The duchess nodded. “I think it would be a good way to honor yourself while trying to belong at the ball.”
“Will it truly be so horrible?”
The Dowager Duchess motioned the modiste over. “I doubt that it will be the last you hear of your life in America. In fact, I am sure you will face dozens of barbs, all of them designed to stick beneath your skin and make you self-conscious.”
“That is the game of the marriage mart, is it not?”
“It is.” The Dowager Duchess pointed out the bolts of fabric to the modiste before they were led to the dressing area where Isabelle’s measurements would be taken.
“Then I will have to hold my head high and get through the season without being an embarrassment to your family.”
“You will have a hard time doing that,” another woman said beneath her breath as they passed. “An American? Can you imagine? I would never allow my son to court one. They are barbaric. Simply beasts.”
Isabelle’s eyes stung with unshed tears but she kept her smile fastened in place. This was not the first time she had to face the comments of cruel women and she knew it wouldn’t be the last. However, keeping her chin up while she silently passed the woman was difficult.
I need to survive until the end of the season and then I may return to America.
Though that wasn’t quite what she wanted either.
“We shall have to prepare for supper soon,” Victoria said when they got back to the house later that afternoon. “The first ball isn’t for a week, but Stanford is arriving in thetontonight and he always dines with us on his first night.”
Isabelle breathed a sigh of relief. “For a moment I thought you were going to say that Lord Milton would be dining with us.”
Victoria shuddered as they climbed the stairs. “I cannot stand that man. There is something unnerving about his manners and charm.”
“It is all too rehearsed.” Isabelle pushed open the door to her bedroom, once again falling silent at the large four-poster bed in the middle of the room. It was draped with a sheer canopy and crisp white linens that made her feel like she was sleeping in the clouds.
“That is precisely it. And it is as if he never means a word he says.” Victoria strode over to the white and gold vanity near the windows and sat on the tufted chair. “I hope you will not give so much as a mild thought to marrying him.”
“I should think that I would rather swim back to America before I lowered my standards enough to marry Lord Milton.” Isabelle giggled and sat on the chaise at the end of her bed. “I am serious though, Victoria. I will not marry.”
Victoria inspected the little bottles of perfume on the vanity. “I suspect you will find love when you are least looking for it.”
“And I suspect that I will not because I do not wish to find love. I am content being with myself. I like the life that I have.” Isabelle looked at the little morning table by the windows where they had taken breakfast together that morning. “However, I do wish I had thought to bring my watercolors.”
“I shall speak to my brother and see if there are some paints he can get for you.”
Isabelle blushed and shook her head. “Please do not do that. I know you and your family are under financial constraints. My father sent me with enough pocket money to buy my own, I just need to know where the shop is.”
Victoria put the perfume bottle down. “Has Felix spoken to you about how dire our situation is? He does not speak to me about the numbers, but I thought he might discuss it with you after I told you about Father’s gambling debts.”
“He has said very little, although I have not pressed the matter either. It did not seem to be my place.”
“He would not utter a bad word against our father around us or anyone else for that matter,” Victoria said with a sad smile as she twisted to face Isabelle fully. “My father was a good man, but he had his vices.”
“Those vices have left your family in a terrible position.”
“I know. It will be hard to make my appearance in society with that black cloud hanging over my head.”
“Appearances are not everything.”
“No, but in order to find a good husband who is willing to provide for my sisters and I, those appearances are important.”
“That is why you are searching for a husband?”
Victoria nodded, looked down at the gloves on her hands, and took her time pulling them off. “If I can find a good match, then Evangeline and Hyacinth will not have to worry about marrying for money. I will always be able to take care of them if Felix is not able to save the duchy.”
Guilt gnawed deep in Isabelle’s stomach. She had the power to save the family if she wanted. All she needed to do was find a husband she would be able to tolerate for the next few decades. Windham would receive the money and his shipping deal , along whatever else her father had promised in return for her marriage.
