“We were being considerate,” Patience added.
Hazel pinched the bridge of her nose. “You are both utterly hopeless.”
And yet, as she looked at them with their flushed cheeks, their bright eyes and their earnest attempts to be helpful despite inevitably causing chaos, her irritation softened.
She sighed. “Bring me the bracelet.”
Chastity held it out, dusty but intact. “We saved it.”
“You nearly destroyed yourselves in the process.”
“Yes, but we didn’t,” Patience chirped.
Hazel shook her head, unable to stop the faint, reluctant smile tugging at her lips. “Come. I’ll clean it properly.”
The sisters followed her down the hall, giggling now that the danger had passed.
Hazel walked ahead, muttering under her breath, “And I am supposed to marry a duke with the two of you still in existence…”
“What was that?” Patience inquired curiously.
“Nothing,” Hazel said quickly. “Just praying for my sanity.”
Chastity linked her arm through Hazel’s. “We’ll help you with it.”
Hazel gave her a flat look. “That is precisely what worries me.”
And yet, despite everything, her heart warmed. They were impossible. They were exhausting. They werehers.
Hazel guided her sisters down the corridor toward her own room, where she kept polishing cloths and a sensible little box of repair tools no respectable lady was supposed to admit owning.
Chastity bumped her shoulder. “Oh, Hazel, you love rescuing us.”
“I love keeping you alive,” Hazel corrected.
That was when they turned a corner and nearly collided with their mother.
Lady Belvington stood poised and elegant as ever, though her eyes narrowed immediately in suspicion. “What,” she asked, “are the three of you doing?”
Chastity’s mouth opened. Patience inhaled. Hazel shot both of them a warning look sharp enough to stop a cavalry charge.
She stepped forward, lifting the bracelet with a calm she did not feel. “Just repairing this, Mama. It had a loose clasp.”
Her mother relaxed instantly, smiling. “Ah, always practical, Hazel. Very good.”
Hazel exhaled discreetly. Crisis avoided.
But her mother was not finished. “Actually, Hazel, I was looking for you.”
Hazel blinked. “Me?”
“Yes,” her mother said brightly. “You mustn’t go anywhere this afternoon.”
Hazel frowned. “Why not?”
Her mother’s smile widened into something dangerously close to glee. “Because I have invited your future husband for tea.”
Hazel’s voice cracked as she whispered. “You… did what?”
