Dominic’s jaw clenched. “Harriet, you will not debut at all if you behave like this. Believe me when I say that you are mistaken and you will make a fool of yourself if you follow this thought of yours.”
“We shall see,” she replied, her chest puffed with stubborn pride.
“He is right,” Frances said quietly.
Both Harriet and Dominic turned to stare at her, but no one could have been more surprised than him. Of course, he knewthat Frances did not want Harriet to fail, but he had assumed she might take his daughter to one side later. He had not expected Frances to take his side where he could hear it.
“I have been remiss,” Frances continued, chewing her lower lip in consternation. “I should have begun with the dangers of society and moved on to the rest once you were well-versed. Harriet, I do not say this to dampen your spirit, especially as I believe that your character is one of your greatest merits, but I know better than most how cruel society can be.”
Harriet’s brow creased, her lips pursed. “But your scandal will die down soon enough. You did not do anything so very bad.”
“Precisely,” Frances replied, sighing. “I defended myself against a wicked man, and I was reviled for it. Lord Sherbourne has not suffered any ill effect at all; I have no doubt about that. As for my scandal dying down, that may not be true. Society has a lengthy memory.
“I have seen and heard of the most upsetting things, Harriet,” she continued with fervor, her eyes bright with bitterness. “Ladies I have known have been forced into exile because of the slightest misstep. One lady that I was friendly with was seen laughing on the terrace with a gentleman, and she was hounded so viciously by the scandal sheets that she fled to Scotland. Nowhere did it mention that she was with her chaperone, though I know she was.”
Harriet shifted awkwardly on the blanket. “Well, that is a lie, then. Someone should have said something.”
“Someone did,” Frances replied. “Many people did, but it did not matter.”
“But she did nothing wrong,” Harriet protested.
Frances nodded. “I know. Her crime was being ‘too lively’ and society did not like it. When they could find no weakness in her, they made one up. Please, Harriet, if you learn nothing else from me, learn this: thetoncan be very cruel to those who do not follow their rules, who are too different.Istood up for myself.Thatwas against their rules, too. And because of that, I cannot be there to see my youngest sister debut, and I shall likely never be welcome in London again.”
Her voice hitched with that last sentence, and something twinged in Dominic’s chest as he heard it. He had not realized that her dismissal from society had cost her that. She had told him, when she had given him the proof that she could teach Harriet, but he had not truly heard it then. Rather, he had not seen the pain that it must have been causing her.
It appeared that Harriet was not immune to the emotion in Frances’ voice either, as she lowered her gaze and picked at a bit of leaf that had fallen onto the blanket. Even with her head down, Dominic could see that her brow was deeply furrowed in thought.
A few silent minutes later, the younger woman suddenly got to her feet, her eyes ablaze with frustration… and the shine of held back tears.
“Society is stupid,” she muttered. “Perhaps, I do not need any of it. Perhaps, I shall just… avoid all of it. I am sure that would makesome peoplevery happy.”
She shot a hard look at her father, letting him know who she blamed for this harsh reality, and promptly turned on her heel, marching across the grass to the orchard. It was still a bright day, the sky blue, the air warm, but it rather felt like a dark cloud had settled over the picnic.
“I should go after her,” Dominic said, rising to his feet.
But Frances’ hand shot out and caught hold of his, halting him with as much power as a cannonball to the chest. She had taken her gloves off to eat the lovely luncheon, and she had not put them back on, the shock of her bare skin as stalling as the fact that she had reached for him. Her palm was soft and warm, her grip tight in an urgent sort of way.
“Leave her,” Frances said softly. “No good will come of speaking to her now. Let her mull over what has been said, for I think she will come to the right conclusion on her own. Right now, she is just disappointed… as anyone would be, to discover that they cannot be themselves and be accepted.”
She relaxed her grip on Dominic’s hand and withdrew her touch. But the feeling lingered as he glanced toward the orchard, then back at Frances, uncertain of which way to turn.
“Trust me,” she said.
And though he made a habit of not trusting many people, he slowly lowered himself back down to the picnic blankets. After all, when it came to his daughter,hewas the one who knew almost nothing.
And I know nothing about you, Frances.
Perhaps, it was time to change that.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Frances had never realized how loud the sound of crunching an apple slice could be until she tried to eat one in the awkward silence of Harriet’s departure. Each bite seemed to echo all the way across the lake, as if she were trying to crunch through a slab of rock instead of a very juicy, perfectly tart fruit.
Why is he not saying anything?
She was beginning to wish she had insisted on going after the girl, even if itwouldhave only made things worse.
“I do not know much about your father,” Dominic said suddenly, with no context to help her respond.
