“She deserved worse,” Lilah said.“She nearly ruined my life, all because she believed Henry belonged to her.She was willing to do anything to have him.It is vile.”
“It is,” Selena agreed.“But she did not win, and that is what matters.”She nodded toward Emma.“And now we are here to support you in getting your revenge.”She leaned back and regarded Emma thoughtfully.“What do you need from us?”Secretly, she hoped Emma would not need much.
“Nothing, really,” Emma replied.“But I will share my plans with you, just in case I require help I have not yet anticipated.”
“Go on, then,” Lilah encouraged.“What should we know?”
Emma stood and went to the tea cart, pouring herself a cup and adding two lumps of sugar.She stirred slowly, then returned to sit beside Victoria, sipping her tea and closing her eyes briefly.When she opened them, the others waited, watching her intently.Selena wanted this to be done.Emma was stalling, almost as if she thrived on the dramatic effect.She nearly rolled her eyes, but refrained.
“There is much I have not told anyone,” she began.“I mentioned as much to Lilah when we discussed the invitation.”
“You did,” Lilah confirmed.“Are you ready to share now?”
“Not entirely,” Emma said.“It concerns my time at finishing school.Henry thought it would be good for me to go.I was terribly shy then, and I begged him to let me stay home.In some ways, it helped me to grow bolder.”A shadow crossed her expression.“But I was always destined to be a wallflower.”
“What happened at school?”Victoria asked gently.
“It was not one thing,” Emma replied.“Many things happened—some of which I would rather forget, though I cannot.There were two particular girls who made my life miserable.They are the ones I want revenge on, and I intend to have it.”
“Who are they?”Selena asked.
“Yes,” Cora added.“Tell us.”
Emma shook her head.“Not yet.When I need your help, I will let you know.But I want to handle as much as I can on my own.I need them to understand the weight of their cruelty.”
“And you shall,” Lilah assured her.“Are you at least going to share your plan, even if we do not know their names?”
Emma shook her head.“I can’t.It is too intricate, and I fear if I speak it aloud, it might all unravel.”
Selena laughed lightly.“All right, keep your secrets.We will be here if you need us.”
In the meantime, Selena would consider what she wanted.Would she try for some sort of revenge?Probably not.She had no need for revenge.Selena just wanted to be herself.Perhaps that was what she would do at this house party.She would act as she always wanted—society be dammed.Yes.That would be her revenge.If one could call it that.The revenge would be to tell everyone what she thought, whether or not it was socially acceptable, and she would not hold anything back.She would shock them all so much they would not know how to respond to it.She smiled to herself as she made plans of her own that would be enacted alongside Emma’s revenge.
Two
Selena strolled into the breakfast room and glanced around.There was only one other guest in the room.She breathed a sigh of relief and went over to the buffet to fill a plate.Before leaving her bedchamber, she had contemplated asking for a tray to be sent to her room, but she hadn’t wanted to give the servants additional work and had forced herself to come down to break her fast.
After adding some eggs, kippers, and sausages to her plate, she went and sat down at the table.A servant approached and filled her cup with tea.“Do you require anything else, my lady?”
Selena shook her head.“No, thank you.”She smiled at the footman.“The tea is enough.”She didn’t even add sugar to her tea.When they had been struggling with funds, she had not wanted to ask David for anything unnecessary.Sugar was one of those luxuries she had learned to do without.
As she started to eat, two more ladies entered the breakfast room.She nearly groaned as she recognized them—Lady Arabella Jones and Miss Harriet Smythe.Lady Arabella was the sort men found attractive: blonde hair, blue eyes, and a pretty face to wrap it all up with a nice bow.She even had a perfect figure, with a bosom that seemed to attract many admiring glances.Why men continued to converse with her after the first introduction, Selena did not know.Arabella was cold and unkind.Her friend, Harriet, was somewhat of a contrast.Though not unattractive, next to Arabella, she was cast into the shadows.With brown hair and light brown eyes, Harriet did not command attention, and she was quieter.Perhaps she was a touch kinder, though that was faint praise; Harriet could be just as spiteful, only with more subtlety.
Arabella met Selena’s gaze and turned up her nose, as though she had walked into something foul.Selena rolled her eyes.She knew full well what many in thetonthought of her.They considered her beneath them because she had been impoverished for so long.Once, she had cared.Now she shrugged it off as meaningless.After enduring such slights for so long, nothing truly affected her.It rolled off her like water on a duck's back, leaving no trace or mark—at least, none visible.The damage had been internal, creating a woman who had learned to feign indifference when needed.
“Harriet,” Arabella sniffed, “we should return later.”
Selena reached for a piece of toast from a plate at the center of the table and began to spread butter over it.“You absolutely should,” she replied.“It would make breakfast far more tolerable without you here to ruin it.”
Arabella’s mouth fell open.She closed it, only to open it again, clearly struggling for words.Selena grinned, taking a bite of her toast and chewing slowly as she waited for Arabella to respond.When she did, it was better than Selena could have planned.
“You are rude and insufferable,” Arabella spat, her face reddening as she clenched her hands into tight fists at her sides.
“Is that so?”a man drawled.“Whatever did I do to insult you?”
Selena grinned.The Duke of Castlebury stood to her left, having entered the breakfast room just as Arabella chose to respond to Selena’s retort.It was delightfully perfect.She took another bite of toast and watched the scene unfold.
“Your Grace…” Arabella sputtered, her mouth opening and closing as she fought to find words again.How amusing.Selena should perhaps take pity on her, but why would she?Lady Arabella would never have afforded her such a courtesy.
