“Enough, Marianne!” Howard said sharply.
Just like that, Howard and Marianne were back to yelling at each other. Cecilia’s eyes drifted, drawn to the far end of the drawing room where Lucy sat in a chair, half turned away from them. Her hands clutched a handkerchief in her lap, terribly still, and she looked so small there.
Cecilia’s breath hitched as she turned on her heel, approaching Lucy. She only came to a halt a few paces away from her, trying to put together what she wanted to say.
What could I possibly say?
“Lucy…” she said gently.
Suddenly, Emma appeared at her side and took her arm. “Not now, Cecilia,” she said quietly. “Let Lucy be.”
“But she deserves an explanation,” Cecilia protested, glancing between Emma and Lucy. “She will understand that none of this was meant to happen.”
“Let her be. She needs time. You can discuss with her later.”
Cecilia looked once more at Lucy, her heart twisting as she gave a reluctant nod. The corridors were quieter than inside the drawing room. Cecilia followed Emma in silence. Her steps were light, but her heart pounded heavily beneath her ribs.
They passed the guest chambers and turned down the familiar wing to Emma’s room where she had come to change into a new dress before she had been summoned to the drawing room. Emma opened the door to the room and stepped aside to let her in. Cecilia sank onto the edge of the bed, fingers tangled in her skirts. The moment the door clicked shut, the dam inside her burst.
“Emma, I don’t understand what is happening,” she sobbed. “Surely, Papa doesn’t expect me to marry a man that I don’t know.”
Emma crossed the room and sat beside her, folding her hands neatly in her lap. “What happened, Cecilia?”
“Exactly what I said!” she answered. “Don’t you believe me?”
“I believe you. You know that I do,” Emma assured her. “I also know how cautious you became after that incident with Solomon two years ago.”
Cecilia’s breath hitched. She let out a shaky laugh and raised her hands in defeat. “This is most definitely retribution, then. Ill fortune for what I tried to do that day. But isn’t this retribution too extreme? I mean, I didn’t go through with it after how terrifying I found your husband to be.”
Strangely, she could still remember the scent of the garden that night. The sharp citrus of lemon balm, and the earthy damp of evening dew. That night – after their father had come back from squandering what they had left of their savings – she had made a choice to trap a duke into a scandal. A complete stranger. Back then, she figured that it was the best way to secure her family’s future.
But it had been a stupid plan.
Thinking back now, Cecilia knew that if Emma had not intervened when she did, she would have made the worst decision of her life.
“You recall how completely nervous you had been?” Emma asked her. “You were practically shaking in fear.”
Cecilia stared at her fingers. “I was desperate…and stupid.”
“I know,” Emma said to her and lowered her head. “If it hadn’t been for that silly attempt, I would have never met Solomon. I wouldn’t have had to make a deal with him, and I wouldn’t have married him.”
“Emma, this is not a blessing in disguise,” Cecilia whined. “I refuse to be optimistic about this.”
“I’m not saying that it is.”
“I was young then, and stupid to think I could corner a duke into marrying me. We have established that. I will never attempt such again, and this was not an attempt to trap anyone.”
“Cecilia, I know!” Emma said. “I just want you to keep an open mind. Sometimes love–”
“Emma, no,” Cecilia whined and rose to her feet. “I’m sorry, but the fact that you and Solomon fell in love in the most unexpected way does not mean that it will happen to me, too. It also does not negate the fact that this is all wrong.”
Emma rose to her feet. “Papa has agreed to it, and both Papa and the duke won’t go back on their word.”
“That is not right,” she said, frustrated. “Emma, we have to do something. I need a plan to stop this.”
“Listen to me, Cecilia,” Emma said softly.
Cecilia took in a deep breath and mellowed. She walked over to the bed and sat. Emma perched on the edge of the bed beside her, brushing a lock of hair from Cecilia’s face.
