It was easy to see that the duke and his wife were very much in love, and it made Dietrich happy. The duke had done so much for him and his family, and he wished for him to be happy again, and always had.
“I hope you will like Beatrice,” Dietrich added. “She is one of my dearest friends.”
“I’m sure she is wonderful,” the duchess said with a smile.
As they drew closer, Dietrich watched Ella’s face to see if there were any hints of whether or not she knew who would be here. He didn’t have to wait long. When she was close enough to see his face, hers twisted into a scowl, and she turned to Beatrice with a glare.
So, she didn’t know.
This was going to be fun.
Chapter twelve
Ella
As she and Beatrice rode toward Dietrich, a carriage, a woman, and two girls, Ella seethed. Had he really set her up like this? Was this the way she was going to meet her sisters—at an event she had no knowledge of? She wanted to pummel him into next week. How did he think it was okay to spring this surprise on her?
She glanced over at Beatrice, who was looking guilty.
“You knew?” she asked. She had expected this from Dietrich, but not Beatrice. She thought Beatrice was on her side.
“I’m sorry,” Beatrice said. “I didn’t want you to say no.”
“Yeah, he probably didn’t want that, either,” Ella muttered.
“He doesn’t know that I didn’t tell you,” Beatrice said. “I didn’t want him to have to make that decision.”
Ella frowned at Beatrice, who shrugged a little.
“I love Dietrich, but he doesn’t always make the best choices,” Beatrice said simply. “I thought perhaps it was best if I just made the decision for him. I’m sorry if that was the wrong decision.”
Ella sighed. She couldn’t be mad at Beatrice, even if she wanted to. And she definitely wanted to. But Beatrice’s intentions were pure.
“Will you forgive me?” Beatrice asked with a smile. “I would hate to know that you are upset.”
“I am upset,” Ella admitted, “but I will forgive you anyway.”
The real question was whether she should forgive Dietrich for organizing this behind her back without asking her if she was ready to meet her sisters.
She was inclined to say no. He had no right to spring this on her, and she wanted nothing more than to turn around and leave. But she wasn’t sure she knew how to turn around. She’d never ridden a horse before, and she was going to have difficulty getting down from here.
She sighed. Of course, when Beatrice had suggested they ride, she hadn’t thought it would be difficult. It was her own fault. She had been too stubborn to admit to Beatrice that she didn’t know how to ride and that perhaps it would be wiser to choose a different mode of transportation.
But now, here she was, on a horse, not knowing how she would get down—or if she would be able to move again. Her leg had already started to lock up, and she could only imagine how sore she was going to be very soon.
This was all Dietrich’s fault.
They reached Dietrich and the others, and when Beatrice pulled her horse to a stop, Ella’s horse stopped too—which was fortunate, as she didn’t know how to stop it herself.
“Hello,” Beatrice said, looking at the woman wearing a fine dress as Dietrich stepped up and helped Beatrice down. “Thank you,” she said politely before making her way to the other woman.
She could only be Duchess Regina Vaughn, Ella’s real stepmother.
Ella’s stomach churned at the thought. These were her stepfamily. She could only hope this experience would be better with them than it had been with her first.
“I am Beatrice Dunham,” she said, taking the duchess’s hands in hers. “It is so wonderful to meet you. I have heard wonderful things.”
“I’m Regina Vaughn, and given that my husband is the only one here who knows me well enough to be saying things about me,” the duchess said with a smile, “I’m going to assume it is all very biased, and you should only believe about a third of what has been said.”
