“It’s delicate.” Evelyn held tightly onto the shoulders, not wishing to give up the material. Yet Kitty took it from her all too easily and held it up.
“Well, it’s certainly too tall for me.” She had to hold it above her shoulders for the hem to brush the floor.
It is to fit me, not you.
Evelyn kept the words to herself, holding out her arms expectantly to have the dress back.
“Hester! Kitty! Good news!” Bridget suddenly called from the doorway.
Hester stood and walked to her sister. Kitty tossed the gown back into Evelyn’s hold, but in the fumble, she stood on the hem and twisted it at an unnatural angle.
The sound of silk ripping was unmistakable.
All three sisters recoiled in unison.
Evelyn sat numb, her lips parting as she stared down at the gown. The hem she had worked so hard on was now torn, so badly that it would be difficult to correct, especially in the time that she had left.
“Oops.” Kitty froze, her hands loose at her sides. “Oh dear, I’m truly sorry, Evelyn. I did not mean to do it.”
For one awful second, Evelyn wasn’t sure what to think. Was it possible that Kitty had indeed torn it on purpose?
“It doesn’t matter.” Evelyn tried for a smile, pushing down her true feelings, refusing to give way to them. Slowly, she lowered the gown on her lap, then lifted the tear closer to her face to better examine its condition.
This will be no easy fix. Can I even do it in time for the ball?
“…Those necklaces Mother promised us have arrived,” Bridget declared slowly to her sisters, but with a hint of subdued excitement. It didn’t take long before the rest of the words toppled from her lips with more enthusiasm. “The golden chokers with the pearls. They are here, oh and they are so gorgeous! Come, come see, quickly!”
Hester was out of the room first, with Kitty chasing behind her. Slowly, Evelyn put down the gown on the window seat, deciding she’d return to it in a few minutes. As she approached the doorway, she found Bridget waiting for her. She was wringing her hands together, the rather plump fingers never once sitting still.
“Oh, Evelyn! There… there are onlythreenecklaces.” She offered a sympathetic smile.
Evelyn tried to keep her face as impassive as possible. This shouldn’t have surprised her. Over the years, her aunt, Mrs. Mavis Gulliver, had made no secret of who her favorites were. After all, it must have been burdensome to have to raise her niece as well as her own three daughters. There had been comments, infrequent jibes, no hatred, but a little resentment that occasionally was made plain.
She spoke of the necklaces when I was in the room…
Evelyn swallowed around the sudden lump in her throat. The week before, Mavis had offered to buy them all new necklaces for the ball. Evelyn had secretly been excited at the idea, touched that at last Mavis was including her in things she’d prepared for her daughters.
That was a foolish dream. That is all.
“You do not mind, do you?” Bridget asked, her grimace falling away very quickly. “I mean, you hardly have love for such jewelry after all, right?”
I do. It’s just that I have so little of it.
“Yes, you’re quite right.” Evelyn forced a smile. “Go find your necklace, Bridget. I need to return to my work on the gown.”
The moment Bridget was gone, Evelyn’s smile dropped. She reached for the door and slowly closed it, feeling a heavy sigh escape her lips.
“Not for much longer. Soon enough, I can be free of here,” she whispered as she returned to the window seat. Lifting the gown once more, she set about trying to repair it as much as she could. “Once I am married, I will never have to feel like an outcast in this house again.”
There was a part of her that wondered if she’d be more confident away from this house, perhaps recover a little more of who she was. As a child, before she had come here, she had been witty and not afraid to say her thoughts. That was a long time ago though, and these days she was shy and kept to herself.
“Come on, Mr. Windham,” she whispered as she picked up the needle. “Get me out of here.”
CHAPTERTWO
The air was like ice, wrapping around Rafe’s body. He couldn’t escape it as he backed out of the castle. It consumed him, drowning the air from his lungs.
“No, no, no.” He kept muttering the word repeatedly, but it didn’t change anything. He couldn’t escape what had happened before him.
