“I will not.” Lucy folded her arms and fixed her stepmother with a look of finality.
“Listen very carefully.” As she spoke, her stepmother held onto Lucy’s father’s hand as if to mark her possession of him. “You have been given ample opportunity to do as you ought and find a suitor. In truth, you have been given more time than what you deserve.”
“I –”
“Stop being so selfish!” her stepmother snapped. “All that your father does for you…” Her nostrils flared. “Have you stopped to consider for an instant how this looks? Your continued refusal to even consider being courted reflects badly not just on you but onthis family. That’s not to mention Amelia.” Her upper lip curled. “Did you consider her? Your own sister?”
“She is not my –”
“While you remain single… while you refuse to do as you must, she suffers. This is her first Season and her chances of being courted are less than zero because of what people say about you.”
Lucy started in surprise. “What they say about me?”
“Which we will fix,” her stepmother continued. “One evening, that is all we ask of you. Be present, do not make a fool of yourself, and before you know it, you will be spoken for. The effect this will have on your family’s reputation need not be explained – for it is obvious! The world does not revolve around you, Lucy, and it is time you start acting like it.”
It took all the self-control Lucy possessed to not say things which she knew could not be taken back… which she knew would disappoint her father.
She speaks of selflessness as if she is not the most self-interested woman in the ton! As if everything she has done is not for her own advantage.
While Lucy would never say as much, she knew that was the true reason that Lady Beatrice had married her father. And since their marriage, everything that Lady Beatrice had done was withan eye toward reputation. She was like an expert chess player, moving the pieces required to help her own end, while caring not for anyone else. Her husband included.
“Father?” Lucy looked at her father, ignoring the way her stepmother sneered. “Please, do not make me do this. I promise… if you give me time, one more Season –”
“You have had all the time in the world,” her stepmother cut her off.
“She is right,” her father sighed, unable to look at her. Worse than that, he kept a hold of his wife’s hand the whole time, as if he needed it to give him strength. “You have been given ample time, Lucy. More than most.”
“You cannot do this!”
“You will attend the patronage,” her father said, albeit with little conviction. “And hopefully, by the time the evening is done, you will have found yourself a suitor. It is for the best, dear. You know that it is.”
What else could Lucy do? Short of running away from home, she knew that her hands were tied. Her stepmother had spoken, her father was too weak to overrule her, and so her fate was sealed.
To make matters worse, the look of triumph etched across her stepmother’s face made Lucy want to scream. Since the day that she’d married Lucy’s father, she had slowly carved and cut awayat their relationship so that she was the center of his world. And once Lucy was gone from this house, he would be under her control completely.
As for Lucy? She would be married to some lord who she did not love, who she did not like, and her life would effectively be over. Such was the way of the world… such was the end to the Honorable Lucy Whitcombe’s life.
