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Alice let loose the sigh that had been building within her. “I am not looking forward to these guests, but I suppose I can do nothing but go along with my father’s plans. There is not much I can say against it, anyway.”

“Perhaps His Grace may suspend the arrival of these guests if you voice your concerns, My Lady?” Nancy suggested in a somewhat bold tone of voice.

Though impressed by her suggestion, Alice knew it would be fruitless. “I cannot do that. It would not only be quite impolite, but will reflect badly on my Father. I have no choice but to go along with his plans.”

Nancy’s brow furrowed. Her hands didn’t stop moving, her fingers deftly picking up Alice’s long strands of hair and twisting them into a stylish updo. Alice watched her for a moment, noticing that it looked as if Nancy was thinking hard. It warmed her heart to see but it didn’t chase away the cold needles of dread that had been rooted within her ever since her father’s announcement.

The Dukedom of Warington needed someone who’d be able to inherit the duties once her father passed away. But above all, the first daughter of the Duke needed to be married. To cast aside the threat of spinsterhood and find a suitable husband that would bring along the next heir. Her father wanted Alice to be happy, but he didn’t seem to understand that she’d only be happy if she was alone.

After her first two Seasons, he’d stopped pushing her to be married. After countless marriage proposals declined, she’d thought that the Duke had grown used to the thought of Alice never being married, and would focus his attention on Emma instead. After all, Emma truly wished to settle down happily and Alice wanted nothing more than for her sister to be happy.

It appeared, however, that the Duke was not ready to give up on Alice. She’d play along with him, for now.

Alice engaged Nancy in simple conversation as she continued to get ready, hoping to distract herself from what was soon to come. They spoke about Nancy’s family, about the letter she’d received earlier in the week regarding her cousin’s intention to come to London. It made for good distracting conversation and, for the first time in four years, Alice saw Nancy truly relax around her.

But, within half an hour, Alice was dressed and ready to leave her bedchamber. She could no longer escape her reality by listening to Nancy’s stories and so she parted ways with the maid, leaving her behind to begin her duties of cleaning up the bedchamber. Alice made her way to Emma’s room instead.

Emma’s bedchamber was located only one hallway away from Alice’s. Alice approached her door, finding it ajar. When she pushed inside, she saw that Emma was standing by her armoire, in nothing but her undergarments.

A sharp pang of sisterly love and protectiveness rushed through Alice at once. Ten years ago, their mother had passed away due to a sudden illness, and had left a thirteen-year-old Alice to care for her sister. Though their father had still been present, Alice had spent the next ten years trying to replace the motherly influence Emma would lack in her life.

Alice slid inside and made her way to the ottoman, sitting down. She tilted her head at her sister and her lady’s maid, who hadn’t noticed Alice’s entrance.

“A thief could waltz in here and take whatever he wishes and neither one of you would be any wiser,” Alice drawled.

Her words startled the lady’s maid—Hellen, she believed her name was—and she jumped halfway off the ground with a gasp, her hand flying to her chest. Emma’s reaction was far tamer, simply looking over at Alice with a broad smile as if she’d known she had been sitting there all this time.

“Alice!” she exclaimed. “It is a good thing you’ve come. Help me choose what dress I should wear to greet our guests.”

“You’ll look wonderful in anything you put on,” Alice told her.

“Are you simply saying that because we look so much alike?” Emma asked, narrowing her eyes.

Alice chuckled at that. It was true they looked very similar. In fact, for a while their own father had a difficult time telling the two apart. Emma had suggested once that she cut her black hair short, but considering she usually had it tucked under a bonnet or pinned up into a updo, she’d decided against it.

“While I am very tempted to say that is the case,” Alice told her, “I must admit that that was not what I meant. But,” she studied the dresses in question, held by a quiet Hellen and pointed to the pink one, “that color will surely bring out the rosiness of your cheeks.”

“Of course!” Emma tapped herself on the forehead as if she couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of that first. “Yes, I will choose the pink one. Thank you, Alice.”

“Always here to help.” Alice watched, amused, as her spirited sister basically pranced away from the armoire alongside Hellen. She held her arms out beside her as if that would help Hellen guide her into the dress any better.

“You are aware that you are late, correct?” Alice asked after a moment.

“Oh, am I?” Emma looked over at her, surprised. “But the guests have not arrived as yet.”

“They all be arriving at any minute, though. I have no doubt Father is pacing the drawing room wondering if you will make it downstairs on time.”

“He knows that you’re a stickler for time and will not allow that to happen.” Emma waved her hand in a carefree manner. It was one of the things she liked the most about her sister, even though her tendency to give complete disregard to time could be viewed as a fatal flaw.

“Perhaps not this time,” Alice told her. “If anything, Father may have more cause for concern regarding me than he does you.”

Emma turned around as Hellen began to adjust the back of the dress. Just as she predicted, the pink dress brought out Emma’s rosy cheeks and large green eyes, passed down in a long line of Softcreek ladies. “Is this about the Earl of Vilmount’s marriage proposal you turned down just recently?”

“I believe so,” Alice admitted.

“Oh, heavens, that was months ago.” Again, Emma waved her hand in a dismissive manner. “Certainly, Father has gotten over that disappointment by now.”

“On the contrary, my dear Sister, I believe he’s only grown more concerned that I will not be married. You heard him during breakfast this morning. He could not have made it any more obvious that he wishes for me to grow close to one of the guests so as to secure another proposal.”