“I’ll be circumspect,” Elise promised. “Besides, you have all these rules, and you are always the first to break them.”
Dara was shocked by the charge, even though there was a good deal of truth in it. And Gwendolyn and Elise didn’t knowallthe rules she had broken, usually in trying to protect them. Such as the night of the kiss.
A knock sounded at the door. “Lady Whitby is here,” Elise said.
Herald started coming from the rear of the house and whatever task he was doing, but Elise waved him back. She opened the door herself. One of Lady Whitby’s coachmen stood there.
The liveried servant said with a bow, “Her ladyship is waiting for you, Miss Lanscarr.”
“Thank you.” Elise looked back at her sisters. “Don’t worry. Lady Whitby shall be my chaperone.” And then she was out the door, closing it behind her, before Dara could issue a protest.
Dara stood very still. Elise would find Mr.Brogan—and then what? Would Mr. Brogan say anything to Elise? She crossed her arms, concerns over what might happen threatening to overwhelm her with apprehension.
With great gentleness as if sensitive to Dara’s feelings, Gwendolyn said, “Tweedie is snoring in her nap. Do you wish me to wake her? It is half past the hour.”
Dara frowned. What was it Gwendolyn had said? She needed room to breathe? Dara hadn’t experienced an easy breath since their father had disappeared and Gram had died. Life had been a scramble. Worse, she seemed to be the only one to see the pitfalls that lay ahead.
She looked to Gwendolyn. “It was unfair of you to let her accuse me of not following the rules. I always try.”
“I know you do. But we all do. They are just so stifling.”
“Stifling?”Dara felt her temper rise. “Gentlewomen all over this city obey those rules.”
“And many of them are deadly dull for it.”
Dara almost choked on her sister’s directness. Seeing Dara’s reaction, Gwendolyn held up a hand. “Please, let us not argue. We’ve all been trying very hard, especially on a constrained budget. However, let us not accept callers this afternoon. Elise and I just need a small break.”
“And what will you do instead?”
Gwendolyn held up her book.
What could Dara say? She nodded and, with a happy sigh of relief, Gwendolyn went back upstairs.
Herald had not truly returned to his task. He was wise in the way of the Lanscarrs. He stepped from where he’d been discreetly listening. “What would you like me to do, Miss Dara?”
It went against everything she had strived for to say, “Please tell any callers we are, unfortunately, not at home today.”
She also knew she could not stay here and listen to the knocks on the door. She was too inwardly furious. Things were growing out of hand.
“I need to walk,” she said abruptly. She needed action. She needed to move. She ran up the stairs to fetch her bonnet and gloves and to round up Molly.
Fifteen minutes later, Dara wore her green cotton pelisse over her second-best white muslin gown and her straw bonnet. The soles of her walking shoes felt thin and worn as she briskly headed through the park’s entrance.What I would give for a new pair of shoes.
Molly had to skip a step or two to keep up.
The walking did help clear Dara’s head.
Sheshouldconcentrate upon herself. Isn’t that what Mr. Brogan had suggested before the kiss she was tryingnotto think about?
Her sisters had doubts.Fine.Darawould be the one to marry well. She would be the duchess,and then she would be generous and see to their well-being. Of course, she was not going to support Elise over anything as nonsensical as living independently and hosting salons. She knew her sister. Under Lady Whitby’s tutelage, Elise would foolishly start blathering on about free love and women having the right to vote.
No, Dara as a duchess—or even a countess—would not support anything immoral. If Elise complained, Dara would tell her she should have married her own duke.
Dara wished their father was alive. Elise listened to him. So did Gwendolyn. Dara was certain that Captain Sir John would have approved of what she had been doing. Gram would have, even though her sisters acted as if she badgered them—
“Excuse me, Miss Dara,” Molly said. “Could you please slow down? I have a stone in my shoe.”
The maid’s request snapped Dara into the present moment. She had been so worked up, she hadn’t really been paying attention to their surroundings. They had already reached the bridge over the Serpentine. “Yes, of course. Do you need to sit?”
