She wiggled free and stood with her hands in the pockets of her coat. “We need to go see what you’ll wear for your lessons. The duke will make it a showy affair.”
She straightened my shoulders, pushing at the seams of my pelisse. “Perhaps Mama has something in a trunk.”
Katherine headed back.
My sister was still trying to hold on to a pretense. She wanted our family to be something it wasn’t.
Yet with the folly I’d brought to the Wilcoxes, I couldn’t dissuade her. I had no choice but to follow our leader and hope for the best.
Chapter 14
GEORGINA—SISTER IN THEHOUSE
When we walked back to the house, the horse and gig had been put away. The street was vacant.
Katherine stopped in front of our steps. Her gaze, like mine, went to the lit parlor window. I could imagine the Christmas celebrations when we all were here, healthy and thriving. That little room around the pianoforte would be where we gathered.
“Such good memories.”
“We’ll have them again, Georgina. I’m going to get us out of this problem. It’s my fault. I see that now. Maybe it took the Duke of Torrance’s interference to show me.”
“Katherine, we’re a family,” I said, but then she interrupted.
“Yes. We’ll do it together. I will save this house. And if we’re going to try and save Wilcox Coal, to keep it, we need to try now. Can you help? Are you willing to help?”
Brow raised, I nodded. “Of course, I am. But what are we going to do differently?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I can get a loan. Something that would be easier to pay back than every club and gaming hell in town.”
The vulnerable woman by the water had disappeared. The warrior, ready for battle, stood at my side.
I felt lost. I wanted the human Katherine, the one I could talk to. The one who could be weak and comfortable in her shoes and made me feel fine that I wasn’t perfect.
“Are we going to be completely honest, Katherine? Wilcox women typically don’t lie, but we sure don’t say all the truth.”
Katherine shook her head. “They need to believe the engagement is true. One wrong word, or look, could reignite gossip.”
“What about telling Scarlett and Lydia that we’re still facing the possibility of losing the business or even the house?”
“No, Georgina.”
Shrugging, I started for the door.
“Georgie, please. What’s done is done. I can’t shame Tavis. He’s gone and I want him to rest in peace. But from this day forward, I will be more open. Let’s start tonight.”
“But you said—”
“I changed my mind. Tell them you are engaged to Lord Mark Sebastian, but the engagement won’t last. The not lasting is the truth.”
My sister was right. We surely needed a new Wilcox tradition. “Fine.”
Deciding that some progress was better than none, we pressed inside and yanked off our coats and went to our sisters in the parlor.
Scarlett pointed to seats. “It’s come to my attention that you two have some explaining to do. What has happened? The silence is weird even for us.”
Standing up tall, I took a deep breath. The air was scented with roses. The parlor always smelled like this, like Mama’s cologne water spilled on the rug. Perhaps Lydia found a vial and dipped in it to avoid a bath.
“I’m engaged,” I said.
