She had once loved the theatre and had to admit to missing it, if only to herself.
“Why is it now time?”
“It just is,” Leo said. “So be quiet.”
Uncle Bram had informed her they were going and that Ellen would be joining them. She’d met some members of society and survived. Therefore, she would survive this.
Ellen had argued and cajoled, but her family had stood firm. So here she was, dressed as she hadn’t in many years, going to the theatre.
“Lady Mary was not very nice,” Ellen said.
“You made it through the encounter with Gray’s help,” Leo said. “And are here to tell the tale unscathed.”
Gray had helped her, and she could still remember what his hand felt like, steady and reassuring on her back. She almost wished he was here with her now and yet knew that was folly. Her family would keep her safe.
They were in the carriage. Leo and Alex were there, and she was wedged between them. Aunt Ivy and Uncle Bram sat across from them as they traveled to the theatre.
“Ellen, my love, you can handle this with ease,” Uncle Bram said patiently. “You can drop a man to his knees with your umbrella and, very likely, your fists. You’ve done many reckless things to aid others and wandered about London unescorted and survived. Why do you care what a few people with small minds and a sheltered life think of you?”
“He is right,” Alex said. “I see people who look through me, but I don’t care, and do you know why, Ellen?”
She shook her head, eyes focused on her brother. He was dressed, as they all were, in their finest. Society clothes, Alex called them. They may no longer be part of it, but they could still look their best and carry it off.
“Because this life is better than the last one could ever have been. We just didn’t realize that was a possibility,” Leo answered for his brother.
She looked down at her hands. “After we saw his brother and Lady Mary Smythe, Gray called me a coward when I told him I had avoided anyone from our old life.
“Did he? Well, that’s just another reason I like that man,” Uncle Bram said.
“He called her a coward,” Leo snapped.
“Leo, your sister is the strongest person I know,” Aunt Ivy said. “But she is hiding, and that is not her. We were unsure how to make her face this, and now she has. Gray is right, she was being cowardly, sorry, darling.” Aunt Ivy reached out to take her hand. “But it’s true.”
“I will never walk back into society,” Ellen said.
“And you don’t have to,” Uncle Bram said. “But don’t hide from it. None of what happened is your fault, just as not everyone in society is a shallow person.”
“Tonight is a great way to start. Raise your chin up and show everyone you meet. You care nothing for what they think of you, Ellen,” Uncle Bram said. “We are with you.”
“Pity them, sister. They do not have what we do,” Leo added.
She nodded as the nerves fluttered inside her belly. They’d done this, gone out to places their peers were. She hadn’t. She’d fought to be strong when her world had collapsed, and she’d rebuilt it. This would be just another part of that.
Mungo dropped them off outside the theatre and told her to punch anyone who was rude to her.
“Mungo, she can’t do that.” Uncle Bram sighed.
The Scotsman grunted and rolled away in the carriage. Ellen walked between her brothers and behind her aunt and uncle, in through the door. She did not make eye contact when they reached the foyer and walked through the guests, but she felt the looks as eyes followed them.
“Uncle Bram has kept Father’s box,” Alex said. “You didn’t ask where we would have to sit, so I just wanted you to know we will be there.”
“Among them.” She gulped down a breath at the thought of who would be to the left and right of her.
Leo held out his arm, and she placed her fingers on it.
“We are here,” Leo whispered into her ear. “Right beside you, as we always will be, little sister.”
The emotion those words created almost choked her.
