Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

“ W ipe that unsightly frown off your face. It’s very unbecoming of a lady. It is no wonder that no gentleman has asked for your hand yet.”

Lady Ramsbury was in the middle of her usual castigation of her middle daughter, Frances Cooper.

What made it doubly embarrassing was that they were not in the privacy of their home, but rather in the middle of a bustling ballroom. Frances twisted the corners of her mouth into the shape of a smile, but her mother’s relentless reproach had stressed her out, making her attempt half-hearted, at best.

“I’m trying, Mother. I really am.”

“Then you must try even harder,” Albina whispered urgently, her gaze wandering around the ballroom in search of a suitable match.

Frances felt defeated. Her mother had always been one to have impossibly high expectations of her children—that was something she had seen firsthand when her older sister, Esther, had been in the middle of the match-seeking process. But now that the focus had shifted to her, Frances was beginning to feel just how heavy the load was to carry.

“What became of the gentleman with whom I had just left you to speak?”

“Um…” Frances hesitated. Truthfully, she had not been able to have a full conversation with him, and he had taken his leave after a few moments of awkward silence. “I suppose something came up and he had to leave.”

Albina did not seem convinced in the slightest, knowing her daughter’s timid nature.

“You must learn to put more effort into your conversations,” she instructed. “If you keep going like this, the Season will be over, and you will be left with no match. Now, let me handle this.”

Albina grabbed her daughter by the hand and steered her towards an unsuspecting gentleman.

“Lord Cormick, how lovely to see you here. Did your mother join you as well?”

Lord Cormick straightened up. “Ah, Lady Ramsbury. Lovely to see you, as well. Mother must be around here somewhere.”

“Oh, I have much to catch up on with her. We have been meaning to meet, but, you know, I have been occupied visiting my oldest at Trowbridge Estate.”

Frances felt her cheeks flush. She knew exactly where this conversation was headed. The fact that Esther was married into a noble family was a source of great pride for her mother, and Albina scarcely wasted any moment to boast about it to anyone who was willing to listen.

“Ah, Trowbridge Estate? That is quite near to London,” Lord Cormick noted.

“Yes, it is more the frequency with which I have to visit. You know my eldest daughter is a duchess, and she is always hosting parties that I have to attend. She gets her impeccable hosting skills from me, I am sure.”

Frances wished for the ground to open up and swallow her whole at that moment. She could see the slightly amused expression on Lord Cormick’s face as her mother continued with her obvious boasting.

“I am sure that you have quite the role in it,” he offered, his tone laced with sarcasm, but Albina took it happily as a compliment.

“Raising daughters is quite the task, yes. Have I introduced you to my youngest?” She nudged Frances, who appeared horror-struck by the whole exchange. “Lady Frances. She is hopeful for a match of her own this Season.”

Lord Cormick’s gaze fell on Frances. “Pleasure to meet you, my lady. I hope you are enjoying yourself this evening.”

Frances nodded in return, feeling the palms of her hands glisten with sweat.

She had always been a wallflower, happy to stand back and observe instead of putting herself in situations that warranted socializing. It made her nervous to interact with gentlemen when she was expected to impress them to a degree that they asked for her hand in marriage. Even now, she would much rather be at home, curled up by the window with her nose buried in her favorite book.

Her mother, of course, had different plans.

“You must excuse her. My dear Frances is a woman of few words. But with her older sister so well placed, we are certain that Frances will surely make an excellent match herself,” Albina declared, patting Frances gently on the shoulder.

Frances managed a weak but embarrassed smile. “I think that’s enough, Mother,” she muttered under her breath.

“I can only wish you the best of luck.” Lord Cormick’s disinterest could not be more blatant.

Frances remembered her mother mentioning him before. His father had struck a fortune in one of the mines up North, and he was set to inherit a comfortable estate in the coming few years, being the only child of his parents. It was no wonder that her mother was trying so hard.

His gaze darted around the room, and Frances wondered if he was already courting someone. If true, it would make the entire interaction doubly embarrassing.

She was just about to nudge her mother and steer her away when they were joined by another gentleman whose expression was fraught with anxiety.

“Lord William,” Lord Cormick greeted.

All three of them were now looking at the man with concern.

“Lord Cormick, and ah, Lady Ramsbury. I did expect to see you here.” Lord William’s response was polite, but the frown seemed to be etched permanently on his face.

It was no surprise to Frances that he knew her mother already. Lady Ramsbury was familiar with many in high society, having made the acquaintances of the mamas of the gentlemen she considered good prospects for her daughters.

“It’s the London Season, and I have two unmarried daughters at home. Of course, I was going to be here,” Albina retorted. “Be sure to tell your mother I send her love when you see her.”

“Right, of course.” Lord William shuffled his feet awkwardly.

“Is there something wrong?” Lord Cormick inquired, eyeing his friend with suspicion. “You look a bit pale.”

“I’ve just received some worrying news from Huntington. Lord Edgar just informed me.”

Frances’s ears perked up the mention, and she found herself suddenly more invested in this conversation than she had been all evening.

“What is it?” Lord Cormick asked urgently.

“Well…” Lord William hesitated briefly. “There have been reports that the Duke’s brother and his wife have perished in a dreadful accident.”

A hush fell over the small assembly, and Frances felt a cold shiver run down her spine. Color drained from her face, her hands trembling ever so slightly at her sides. Thankfully, the rest were too engrossed in the conversation to notice.

“Say it isn’t so. But they were much too young for such a tragedy,” Lord Cormick replied.

“I have been shaken by the news ever since I heard it. I saw him just last month on a hunting trip,” Lord William sighed.

“That truly is a tragedy,” Albina chimed in, though she did not appear too distraught by the news. “A tragic end to a disgraceful marriage.”

“I wonder what the family thinks,” Lord William continued. “He was truly the black sheep of the family. I heard that the late Duke disowned him over his decision to marry someone not of his own choosing.”

“We all know that the fact he chose for himself was not the problem, but rather who he chose,” Lord Cormick reminded him.

“He should have known better than to marry a commoner. Clearly, it proved to be a terrible idea. First, he lost the support of his family, and now he’s lost his wife,” Albina added.

“I hate to speculate, but the marriage did bring about a bout of bad luck.” Lord Cormick nodded.

“Be as it may, it’s a loss for our community,” Lord William said, the only one who showed an ounce of empathy.

Frances felt a deep-seated disgust bubble inside her as she listened to the crass manner in which they spoke about a sudden loss of life. She clenched her hands so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

“Frances?” Albina turned to her. “My dear, you’ve turned white like a ghost. Is everything alright with you?”

“I…” Frances struggled to formulate a coherent sentence. “What about the children? Are they alright?”

“The Duke of Huntington should take care of them now, or so I’ve been told,” Lord William replied. “It would be far too much of a scandal to abandon them.”

Frances felt her knees almost give out, but she composed herself promptly, so as not to rouse suspicion. “I see. Please excuse me for a moment, I shall be right back.”

“Frances!” her mother called after her, but she got away from them as fast as she could.

Darting into the ladies retiring room, Frances quickly hooked the latch on the door so that she could have a moment alone.

Lydia. Dead in an accident.

The thought was too overwhelming and did not even feel real. She covered her mouth with her hands to mask the sound of her sobs that were now ripping out of her throat.

And then she bent over and emptied out the contents of her stomach in the basin, the news having twisted her stomach into knots to the point of making her sick.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

“Frances, are you in there?” Albina had followed her there, and she was banging loudly on the door.

Frances wiped her mouth with a towel, struggling to compose herself when she felt like falling apart at the seams.

“ Frances, you will answer me now, young lady.”

With a mother like Lady Ramsbury, even grieving in peace was a luxury.

Stealing one last glance at herself in the mirror, Frances went to unhook the latch on the door. A furious Albina stood there, staring her down.

“What on God’s earth was the meaning of that? You left so abruptly. It was rude and?—”

“I’m sorry, Mother.” Frances’s face was catatonic. “I felt ill. Must have been something I ate.”

Albina continued to glare at her. “I was doing such a good job at introducing you to Lord Cormick. It is hard enough to get a hold of him—heaven knows where he must be now.”

“I am sorry, Mother.”

Momentarily placated, Albina nodded and yanked her youngest by the arm to continue her mission of introducing her to some other unsuspecting man.

Frances followed without protest, careful not to incur more of her mother’s questioning. Even though she wanted nothing more than to go home and dissolve into a fit of tears, she had to put up an act for the remainder of the evening.

For this wallflower had a secret that she could not afford to come out.