Page 11 of The Duke's Unclaimed Bride
“I… see.” A lithe, handsome lady with chestnut-brown hair smirked lightly and glanced at her companion from behind her fluttering fan. The woman beside her nodded with little enthusiasm as she smoothed down her emerald-green gown.
A third lady in a cobalt blue dress nodded, shuffled her feet, and looked around the ballroom. “Your work is… admirable.”
“I’m just not certain that now is the right time for my estate to donate to such a cause,” the first lady added while avoiding eye contact.
Behind their small group, Edith could hear the other guests’ growing whispers.
“Is that the woman who adopted the workhouse girl?”
“Such a shame.”
“Her late husband would be furious.”
“I wonder what his sons think.”
“If that were my stepmother, I would never speak to her again.”
Edith clutched her skirts to steady herself against their animosity and forced herself not to react. She was used to whispers following her, but the possibility that they would now affect her charity made her anxious.
“Excuse me, are you Lady Edith Nealton?” another lady inquired as she approached the group, her soft pink gown swirling around her as she walked. She was smiling softly, the image of a genteel lady, and her blonde hair was pinned up into a beautiful array of curls.
“Yes, I am here to request donations to my charity,” Edith replied.
“I see. I must say, it must be difficult to raise funds for both a new childandyour charity,” the lady remarked with a teasing grin.
“That is not?—”
“Oh, children can be so expensive, especially when they are young.”
“Perhaps one with better judgment would not have taken on such a burden when their enterprise is struggling,” the first lady commented, chuckling derisively.
“I couldn’t ignore her suffering,” Edith stated firmly.
“Oh my, of course not,” the first lady acknowledged. “But one must learn to prioritize their expenses.”
“Especially young widows,” the second lady piped up.
Edith felt her cheeks burn with indignation. “My finances are none of your concern.”
“Oh, of course not, but we worry for your welfare and that of the child,” the first lady said.
Edith recoiled at the thin, brittle veneer of sympathy in her tone that barely concealed the hard edge of mockery.
“Would the child not have been happier to stay where her food was guaranteed?”
“No!” a little voice shouted.
Edith felt her stomach drop.
“Lady Nealton makes me much happier!” Tilly sprinted in and wrapped her little arms around Edith’s leg. “You’re all being very mean! You shouldn’t talk to people like that!”
“Tilly, why are you here?”
“I didn’t want to stay with the maids,” Tilly admitted. “I snuck into the carriage.”
“Oh my, how impulsive. One might wonder where she’s picking up such habits,” one lady sneered.
“At least Lady Nealton does things to help people rather than spending her time being rude!”
