Eliza did her best to swallow her irritation at this interruption and curtsied, forcing a smile.
"It is lovely to see you again, as well, Lady Bitterwood. To what do I owe the pleasure of your notice this evening?"
Lady Bitterwood laughed and tapped her son lightly on the arm with her fan.
"Edward has been telling me what delightful company you are, and I had rather hoped that you and Lady Matilda would do us the honour of sitting with us in our box this evening."
The Duchess of Elkington happened to be passing quite close to them at that moment and Lady Bitterwood paused, actually glancing over at Her Grace for a moment before turning back to Eliza and speaking just a little bit louder. Loud enough that the Duchess would surely hear her.
“I have heard that some among the ton have seen fit to snub you for your elder sister’s involvement in Lord D’Asti’s betrothal, but you needn’t fear such petty, small-minded behaviour from the likes of us. Lord Bitterwood and I would never hold your sister’s actions against you, my dear girl, nor would Edward allow such a childish grudge to stop him from courting a young lady of your calibre. Do join us, please.”
The Duchess of Elkington had stopped dead in her tracks at Lady Bitterwood’s words, and she sucked in a gasp at the thinly veiled venom behind them, storming off in a wordless, furious huff before Lady Bitterwood turned her attention to Lady Matilda with her smile still perfectly placid and welcoming.
“And you will find, Lady Matilda, that we would never stoop so low as to begrudge your dear sister, Lady Eugenia, a love match with Lord D’Asti, either. I do hope that both of you will spend the evening in our company.”
Eliza had absolutely no idea what to say. She was shocked beyond belief that Lady Bitterwood was brave enough to so intentionally upset the Duchess of Elkington in front of so many people at the opera. She looked over at Matilda, her eyes wide and uncertain.
Should they accept? She just didn’t know. They were supposed to sit in the Thistlewayte box, and it felt borderline scandalous to accept Lady Bitterwood’s invitation, but on the other hand it felt quite lovely and entirely validating to hear that Lady Bitterwood would not snub her for her sister’s involvement in the fiasco between Lady Catherine, Lord D’Asti, and Lady Eugenia.
Lady Matilda gave a barely perceptible shrug, as if to say that the decision was Eliza’s, and hers alone. Finally, Eliza smiled back at Lady Bitterwood.
“That sounds lovely, thank you. It would be my pleasure to join you and Lord Edward this evening, after I let our families know where we will be, of course.”
Moments later, they caught Georgiana and Edward’s attention, and let them know about the arrangement, then turned back to join Lady Bitterwood.
As they did, Eliza could feel someone’s gaze, heavy and burning, making the hairs on the back of her neck prickle as she and Lady Matilda joined Lady Bitterwood and Lord Edward in their box. When she looked back, she saw the Duke of Elkington and his twin brother, Lord Gabriel Stewart, both watching her intently, their expressions shuttered, giving nothing away.
She hoped that they weren’t angry with her, but honestly, how was she to know if their mother never allowed them to speak with her again?
The whole situation was wildly unfair, and she could not be expected to sequester herself from society and cease to exist simply because Her Grace, the Duchess of Elkington, had marked Eliza as an enemy.
Still, despite the pleasant entertainment and company, when Eliza left the opera that night, she was haunted by the notion that this Christmas was going to be the bleakest Christmas she’d experienced since the first Christmas after her father had passed away.
* * *
Raphe leaned over,speaking so quietly that only Gabriel would hear him.
“I do hope that this mad plan which you managed to cook up with Catherine is working.”
“I am sure that we will find out how the gambit we tried tonight plays out, sooner rather than later, judging by the look on Mother’s face at whatever Lady Bitterwood just said.”
Raphe shifted uncomfortably.
“It does not feel right to use misinformation and their long-standing feud with each other against them. It’s deceitful, Gabriel.”
“It’s called a tactical advantage, Raphe. You have to learn to use the tools you’ve been given, whether you like them or not. If you want any hope of being able to woo and win Miss Wingfield before Lord Edward Melthorn manages to propose to her, you may well have to be more ruthless and cunning than you’d prefer to have to be, when your own mother is one of those who would oppose the match.”
“You are astonishingly cutthroat.”
“I am a soldier. It’s in my nature.”
“Remind me never to cross you.”
“Mother is desperate to see you wed. I would prefer it if you were wed to a woman who would make you truly happy. The only way to make that happen is to use Mother’s weakness — her unending grudge and urge to compete with Lady Bitterwood — against her. If Mother believes that society is beginning to favour Lady Bitterwood over her because Lady Bitterwood is being kind to Miss Wingfield, well… Mama will surely want to steal Miss Wingfield away from Lady Bitterwood. It makes perfect sense. We need only to plant the right rumours in the right places, and surely they will have the desired effect.”
Suddenly, their mother was storming toward them, red-faced and furious.
“You will never believe what Lady Bitterwood has done now. That infernal woman acts as if she is the one who discovered what a delightful young lady Miss Wingfield is, and even worse, she implied that my snubbing her because of her sister’s actions has been entirely ridiculous and cruel. Oh, what that woman does to my poor nerves.”
