“No need to soften the blow, then…” She tried for the joke, but it fell terribly flat.
“I just wish you would…” she sighed. “If you would only tell me more, Thalia. Where you have been these last years… Who thehusband to your child is—if you told me that, at least, I might be able to find him. He should not have left you with such a burden.”
“Olivia is not a burden,” Thalia said warningly.
“I did not mean it like that. You know I did not.”
Thalia was always defensive where Olivia was concerned. She was three years old and in Olivia’s eyes the world existed to see her in it. And where she would have loved to have told her aunt everything, she simply could not. Her daughter… where she had come from… some things were better left unsaid.
“Tonight will go as it must,” Thalia said, changing the topic. “I have no choice, and so it will be.”
Her aunt frowned. “He will need to be rich—and marriage is your only option. You can’t waste an entire Season being courted, only for it to fall apart.”
“So…” Thalia let her eyes dance with mischief. “All I need to do is turn on my natural grace and charm and have a poor young lord fall hopelessly in love with me. Simple.”
“In this gown?” Her aunt cocked an eyebrow. “Let us hope you are as charming as you seem to think that you are.”
Thalia did not want to be here. Dammit, she did not want to be doing this!
She had spent the past four years living away from London and high society for good reason. She had been happy. Living on an isolated estate, doing as and how she pleased, her life her own with nothing to worry about because she had left such worries in the past.
Oh sure, such actions taken by her left a sour taste in the mouth of her peers, and she knew well enough what people thought of her. Rumors and gossip that would make her task tonight that much more difficult. But she did not regret any of it. Not for a second.
And I still do not. Even if tonight tumbles around my ears. Even if this plan of mine is an utter failure. I made my choices, for good reason, and I would do it all again.
Alas, life was never as simple as one wished. And now that she had a child to care for, Thalia was forced to admit such things as this and put her own needs and desires on hold because the reality of the situation demanded it.
“Tonight…” Thalia straightened herself and took her aunt’s hands again. She fixed her eyes upon her, determination and resolve simmering beneath them. “By the time I return, I will have fixed everything. And this…” She indicated vaguely to the room as if it represented her woes. “All this will be is a thing of the past.”
Her aunt smiled. “At the very least, you might finally be able to afford a new gown.”
They laughed together and it sounded good to Thalia’s ears. It had been a while since she’d laughed so freely and she prayed that come the end of tonight, she might be able to do so again. If not for her… for her daughter.
Three
Thalia breathed in the fresh air as she stepped from the ballroom and into the back garden. It was a cool night, but she was sweating visibly. Although such a state of being was not brought about because she ran hot, but because she was angry.
I knew this was going to be hard. I knew this was going to be darn painful. But I’d had no idea it would be so… impossible.
From the moment Thalia arrived at the ball, she had found herself at the center of every guest’s judgement. Scorn and slander directed toward her for no other reason than those in attendance had heard her name, knew a little of it, and decided quickly that she was beneath them.
Most of what they thought they knew was not true. That she was a spinster. That her husband was a commoner who had left her with a child. That she’d spent the last four years living on the edges of society because she thought she was better thaneveryone else. She was, in their minds, trouble, and not worth their time.
For an hour she walked the ballroom, smiled and fluttered her eyes and searched for a lord whose interest she might court. But every time she thought she had one trapped in her gaze, his lips curled derisively, a scoff to go with it, and he looked away.
And that wasn’t to mention the whispers! Of which, there were many.
Her exiting the ballroom was needed so she might regroup and further consider her options. Or rather, her only option, and how she might achieve it. She could not leave this ball tonight without at least one lord showing his interest. She had to find some way to lure one close enough so he might see past her reputation.
But how? I knew my name was tarnished, I’d just had no idea how much!
“It is a nice night for a walk…” From behind, a deep voice drifted and wrapped itself around her.
Thalia’s eyes widened with glee. But she did not turn immediately, choosing to play it cool because she knew how much men of this sort enjoyed the chase. She walked forwards a little more, putting herself on the edge of the steps which led down to the sprawling garden. And there, she waited…
It was a moonless night. Through the darkness, she could see a few bodies wandering together and enjoying the grounds… and some privacy. Chatter drifted from them, laughter too, but she ignored it, listening to the footsteps that approached behind her.
“Too nice to be spent alone,” the voice continued with an air of confidence.
