“Well… I was reading—”
“And I was stitching,” Phillipa added quickly.
Mary, sensing an argument brewing, hurried to Dimity. “Let’s go.”
“How did you get that scratch, Mary?” her mother asked, her expression a little contrite now.
“My husband said—”
“I scratched it last night while I slept,” Mary cut Beth off. “My nail needed trimming. Goodbye, Mother. Phillipa,” Mary said. She then waved Dimity and Beth from the room.
She greeted the other women inside the carriage, and soon they were rolling away from her family’s town house.
“How is it your family did not know about your cheek? You were taking tea with them,” Beth asked. “Or how you’d done it for that matter. Nathan told me about the incident with those boys who were harassing poor sweet Walter.”
“Is it sore?” Freya asked.
“It looks a bit raw,” Ruby added.
“It is fine, and I hid my face from Mother and Phillipa, as I had no wish to discuss how I had received it. Mother would have put me to bed had she realized I was in an altercation, and I wouldn’t have been able to leave the house in case someone saw me.”
“Mary,” Dimity said from beside her.
“Yes.”
“They are your family, but I’m not sure I like your sister and mother very much.”
Mary snorted.
“How is it you allow them to stomp all over you but not anyone else?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“It’s a simple enough question,” Beth said. “We’re all aware of how forceful and opinionated upon occasion you can be and yet not with your mother or sister.”
“Well… I…” She wasn’t sure she could answer that.
“Yes?” Ruby asked.
“I like a peaceful existence,” Mary muttered.
“I’m sure we all want that but do not have to be less than ourselves to achieve it,” Beth said.
“We all hide sometimes, Beth,” Mary said.
“Yes, and we have,” her friend agreed. “But not to our families. Our reasons were because of need, Mary.”
She dropped her eyes to her hands. “I did just stand up for myself with Mother and Phillipa, and it shocked them. I told Phillipa she’d had four seasons and was still not wed and that she was a bully.”
“Well, that’s good to hear and true,” Dimity said.
“Occasionally I will make a point, but not often,” she said softly.
“And if you do not make a noise or cause trouble, you are free to do as you wish?” Freya asked.
Mary nodded.
“A clever plan to be sure,” Freya added. “But I can’t imagine it’s nice to live with being henpecked. Not that I wish to insult your family, Mary.”
