Cordelia slapped her hands together. “Yes! Yes! Finally, someone says what every eldest sister dreams of saying!”
Evelyn looked halfway between scandalized and impressed. “And she just… let you leave afterward?”
“She refused to walk me out,” Hazel said wryly.
Cordelia snorted. “Petty.”
“Expected,” Matilda corrected gently. “But Hazel… my goodness. How do you feel?”
Hazel paused. The truth rose in her chest like a warm tide.
“Lighter,” she explained. “Much lighter. As if someone untied a knot I had been carrying for years without realizing it.”
Her friends exchanged glowing smiles.
“A transformation,” Evelyn declared.
“A glorious rebellion,” Cordelia added.
“A healthy boundary,” Matilda finished, because someone in their group had to be sensible, and it didn’t have to be Hazel anymore.
Hazel herself laughed. “All of that and now, I find I want something I haven’t wanted in a very long time.”
The three duchesses leaned in eagerly.
“Peace?” Evelyn whispered.
“Rest?” Matilda guessed.
“A scandal?” Cordelia gasped.
“Fun,” Hazel said simply.
Cordelia clapped again. “Even better!”
Matilda laughed. “And what form shall this newfound fun take?”
Hazel looked toward the window, where the sun flashed off the glass like an invitation. “A ride through Hyde Park? The four of us? No chaperones, no obligations, no responsibilities, just… fresh air and freedom.”
Cordelia nearly squealed. “Yes!”
Evelyn gave a rare, delighted grin. “I have not been on a spontaneous ride in months.”
Matilda nodded with elegant certainty. “Then it is decided. We ride.”
Hazel stood, feeling the spark of joy in her chest. “I only need to return home and change.”
Cordelia waved a hand. “Go, go! Find something scandalously comfortable.”
“Cordelia,” Evelyn scolded lightly, “riding attire is not scandalous.”
“Itcanbe,” Cordelia muttered under her breath.
Hazel laughed again. “I shall be back within the hour.”
As she swept from the room, she felt almost… weightless. Here she was doing something solely because she wanted to. And the world, shockingly enough, had not ended.
Chapter Twenty-Three
