She walked to the door, which was promptly opened by the butler.
“Good evening, Miss Dangerfield,” Ralston said in greeting. “I will show you up to the drawing room.”
She followed him to where she’d met Pandora last week. She wondered if Pandora would be there again, or if it would just be Min. She would shortly know.
The butler did not go all the way to the door. Instead, he gestured for her to precede him.
“I was told you would not need to be announced,” Ralston said.
“Thank you.” Ellis took a deep breath and walked into the drawing room.
Min stood near a seating area, the aristocratic planes of her familiar face tight with anticipation. Her gray eyes fixed on Ellis and didn’t waver as she clasped her hands before her. “I was watching for your coach.”
Ellis found she couldn’t speak, so she nodded.
“May I hug you?” Min asked.
Ellis raced to her, and they embraced fiercely. Several minutes elapsed while they held one another. Ellis couldn’t keep from crying, and from the sound of it, Min was doing the same. When they finally broke apart, they began to laugh.
“Aren’t we a pair?” Min said. She took Ellis’ hand and squeezed it.
“Let’s sit, and I’ll tell you everything.” Ellis tugged her toward a settee. “But first I want to hear how you’re enjoying marriage. I’m so sorry I missed your wedding.”
They sat together, angled toward each other.
Min kept hold of Ellis’s hand. “I understand. I’m so sorry for the way you found out about our mother.”
“At least we’re actually sisters,” Ellis said with a wry smile.
Min began to cry again. “Is it wrong that I’m happy about that?”
Ellis squeezed her hand. “No, I’m happy too. It is the one bright spot in all this.”
“The other bright spot is that the duchess has been sent away,” Min said. “My father is not renewing the lease on her house in Bath, and she’s no longer welcome at the dower house at Beacon Park.”
“Where will she go?” Ellis asked.
Min shrugged. “We don’t know, and we don’t care. I don’t think she has much money. She did ask if she could stay with me. I didn’t respond. Evan wrote her back and told her not to write to us again.”
“Good for Evan,” Ellis said firmly. “I don’t know what’s worse—having a mother and learning these awful things about her or being treated horribly by somebody for so long only to learn that she’s your mother.”
“Your situation is far worse.” Min’s eyes shone with kindness and concern. “Our mother never treated me poorly, not in the way she did you. I should have recognized just how terrible her treatment of you was. I should have stood up for you more. Can you ever forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” Ellis said sharply. “You did all you could. You fought for me on countless occasions, and you won some of those battles. Things could have been much worse. I think if you and I had not gotten on so well, she might have been able to convince your father to send me away. Though, I would have gone to live with my cousins, which likely would have been better.” Ellis didn’t want Min to feel bad about that either. “There’s no sense in our talking about things we could have done differently.”
“I remember you wanted to live with your cousins,” Min said softly. “I also remember telling you that I was glad you didn’t, because I liked having you there with me.”
Ellis smiled. “You said my presence meant you could pretend we were sisters.”
Min nodded. “I craved companionship and affection. Sheff was older and mostly away at school, and my father certainly wasn’t paying attention to me.” She met Ellis’s gaze. “I had the governess, and I had you.”
“We had each other.” Ellis squeezed Min’s hand again. “Which is why I’m so sorry I turned away from you. We must always band together.”
“Yes,” Min agreed. “Forever.”
They released their hands and embraced again, though not for nearly as long as before.
When they parted, Min’s expression became wary. “You said you were going to tell me everything. What does that mean?”
