The Dowager Duchess turned slowly in her seat, in the manner of a cannon being repositioned.
“Honoria,” she said. “How extraordinary. I was just thinking about you.”
“Were you really?” Lady Hawthorne said, already making her way toward the nearest empty chair.
“No,” said the Dowager Duchess. “But I find it is always polite to pretend, particularly when someone appears without warning during the beef course.” She did not even rise from her seat. Instead, she peered at the new arrival as if inspecting a blemish on the rug. “I do not recall an invitation being extended.”
“Why would I need a formal invitation? My granddaughter lives here,” Lady Hawthorne declared, proudly raising her chin. She smiled gamely, refusing to wilt under the chilly reception. “I have every right to see and dine with her.”
“Family might not refuse you, but civil society certainly requires something of you,” Anabelle snapped, her voice disdainful. “One can easily see when a household no longer follows certain rules. Even the village postman has the decency to knock!”
“I am a titled woman, Your Grace, not a postman!” Lady Hawthorne responded indignantly.
“Oh, truly? Well, since I do possess the breeding that may compensate for your lack thereof, do come in and join usfor dinner, Honoria. We will endeavor to stretch the beef to accommodate an uninvited guest!”
“You are too kind,” Lady Hawthorne said, in a tone that suggested she found her anything but, and settled herself into the nearest empty chair with the satisfaction of someone who had won on points.
The formality had returned, and Juliana could already guess that the whole evening would end in more destruction, just as Cassian had accepted her and Marta’s efforts for what they were.
“My dear granddaughter, I was passing by to talk to you about something important, only to be told that there was to be a dinner party.”
“How on earth did you know that?” Juliana demanded.
“Quite frankly, I wonder if Lady Hawthorne might have seen my carriage heading this way,” the Dowager Duchess commented with a sniff of her nose. “It would not surprise me if she followed me like a stray dog.”
“How dare you! Why would I come here because of you?”
“I simply cannot believe dear Juliana is related to you and your worthless—”
“My what? You cannot even say Kit’s name without having an apoplexy!”
Marta’s fork clattered on her plate.
The sound it made against the china was very small. But Juliana was watching, and she saw the color drain from Marta’s face in a single, sweeping instant. She saw her eyes fix on Lady Hawthorne with an expression that had nothing to do with thebickering dowagers and everything to do with the word that had not yet been spoken but was clearly coming.
“Kit?” she echoed, her voice cracking.
“Yes, that is my boy!” Lady Hawthorne exclaimed, not sensing the icy shift in the dining hall. Her eyes were on the Dowager Duchess, though, and not on poor Marta. “He has found a great investment. He is on his way to restoring the Hawthorne name and wealth.”
“That cannot be true, Grandmama,” Juliana whispered, embarrassed. “Kit is—”
“Please do not mention his name here,” Cassian commanded, the fury back in his voice.
Marta whimpered. Then, she shook, her eyes on Juliana’s grandmother as if she were a harbinger of death.
“I… I cannot do this,” she cried.
Then she fled the room, presumably running back to the West Tower, much to Juliana’s dismay. Her sobs could be heard from the hallway as she continued her flight.
Silence followed her escape. Juliana turned to Cassian, fear in her eyes, knowing his rage was coming. What she saw in his eyes was worse. She saw hopelessness. Disappointment. Emptiness. She saw a man who had spent years building a wall to keep his sister safe, only for his wife to knock it down in a matter of days.
“Cassian,” she said.
He looked at her, and the full weight of it was in his eyes.
“I… she had been doing so well,” Juliana said, and hated how inadequate it sounded the moment it left her mouth. “This pastweek… the garden, the time we spent together…”
“My sister is quite frail. You should not have pushed her so much.”
