“You are not even going to give the man a chance to defend himself?” Merry yanked on her arm. “Stop this very instant. You were so happy, Felli. Are you going to let that lying Nedia destroy that?”
Felicity pulled her arm away and whirled around to face her sister. “If I do confront him, what do you think he will say? Of course, he will deny it.”
“You do not know that. What if he denies what she said? What if that is the truth? He might have a perfectly good explanation.”
“About how he worked his waydownto me by process of elimination? Leave it, Merry. Have I not been humiliated enough for one day?”
“You had to know this might happen,” Merry said with a gentle firmness that hurt. “You knew his circumstances.”
“Which we discovered by spying on his garden.” Felicity threw her hands in the air again. “What if we had not done that? Would he have said anything or gone along as if all was in order? He did nottellme about his situation, Merry. What else is he hiding?” All Felicity’s doubts, all her fears, surfaced with a vengeance.
Merry eyed her, sadly shaking her head. “You have been so happy these past few weeks. He makes you joyous, Felli.”
“Then I am an even bigger fool than I feared I was.” Felicity charged toward home, almost breaking into a run. It would be a very long time before the village of Binnocksbourne enjoyed her presence again.
“He deserves the opportunity to explain himself,” Merry shouted from behind her. “He said you stood alone, remember? The gossips had no one else with whom to compare you. He seemed sincere. Let me help you when you talk to him. You know I am good at spotting lies.”
Felicity swiped away an escaped tear and kept loping along. She needed to get home. Home to her kitchens. Home to her room. She needed the safety of her family, who would never hurt her as badly as anyone from the outside ever had. Granted, Serendipity’s advice on restraint when it came to food had often stung, but none of her sisters or her brother had ever been mean-spirited, not as mean-spirited and humiliating as this. She was a fool, believing Drake was interested in her for anything other than money.
She veered off the road and cut through the field toward the entrance to the kitchens. The last thing she needed right now was to come across Serendipity and have to explain why she and Merry were home so early from the village.
“My lady?” Cook looked up from the dough she was kneading against the floured table. “Are you unwell?”
“I am most unwell,” Felicity said as she ripped off her bonnet and gloves and threw them, her reticule, and her parasol into the corner. “And starving. I know it is not yet teatime, but would you care to join me in eating every biscuit this kitchen possesses?”
“Oh, my lady.” Cook’s tone dripped with compassion as she dusted the flour off her hands. “Sit yourself down. I shall set the kettle to boiling.” She shooed the scullery maids out of the kitchen with a stern jerk of her head. “Chocolate or almond, my lady?” She paused at the door to the pantry.
“Both.” Felicity intended to eat herself into oblivion. After all, why shouldn’t she? Weren’t fat spinsters considered jollier?
By the time Merry and Serendipity joined her in the kitchen, she was dipping her fourth biscuit into her tea.
“Felli?” Serendipity said softly. She gently hugged her and pressed her cheek to her hair. “Merry told me.”
“Yes, we had a lovely time at the treat shop,” Felicity said with a viciousness that surprised even her. “It appears I am the village’s newest amusement—the silly lady whom they all pity.” She finished off the last of the chocolate biscuits and moved on to the plate of almond. “Would you care to join me? I fear all the chocolate ones are gone, but I have yet to eat all the vanilla or almond.” She held up a finger as she freshened her tea. “And please, no admonishments regarding my lack of restraint. There really is not a point now, is there?”
“You may eat every biscuit we possess, my dear one.” Serendipity gently brushed Felicity’s curls back from her face. “Whatever it takes to make you happy again.”
“I am empty inside,” Felicity whispered, never realizing before how much emptiness hurt. “Stupid heart. All the happiness leaked right out of it. It is well and truly gone.”
“Shall I send Chance to thrash him?” Merry offered. “And Thorne, Matthew, Wolfe, and Jansen? Shall I send for them too?”
Her overfilled stomach already aching, Felicity shook her head. “No. My misery is of my own doing. I failed to ask Drake if anyone else had already spurned him.” She huffed a pained laugh. “Carelessness on my part. Silly of me, really.” If she kept eating, she would soon need a basin to cast up everything her poor stomach struggled to hold.
“Let us go upstairs so you can have a bit of a lie-down.” Serendipity firmly led her away from the counter with an arm still around her shoulders. “You have gone a bit green. I fear a chamber pot to be in your near future.” She hugged her tighter. “Come along now. You leave this situation to Merry and me. And remember what a liar Nedia has always been.”
“The village believes her.” That was the crux of it. Yes, Felicity could talk with Drake and listen to whatever he had to say, but howcould she overcome the humiliation of the treat shop? And could she really trust Drake to tell her the truth? If he had proposed to all those women, as Nedia had said, why had he failed to mention it so she could make a choice? So she could be better prepared. “Do you intend to force Nedia to hold an assembly in Binnocksbourne Hall and deny what she said?”
Serendipity nodded. “We might. One never knows the levels of creativity that Merry and I can achieve.” She patted Felicity’s shoulder as they climbed the stairs. “And I shall also be having a word with Madame Couire. She has become much too bold with her opinions regarding seams and their repair. Apparently, she needs some reminding about the appropriate ways to communicate with those who purchase a great many gowns from her. Were she to lose the Broadmere account, I feel certain many others would soon follow.”
“What has come over you, Seri?” Felicity hiccupped and held her poor, sloshing stomach. Even as miserable as she was, she couldn’t help but be touched by the sincerity in her sister’s tone.
“Many have treated you poorly. Some because they are simply mean-spirited and others because they thought themselves to be helpful.” She bowed her head as she opened the door to Felicity’s bedchamber. “I am sorry, Felli. So very sorry for my part in it, and I promise it will never happen again. You have been so happy these past few weeks, all because a man chose to make you the center of his existence and treat you the way you should always be treated. It breaks my heart to see that end.”
Felicity clapped a hand over her mouth. The ache in her stomach had churned itself into a fury that refused to be denied.
“Chamber pot!” Merry sang out to the maids. “Bring extras!”
“Cool water and rags as well!” Serendipity said as she lifted the lid to the commode and stepped out of the way. She held Felicity’s hair back while she heaved, just as Mama had always done whenever one of them fell ill.
