“I understand.”
“And then he put his hand down inside my dress and…squeezed my breasts and…”
“I understand,” Zoë said soothingly. She could just imagine it, the horrid, creepy old spider.
“And so I remembered what you said, and when he left I—I told Mama I couldn’t bear it and that I didn’t want to marry him, and—and—and that’s when Mama slapped me. Hard—it really hurt.”
Seeing her swollen face, Zoë could believe it.
“Mama has never hit me before, never. So it just goes to show.”
Zoë wasn’t sure what it showed, except that Mama was ruthlessly ambitious.
“And when I stopped crying, Mama explained all that she had lost when she’d been forced to marry Papa. Mama said that though he was not precisely a cit, Papa was no aristocrat. And she, second cousin to a duke!” Milly wiped her eyes and blew soggily into the handkerchief.
“So then I understood. Mama had married beneath her and regretted it all her life. She said that she would marry me into the circle to which she belonged if it killed her!”
More like if it killed Milly, Zoë thought.
“I’d never before heard her talking like that about Papa. I loved my papa. He was kind and gentle, and he always had time to listen to me. And he tried to give Mama everything she wanted, but it was never enough. When he died, Mama sold everything so she could afford the house in BellaireGardens and everything she and I needed for my Season. But it’s taken three Seasons to get a suitable offer for me. Three Seasons! It’s all so terribly expensive, but I didn’t realize. So this is my last chance because most of the money is gone. She said if I didn’t marry the marquess, we would both be h-h-homeless! And destitute!”
“Not homeless, surely?” Zoë said. “You will still have your house.”
“It’s rented,” Milly wailed.
It was a ghastly situation, but Zoë couldn’t help but think there must be a way out for Milly. Recalling her note to Reynard, she told Milly to wait there while she ran across to Izzy’s house. “There is a note I must send. But I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Oh, I have one, too. Could you send this one for me please?” Milly drew out a crumpled, tear-blotched note and passed it to Zoë.
She glanced at the address. “Thaddeus Henshaw. Is that the fellow you’ve been meeting?”
Milly nodded. “It’s to tell Thaddeus I’m going to marry the marquess.” And she burst into sobs again.
“Wait here,” Zoë said, taking the damp missive, “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“You won’t tell Mama?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, of course I won’t.”
Zoë returned in about ten minutes with Izzy and Clarissa. She’d filled them in about Milly’s situation. Clarissa had come armed with some soothing cream for Milly’s bruised cheek.
“Did you send my letter to Thaddeus?” Milly asked.
“Not yet.”
“But I must tell him to give up all hope of me.”
“No, you must not!” Zoë said impatiently. “Why should you sacrifice your life for your mother’s stupid pretensions?”
Milly shook her head dolefully. “I must. Mama hasgiven everything to me, spent all her money so that I might marry well.”
“No, she has spenthermoney so that you could fulfillherown vain ambitions,” Zoë declared. “She doesn’t give a fig for your happiness, Milly. If she had, you could have been married long since, but no, even your suitors with titles weren’t good enough for her. And now she has dredged up this ghastly old spider and expects you to marry him and allow him to maul you all he wants.”
Milly blinked at her, her eyes full of tears.
Zoë softened her voice. “You should see to your own happiness, Milly. Marry this Thaddeus of yours and leave your mama to deal with the marquess.”
“I couldn’t.”
