She joined their ranks and mindlessly took out her compact, beginning to powder the corners of her mouth.
“No, my dear,” a soft voice corrected her, and she looked up to find Joanna staring back at her. “You are going to crease the corners of your mouth like this. Here, let me help you.”
Joanna took the powder puff from Deborah’s hands and began to expertly powder her nose. While Deborah’s touch had been harsh, more like a hammer on a nail, Joanna’s touch was soft as a feather as she patted down the oil off Deborah’s face.
“There,” Joanna said once she was done, standing back to admire her work.
Deborah looked back in the mirror and was shocked to see how much of a better job Joanna had done.
“Thank you,” Deborah muttered politely. “You seem to be a lot better at this than I am.”
“Oh, don’t worry.” Joanna flashed her a smile. “I grew up with many sisters. They taught me how to do this. I know you’re Nicholas’s younger sister. It’s only fair that you’re not as adept at it, since you grew up surrounded by boys.”
Deborah was shocked by her insight. She didn’t even know Joanna knew her name, let alone the fact that she had only brothers.
“You can consider me as a sister,” Joanna continued.
Deborah was at a loss for words. On the one hand, she had painted Joanna to be an antagonist in her mind. After all, she was the one who was going to end up with the Duke, and not Deborah. But on the other hand, now that she was interacting with her directly, Deborah couldn’t find much to dislike about the young woman.
Joanna was soft, delicate, and feminine in a way that perhaps Deborah was not.
“That’s kind of you,” Deborah replied, unsure of what else to say.
“Well, I must head out now and look for His Grace. I’ve been hiding out in this powder room for far too long.”
Joanna flashed her a kind smile before making one last fix to her appearance in the mirror and then walking out of the room.
As she left, Deborah couldn’t help but compare herself to Joanna.
Perfect, pretty, delicate Joanna.
And then, there was Deborah, who liked to hunt and drink with her brothers. She had opinions of her own and was rough around the edges.
Nothing like a duchess should be.
Feeling worse than she had earlier, Deborah’s frown deepened.
At least, before, she had the excuse that the Duke was not a good match for her. But after finding out that he was open-minded enough to let his wife write after marriage, she could not help but wonder what it would be like if it were her instead of Joanna.
The thought made her quite upset, as it was never going to be a possibility in real life.
Deborah’s heart felt broken, and she knew that she needed to get away from everyone to fix it.
CHAPTERTWENTY
“Ihave been looking for you everywhere.” Emma finally spotted Deborah, who had taken a moment alone on the balcony to stargaze.
Deborah’s mood still hadn’t improved, as she looked back at Emma with her shoulders slumped.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Oh, just wanted to spend some time with you tonight before you depart tomorrow,” Emma said, smiling warmly. “You must come to my room. I need to show you some things related to the wedding.”
Emma always asked so politely that Deborah never had the heart to turn her down. She decided to push her feelings away for the moment and followed her to her room.
Emma’s room was a reflection of her. Dainty, the walls were lined with lilac wallpaper, and there were fresh flowers in a pot on her vanity.
“Look at this,” Emma said, pulling out a small jewelry box.
