“I have to thank you for that,” she said. “Your presence means the world to me, and I feel much more secure about all this knowing that I’ll have assistance from someone who has been through it herself.”
“Yes,” Margaret agreed. “It was just the same for me when I married my husband—and I had his mother to help me through that process. I’ve gotten permission from your parents to take you shopping this afternoon to make sure that you have some suitable things to wear to the events you’ll be attending in the near future.”
Lydia might have been offended—Margaret hadn’t even seen her clothes, so how could she say that she had nothing suitable?—but all she felt was gratitude.
“Thank you,” she said. “That’s most helpful.”
“Anything I can do to make this easier, I will,” Margaret replied graciously.
Lydia smiled, but even as she did, she was left to wonder about the way Margaret had spoken about the Duke.
It almost sounds as if she doesn’t like him very much—as if there’s something wrong with their relationship.
Could that be true?
Margaret was the Duke’s stepmother, not his birth mother. Perhaps that was why she sounded as if she didn’t feel very close to him. Maybe that was why she felt all right speaking about him the way she had.
It was something Lydia knew she would keep her eye on in the days to come.
CHAPTERSEVEN
“Your wedding gown has already been selected,” Margaret said as they walked down the city street. “So, that’s one thing we won’t need to worry about today.”
“I’m not to have a choice about my own wedding gown?” Lydia asked.
“This is one of those times when you’re best served if you set aside what you might want and do as you’re instructed,” Margaret told her.
Lydia couldn’t help wondering whether those times would always occur when the thing she wanted was in contradiction to the thing Margaret wanted.
“Tell me about this gown,” she requested, determined not to set a precedent of giving in too quickly.
“It was made by the finest shop in London,” Margaret explained. “It’s not even available for most ladies to buy yet, but for the Duchess, of course, things are different. An arrangement was made for you to be married in the very first version of this gown to leave the shop—no one will even have seen the style yet, and you’ll be sure to catch everyone’s eye.”
“I suppose that’s a good thing,” Lydia said. “Still, Iwouldlike to see it before I agree to it.”
“That can be arranged,” Margaret relented. “But you should also know that, in this instance, the decision has been made and can’t be unmade. This is the gown you will wear. For one thing, there’s simply no time to choose another. And for a second thing, you and I will be picking all the accessories today, and they must be chosen with that gown in mind to make sure that everything looks good together.”
“It really would help if I’d seen it,” Lydia argued.
“Fortunately for you, I have seen it,” Margaret said. “I’ll be able to help you determine what is and isn’t appropriate.”
“Then am I to stand here and be dressed up as if I were a doll with no say at all in what I wear to my own wedding?”
Margaret stopped and turned to face her. “That’s incredibly bold of you to say,” she scolded. “Especially knowing as you do that everything you’ll need for this wedding will be supplied—paid for—by the dukedom. Are you so spoiled as to disregard that fact?”
“I’m not disregarding it,” Lydia said, forcing herself to keep her cool. “And Iamgrateful, Margaret.”
“You don’t seem particularly grateful.”
“Truly, I am. But I also have to wonder why it’s so important that I keep my mouth shut,” Lydia said. “Even if the dress has been chosen, wouldn’t you want to have my help in the selection of the accessories? Wouldn’t you want to think I was wearing things that pleased me? I think that if I had a child getting married, I would want to believe that child was happy.”
Margaret eyed her shrewdly. “All right,” she agreed. “You’ve made your point, and I hear what you’re saying. I’m willing to allow you some freedom in choosing your own accessories, but everything you select will be subject to my final approval. After all, I have been a duchess for many years, and I have experience on my side telling me what’s appropriate. Does that seem like a fair compromise to you?”
“More than fair,” replied Lydia, knowing that it was the best she was likely to get.
Besides, itdidseem fair to her—she wasn’t trying to turn down Margaret’s help, but she recognized that a power struggle was taking place between the Dowager Duchess and herself, and she needed to make sure that she asserted herself well enough to guarantee that she would be able to make her voice heard in the future.
On the subject of jewelry, it didn’t much matter what was decided, but she needed Margaret to listen to her. And it seemed as though that was happening. Lydia felt satisfied.
