In a flash, I tied on my bonnet and raced down the marble staircase as quietly as I could. I stopped on the last step, leaning on the wooden rail. The foyer was empty, but Mama would be somewhere nearby.
Slowly I stepped down the last stair. Should I take the longer route and sneak out the back? Or run the few paces ahead out the front door to my freedom?
A footman walked out of the dining room, stopping next to the entry door. If he opened it, I could dash through like a mouse to its hole. His hand grasped the knob, and my feet decided before my mind had a second to—
“Rosalind Newbury, where onearthdo you think you are going in such a rush?”
Drat.Mama stood just outside the drawing room, her hands firmly holding her hips. Had she literally been watching the door for me?
“Mama,” I said sweetly. “The Ollertons have just arrived this morning. I wish to see Liza.”
Her eyes bulged, and she shook her head, causing her silky brown curls to bounce on either side of her face. “You cannot spend all your time over there, Rosalind. Not this year. We have too much to prepare with your intended visiting in a fortnight to dine with us and finalize wedding plans. I pray he got the special license for the wedding to happen at our estate or all our work on the grounds will have been for nothing.” Mama started counting on her fingers. “Flowers must still be ordered, menus finalized. The house needs polishing. As do you, Rosalind. And your dress! Your final fitting is this week.” She shook her head as though the more she thought about it the more confined I needed to be. “My darling, lest you forget, you are marrying—”
“—a duke,” I finished for her. “Yes, I know. And I dearly wish for Liza’s opinion on the matter. She is the closest person I have to a sister. I will have her help me choose flowers to order this afternoon.”
I lifted my chin. People often told me I was Mama’s spitting image. Though my hair was a lighter brown, my skin a touch darker from the sun, and my features fuller than hers, I feared the truth of their opinions when Mama gave me that look and walked toward me.
She took a long breath and let her features relax before saying, “The Newbury name has spanned generations of wealth but has never had a great beauty to tempt a title. Until you.” She smiled, then took my face in her hands. “We are all so immensely proud of you, my dear. You are making the right choice for yourself, for your children, and for Benjamin and our entire family.”
I could not hold her gaze and looked instead at the ruby pendant on her dress. I hated when she said it like that. Like I held the future of our family name on my shoulders. But I knew the significance of adding a dukedom to our line. Benjamin and the boys would move in circles previously unheard of for our family. Doors would open. And soon, Father had said, we’d have it all.
“I am honored to bolster our family name, Mama. And with your help, the wedding will be fit for a queen.”
Mama dropped her hands to my arms and cleared her throat. “Flowersandribbon colors. Take the afternoon to choose,” she said, though the strain in her voice told me she reconsidered her choice the moment the words spilled out. “But return in time for dinner. You shall act as hostess and guide our family through the motions. After this week, I want to feel confident that you can lead a household, Rosalind. Gossiping and running wild with the neighbors will not teach you to become a duchess.”
My lips formed a happy smile, and I stepped backward before she could change her mind. “Thank you, Mama!” I called as I raced out the door and into the bright afternoon sunlight.
What I wanted—no, what Ineeded—was Liza’s assurance.
Even as children, she always knew the proper way for a lady to behave. We could not play in the creek without Liza first securing our hats, lest we take too much sun. And that was if I could convince her to play in the creek at all.
Liza would assure me I’d made the right choice. She’d gush about how handsome the duke was, ask me details about the proposal and which items I’d chosen for my wedding breakfast, and I’d finally take a breath of relief. Because the truth was, no matter how many times Mama squeezed my hands or told me how beautiful I’d look or promised me my wedding would be everything I’d ever dreamed, there was still an aching pit in the bottom of my stomach that refused to fill. An ache that I was missing something important.
I’d felt a similar feeling when Liza left for London without me. Like any other girl, I’d imagined a Season filled with dancing and music, stolen glances and smiling lips, and secret rendezvous in the courtyard. Instead, while Liza made a hundred introductions, I only made one—the Duke of Marlow, a tall, handsome man ten years my senior. He was soft-spoken and intelligent, though perhaps a little curt. His family had long sought a parcel of prime farmland we owned that bordered one of his estates. Land so conveniently placed was hard to come by. Indeed, the duke wanted that parcel of land as much as we desired his title. So I’d made my decision. And my family was better for it.
But still, I wondered what it would have been like to dance with a dozen men and hope they would send me flowers or call on me the next day. Would I still feel this ache? Would I be any better prepared to marry the duke?
I could not change the past, but I could work on my future. Thanks to Aunt Alice, I had my list. With Liza at my side, boosting me with courage and confidence, I could not fail. I would be ready.
A cool breeze propelled me through the pasture toward Liza’s house. Oak leaves fanned and branches swayed in the grove of trees to my left, shading a large, round pond. Much of the grass had been grazed recently by the animals, so my steps were unhindered and swift, and my eyes focused on the tall, gray stone house a half mile from my own, with wide windows on each side of the tall wooden door. I’d painted this scene from a dozen different angles, half from memory alone.
I focused on the window to the left of the main door, the drawing room where I assumed Liza would be, and when my feet finally hit the lawn stretching in front of the house, I wiped my brow on the back of my glove and let myself fully feel the exhilaration and excitement I’d been holding in all morning.
Three weeks left to live howIwanted, and all that was missing was Liza.
I knocked on the tall wooden door, and Derricks opened it. The man was as pale as white lace. I smiled in greeting, awaiting his usual bow and side step, but instead, the footman’s eyes squinted, and his expression turned flat and reserved. He did not move, but he somehow seemed to fill the doorframe even more so. Then he straightened his back, like a soldier at duty. “Miss Newbury,” he said with a raise of his chin. “How may I assist you?”
“Good day.” I tried a smile, but Derricks stood firm. “Is Miss Ollerton home?”
He blinked and scrunched his brow like he was surprised I did not know. “Forgive me, Miss Newbury. The Ollertons are not accepting callers today.”
ChapterTwo
Not accepting callers?
“Is the family unwell? Has someone been hurt?” I craned my neck to look beyond the footman and into the wide foyer with black-and-white-checkered floors and framed vaulted ceilings.
“They are unharmed.” Derricks moved his head to block my view, and I frowned at him. His countenance remained stoic, revealing nothing. “Would you like to leave your card?”
