Isabelle rolled her shoulders back, trying to gather herself. “It will be difficult to spend the rest of the season listening to the things that the women have to say.”
Victoria laughed and reached up to wipe away a tear that had escaped. “Oh my dear, it will be for the rest of your life. None of the women are ever going to stop speaking about you, both behind your back and to your face.”
“They don’t speak about you.”
She looped her arm through Isabelle’s as they continued through the maze. “That is where you are wrong. They have said all kinds of hateful things about me, and I suspect they will again. Right now, you are taking their foul attention away from me.”
Isabelle leaned her head on Victoria’s shoulder. “Then I guess you will have to thank me for bearing the brunt of the insults this season.”
“I assure you that you will be the one laughing in the end.”
“I hope so.”
At the current moment it was hard to see a world in which she would be the one laughing. It was far more likely that she would spend the rest of her life listening to their taunts and their jeers, and she would be left to wonder whether it would ever end.
Perhaps, given enough time, she would grow to resent England and all the people within it.
No. I will not. I am going to make the most of my time here.
A few days after her disastrous walk, Isabelle stepped into the bakery with several coins in her hand. The scent of pastries had lured her away from where she had been sketching in the park.
She glanced over her shoulder and gave Maggie a smile as the maid joined her to admire the cakes in the window.
As Isabelle drew closer to the display of pastries, giggling came from beside her. She let out a slow breath, peeking to see who was laughing at her now.
Miss Fitzroy smirked. “I did not think that you would deign to show your face in town after the incident at the park the other day.”
Isabelle offered her a small smile and stepped forward to the display, glancing at the older woman behind the counter. “Two of those little ones with the strawberries, please.”
Miss Fitzroy shuffled over beside her. “You need to speak clearly. If you do not, then how do you ever expect anyone to understand you?”
“I would think that they would have an easier time understanding me than they would with the nasal tone of your voice.” Isabelle handed her coins to the woman behind the counter before receiving the pastries. “Perhaps you should worry less about my accent and more about your own.”
Her entire body felt like it was on fire as she moved to join Maggie by the door, handing her one of the pastries. They stepped out of the shop together, continuing down the cobblestone streets.
Maggie bumped her hip into Isabelle’s. “If you want, I could speak to her maid and have her burn a strand of Miss Fitzroy’s hair off when she’s curling it for the ball tonight.”
“You could, but I would not recommend it. There is a chance that it would come back to haunt you.”
“It might be worth it.”
Isabelle nibbled the flaky edges of her pastry as they drew closer to the duke’s house. “It is not worth the effort. It is much better to rise above them all and pretend as if nothing they say can bother me.”
“But it does bother you.”
She shrugged her shoulder. “It does, but I suspect in time I shall grow a thicker skin, and it will not matter half as much.”
Maggie shook her head, finishing off her own pastry as they stepped through the front gates and climbed the steps to the house. Isabelle finished her pastry as they walked into the main hall where the Dowager Duchess was waiting for them.
“Where have the two of you been?” The Dowager Duchess shook her head and motioned to the stairs. “It does not matter now. The two of you need to get upstairs and get ready. We are to meet the other young ladies at the Fitzroy house and you shall enter the ballroom together for the first time.”
Isabelle hiked her skirts and took the stairs two at a time, Maggie running along behind her. She burst into her room where Victoria was already waiting for her.
Lady Hyacinth and Lady Evangeline were sitting on the chaise at the foot of Isabelle’s bed. The second Isabelle walked into the room, Lady Evangeline sprung to her feet and snatched the dress that hung from the wardrobe.
“You are going to look stunning in this.” Lady Evangeline took it from the hanger while Maggie set to work helping Isabelle out of her dress.
Maggie turned to Victoria to do the same while Lady Hyacinth and Lady Evangeline helped Isabelle pull on the dress and lace it up. Both of them were giggling as they touched the silk and toyed with the curls in Isabelle’s hair.
