"You’re a coward, Victor," she spat at his retreating back. He halted temporarily but resumed as though she’d said nothing.
She found herself falling into her seat just as the tears began to fall. Once again, she had trusted Victor only to have that trust shattered.
She would show him that she could live without him just as easily as he did without her.
"Alice!" Her friends' voices pulled her out of the dreamless sleep she hadn’t realized she had fallen into.
"Are you well?" Lavinia said in a panic. "You look so pale."
"Why aren’t you in your bed?" Emma asked.
"I am well. There’s no need to worry," she answered, waving aside their concerns. "I didn’t know you two were coming."
"We decided to surprise you and the Duke," Emma smiled.
"And London’s boring now."
At the mention of her husband, the sour mood that has freed her at seeing her friends returned in full force.
"What’s wrong, Alice?" Lavinia asked with a frown.
A tear escaped her, and before she could think to hide it, she was sobbing into her friends’ shoulders, telling them about her latest encounter with her husband. Knowing their tempers, she could feel the tension in their bodies, but they said nothing and let her empty her tear glands, not minding that she stained their dresses.
"I am sorry. I don’t mean to…"
"Speak nothing of it, dear girl." Lavinia smiled.
"Do you know how many of your kerchiefs I’ve ruined with my tears?" Emma asked.
Alice smiled as the warmth of her friends’ love for her seeped into her quicker than her favorite jasmine tea. She sniffed and wiped at her eyes.
"We are hardly girls anymore," she commented, which caused her friends to laugh.
"At least you’re married," Lavinia teased.
"Do not remind me," she pouted. "Would it be wrong of me to ask that we put him out of our minds for today? I just want to spend the day with you two without thinking of myhusband."
Her tone caused her friends to laugh, and they nodded, asking her what she had in mind.
She asked for a parlor maid and had her relay her instructions to the necessary household staff to set up a picnic for them by the lake. When she was done giving orders, she found her friends smiling oddly at her and inquired about the reason behind it.
"You’ve just matured, that is all," Emma smiled.
She shook her head and pulled them towards the lake at a run. They laughed in surprise and joined her nonetheless. It had been too long since she’d laughed freely or been away from prying and judgmental eyes.
They collapsed on the blankets set up, heaving deep breaths as they tried to recover from their run. Her body felt tired butawake for the first time in an age, and her heart was pounding with exertion.
"I hate these damned corsets," she complained, picking at the bones restricting her chest.
"Don’t remind me," Lavinia groaned, sitting up. "Whoever invented this must have hated women."
"Indeed," they agreed.
They soon helped themselves to the feast laid out for them, and when they were full, they lay down to enjoy the coolness of the day.
"I still cannot believe the Duke left you again," Lavinia said in a rage, sitting up. "After he played such a charming role last night. I was starting to like him."
"Lavinia…" she sighed. "I really do not want to talk about him."
