Page 49 of A Deal for the Duke’s Virgin

“I’m… I’m from St. Sarah’s…” Sophia stuttered.

Emmeline snorted. “I should have known.”

A cold tide of fury welled up inside Thalia, intense enough to make her vision momentarily redden. She stepped in front of Emmeline. They were more or less the same height, forcing Emmeline to look directly into her eyes.

“If you ever speak to one of my charges in this manner again,” she hissed, “I will tear each one of those ridiculous beads off your dress with my own hands, and then I will shove them down your throat. How does that sound, Miss Hartridge?”

For a moment, Emmeline stared at her, eyes huge, jaw hanging slack. It made her look exceptionally ridiculous, her beauty dimming for a moment. Then she gave an incredulous huff, her gaze sliding up and down Thalia’s admittedly unimpressive sprigged muslin gown, and turned to Christian.

“I must say, Your Grace, I am surprised to find you here, and in such… company. Your standards have certainly dipped of late. We must find a way to remedy that.”

Christian’s face darkened. He opened his mouth to speak, but in that moment, Thalia realized that she had had enough. She spun on her heel, catching Mabel’s eye.

The clever maid had thankfully packed up everything in those few tense minutes, and the hamper was ready to go. Orange curled up watchfully in Sophia’s arms, allowing the little girl to nuzzle his fur.

“We are going,” Thalia declared crisply. “Come along, children.”

Usually, the children complained and begged when an outing came to an end. This time, however, they obeyed wordlessly, scrambling to their feet. It broke Thalia’s heart, just a little.

She did not allow herself to look at Christian. She only said as she turned away, “I shall leave you to converse with your friend, Your Grace.”

As she strode away, she heard Emmeline give a huff of laughter.

“I had heard that she was a wallflower, but now it seems that she’s a shrieking banshee. I am not sure which is worse. What do you think, Your Grace?”

Tightening her jaw, Thalia marched on faster, determined to get out of earshot.

CHAPTER 14

Thalia marched down the hillside without looking back. The children crowded around her, all but clutching at her skirts. The quieter of the two boys, Alex, twisted around to stare back at Christian, his face giving nothing away. After a moment, he lifted his hand and waved tentatively.

An orange cat poked its head out of the hamper Thalia carried. It looked thoroughly displeased.

Christian curled his hands into fists, allowing himself a few deep breaths to calm his rage. He briefly considered running after Thalia but decided against it. She, too, would need to cool down.

“Good riddance, that’s all I can say,” Emmeline commented with a huff. “What a dreadful people. I could never understand why perfectly respectable folk choose to bother themselves with orphanages. Nasty, dirty, time-consuming places. Why, I remember Father saying once⁠—”

“Have you quite gone out of your mind, Emmeline?”

She faltered, perhaps taken aback by his sharp tone or even the casual use of her first name. After all, they’d been pretty free with each other’s first names once upon a time.

“I… what?” she stammered, blinking hard. “What are you saying, Your Gr—Christian?”

Christian clenched his jaw until it seemed likely that his teeth would crack. He took a slow step forward, and Emmeline blinked, wilting back. It seemed she was realizing that she had made a mistake, but it was likely she did not understand what she had done just yet.

“How dare you speak to Lady Thalia like that?” he whispered softly. “And speaking so sharply to those poor children? How dare you?”

Color bloomed in Emmeline’s cheeks. “How can you say such a thing? That wretched girl touched my skirt. She might have lice! She would certainly have dirty, sticky fingers. And as for Lady Thalia… Well, did you not hear what she said to me? Tearing off my beads and shoving them down my throat? I never heard of such a thing! One word from me, and she’ll be banned from Society. A word in the right ear, and I could have her Almack’s vouchers rescinded like that.” She snapped her fingers. “And her brother can bleat and complain all he wants to no avail.”

“Did it not occur to you that Lady Thalia might be a friend of mine?”

The notion seemed to displease her a great deal. Sniffing, Emmeline tossed back her long tresses.

“You keep better company than that, I hope, Christian. Unless, of course, your taste in friends has greatly gone downhill since we parted ways.”

Christian drew in a deep breath and took another step towards her. She took a wary step back, confusion creasing her brow.

“I don’t understand,” she blurted. “You and I were good friends.”