Margaret’s eyes grew wide, and she stopped speaking in mid-sentence.
Eleanor’s stepmother pressed a hand over her heart and took a deep breath as if to collect herself before saying more than she intended.
“Are you saying I have very little time left to marry? I realize I’m older than when most women accept marriage proposals, but there is no age limit! If you gave me more time, I might be matched in the next year or two to a wonderful man who makes me happy. Don’t you want that for me, Stepmother?”
Margaret frowned, then turned to leave Eleanor’s bedroom. “We don’t all have the luxury of happiness, my dear. And you will be married to Cecil Phillips before August. Behave properly and show him some respect. We depend on his good graces more than you’ll ever know.”
With that, she pointed again at the glittery gown on Eleanor’s bed and left the room. The loud bang of the door closing sounded like Margaret had just fired off a warning shot. It made Eleanor jump and shiver.
She paced in front of her bedroom window for a few minutes while biting her lip.I’m to be married to Mr Phillips by August? Why this man? Why the hurry?
Eleanor couldn’t figure out the significance of August other than one event that happened every August 3rd.
My birthday.
But that didn’t make any sense. There was no reason that she had to be married by the age of five and twenty. There were no laws or rules of polite society that governed a woman’s maximum age for becoming a wife.
So that meant Lady Whitfield was simply setting a deadline of her own choosing out of impatience.
And greed and spite!
Eleanor rang for Lottie and then sat down at her desk to write a note to Anthony. She apologized for having to cancel at the last minute and would explain what happened soon. Once the letter was addressed and sealed, she rang for the footman.
