“See?” Gabriel smirked. “I told you to trust me. He will not bother you again tonight.” He narrowed his eyes at the other men who lingered, knowing they ought not to go toe-to-toe with a duke. “Nobody will.”
The threat was clear enough.
“And if he does?” she challenged.
“Then I will be there quicker than you can call out my name.”
Again, another bold promise, and Sibyl found herself believing it.
She shivered at the protectiveness in his touch as he guided her back to the center of the ballroom. Over feathered headdresses and top hats, she spotted her parents.
Her stomach twisted, recalling the last time she had seen them, their threats and displeasure, theirwarnings.
“I think I would rather face Ferdinand again,” she muttered.
Gabriel let out an uncharacteristic snort. “I always thought you simpered at their sides, if I am being honest. That is what I heard, anyway.”
“From whom?”
“Associates here and there,” he answered dismissively. When Sibyl nudged his arm pointedly, he sighed. “I did some investigating after I realized you were Edmund’s wife. I did not know he was married.”
“Why would it have mattered?”
But Gabriel just avoided her gaze, steering her towards her parents.
“I once was that girl who did simper at their sides,” Sibyl blurted. “But I quickly began to see the cracks in their façade. I started seeing how they treated my sisters, and realized in turn how they were starting to treat me, and my attitude changed.”
“Good.” Gabriel nodded. “It seems as though they deserve to be challenged by all their daughters.”
With that, Sibyl smiled and approached her parents, right as Alicia turned from speaking with a friend. Her eyes widened upon spotting Sibyl, before she rushed forward, throwing her arms around her.
“Sibyl!” Alicia cried. “Heavens, you look stunning! How powerful you are. It’s as if the night itself walks amongst us.”
“All right, Alicia.” Sibyl giggled. “It is not all that.” She pulled away, smiling at her sister before turning to her parents. “Mother, Father.”
“Sibyl,” her mother greeted.
Her father just inclined his head, his attention focused on Gabriel, who was standing firmly at her side.
“Your Grace,” her mother added. “It is a shame your sisters are not here, Sibyl darling. It would have been much better. Less… tense.”
Tense,Sibyl thought with an inward laugh.It would not be tense if you both would just be a little kinder, a little more open to your daughters’ lives beyond your expectations.
“I did think they would be here,” she admitted. “Along with their husbands.”
“They could not have known you would attend,” Alicia said quickly, perhaps sensing an incoming round of bickering. “They thought you were still avoiding social events, given…” She frowned, shrinking a little. “Everything.”
“Oh, Alicia, do not bring up such nastiness,” their mother chided. “We are here for you to find a husband; do not let your focus stray.”
“You never change, Mother,” Sibyl sighed, reaching out to take Alicia’s hand in support.
“Yes, and neither do you, it seems.”
Sibyl found herself pinned beneath her mother’s appraising gaze. She recoiled, her back hitting Gabriel’s side as her mother began fussing.
“Who on earth chose opals for your hair, Sibyl? It does not go well with your coloring. And Heavens, do not slouch! You are a duchess now. It is a shame we did not curb your love of reading, for your back looks like that of an octogenarian. Honestly, Sibyl, you must be perfect. Have I not guided you well enough on such matters?”
“My wife is perfect, Lady Wickleby,” Gabriel interjected. Sibyl jerked her head to look at him, surprised. “In every way. In how she looks, in how she has taken to her new role. You have guided her well. But more so,shehas guidedherselfperfectly.”
