She could hear the footmen set the tub down and buckets being poured. Merry returned, humming as she set out the soaps and her brush, and the smell of rose oil filled the air. Merry passed her and froze, then resumed her duties. Daisy assumed she’d caught sight of her reddened face. She was never good at hiding her feelings. She’d never be able to hide an affair.
Once the footmen finished and left, Daisy stood and dropped the blanket. Merry hovered by the tub, averting her gaze.
Daisy undressed and slipped into the hot water. A sigh of relief escaped her as she eased down, the tension in her body melting away.
“Miss?”
Daisy scooped water over her face to hide her tears. “Yes?”
“I can’t help but notice . . .”
“I miss my parents,” Daisy lied.
“Ah, I see. Will they return soon?”
They would. As soon as her father was able to travel comfortably. It wouldn’t be long. Once they returned, she’d have to leave Alston house, maybe London all together, and she wouldn’t see Sam.
“They’ll return at the end of the month,” Daisy said quietly, though in reality it could be sooner. What was one more lie?
Merry came around the back and began unpinning Daisy’s hair. “Is that all?”
Daisy tensed. “What else could it be?”
“I don’t mean to pry, but you seem... enamored of his lordship. A tender heart can be heavy to carry alone.”
Daisy smiled at the water, waving her hands through beads of rose oil. Enamored. What a lovely word, and yet it did not adequately describe the cataclysm of emotions she felt for Sam.
“Who wouldn’t be?” Daisy said somberly.
Merry chuckled. “Indeed.”
“I’m engaged, you know,” Daisy admitted. She wasn’t sure why.
Merry gasped. “You didn’t say anything about that!”
“I don’t like him.”
Mary’s excitement evaporated. “Oh.”
“His mother is terrible.” Daisy confessed. Had she ever said that out loud? She’d thought it almost every day, but had she ever told anyone how she truly felt? No. Not until Sam.
“That’s dreadful.”
“If I don’t marry him, I’ll shame my family. But if I do marry him, I’ll live the rest of my life loathing him and miserable. I’ll never have love.”
“Do you know him well?” Merry asked.
“Yes and no. Our marriage was arranged in infancy. I’ve met him many times growing up, but once he grew old enough to go away to school, he has rarely called on me. He spends all his time away. He doesn’t write me or care to see me. I don’t think he likes me either.”
“Then he’s an idiot. He deserves to be left at the altar. What man in his right mind would desert a peach like you?”
“I’m a peach?” Daisy laughed lightly.
“Indeed, you are. You should be happily married to a good man by now. Maybe he’ll die.”
Daisy gasped, choking back her laughter. “How can you say such a thing?”
“I didn’t say kill him, but anything could happen,” Merry said. “Look at Lord Alston. He’s as fit as a young lord can be, and then he fell from his horse, and we almost lost him.”
