Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Lydia!” her father shouted in astonished outrage.

Behind her, Kitty gasped in shock as she covered her mouth with her hands. Even the solicitor gaped at her as he had likely never heard such language from a woman before. It was a word that Lydia liked to think to herself, but never out loud. Certainly not around mixed company. And yet no other sentiment could possibly be fitting.

Lydia could not stop re-reading the document. Just how old was the paper in her hands? It must have been written well before they got married for both her and her daughter to have been so wholly excluded. As there had been no other updates, it appeared that everything was going to be left to the default letter of the law. Which left Lydia with little to no control over the future that lay before her.

Her father surged forward and snatched the letter out of her hand, quickly smoothing it out and skimming through the contents. “Ah, so the man had some sense after all. Good.” he said smugly before bowing his head to the solicitor. “If this is the entirety of the will, then you are free to go.”

“Yes, ah, well… should you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me at the office.” The solicitor said warily as he extended his calling card out to father who happily accepted it.

“I think that the document is very straight forward! I am happy to see it!” her father hummed to himself.

“What does it say, Father?” Kitty whispered.

Her father whipped around to face her, and Kitty flinched away from the direct attention and attempted to half step behind her sister so that she could not be fully seen.

“It states that Lydia’s husband was not such a weak chinned man after all. I feared that he would do something reckless like leave the property to your sister or fail to name a proper guardian for his daughters. I can see that I was wrong about him. I could not have been more pleased.

Children should not be left to only women to raise. While it is womanly work, they need a strong influence in their lives. You see, you two could not possibly ensure the girl’s safety or future matches. Women just are not suited for such tasks. Far better that this Duke of Somerfield gentleman is going to handle things.”

Their father rocked back and forth from the balls of his feet to his heels. He whistled a soft, jaunty tune as he left the room.

Lydia could hardly see clearly for the rage that was filling her head with smoke.

“Sister?” Kitty’s soft voice seemed to echo around the room as she reached forward and pulled softly on the skirt of Lydia’s dress. They were only three years apart in age, but Kitty always seemed to feel so much younger than herself. She did not wish to explode in her fit of anger around her sister. She did not wish to frighten her.

Lydia bit down on her bottom lip and willed herself to settle down. The girls were napping in their rooms under the care of their governess.

“I think that I need a bit of fresh air.” Lydia said through her clenched teeth. Things at the house should be fine while she stepped outside for a moment or two. That was most important.

“I shall come with you.” Kitty offered.

“You do not need to trouble yourself.” Lydia dismissed her sister’s words and headed for the grand staircase. It was not as if she did not value her sister’s company; she only meant to shield her. Though, she was also wholly unsurprised when Kitty stepped up beside her and linked their arms together.

Emotion welled in her chest as they strode quickly to the back door and over the terrace. If she so much as exhaled too strongly then she was going to fall to pieces and she could not do it where father might see. Her pride simply would not allow it.

There was a large oak tree to the side of their property that the pair of them used to hide behind in their youth. It was the perfect spot for reading or a light picnic to enjoy the afternoon sun. Today it would be a place that allowed her to vent her frustrations into the air.

The moment that they were safely concealed, Lydia picked up a wadded bunch of her skirts into her hands and screamed into the fabric as loudly and as long as she could. She screamed until her lungs hurt and her chest ached. Her breath came in quick, frantic gulps as she lowered herself down into the leaves collected by the base of the tree. Only then did Kitty come to kneel in front of her.

“What did the letter say?” She asked timidly.

“The entirety of the estate will go to the Duke of Somerfield, Weston Howard. A distant cousin of Jacob’s, and one that he did not speak of in the kindest terms. Furthermore, he has been named the guardian of Margaret.” Lydia said in a hollow voice. She did not wish for it to be real.

She had raised Margaret for most of her life. She loved that little girl as if she were her own flesh and blood. Margaret and Juliet were sisters, and they loved one another as such. She could not imagine a world in which they might be parted. “How am I supposed to not only lose my home to a stranger, but also my daughter?”

“...it is not fair.” Kitty said, settling into the space beside her sister and drawing her knees up to her chest. There was no telling if the duke would allow Kitty to continue to reside there with them. He might think the extra bodies a burden in his home. He might send Lydia and Juliet away and then Kitty would be forced to live in one of father’s properties.

Lydia could not stand it. “I only agreed to marry the earl to help father resolve his debts! A fact that I think he forgot about the moment that he was given payment! He was never grateful for it to me, not one single time. Of course, I am blessed in that the earl was not a violent man!

Father kicked me into the world without a moment to acclimate myself. He certainly did not care for my health or happiness the moment he was no longer responsible for me. I guarantee you that he is sitting in that house right now, thinking of all the ways he can profit from this new contact.”

“Well, if the duke has any manner of intelligence, then he will not fall for any of father’s cons.”

“Perhaps that would be worse.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean if he does not fall for the cons, and sees right through him. What will he think of us? A conman’s daughters? An overly ambitious man who likely raised his daughters to be the same?”

“But we are nothing like him…”

“And you expect somebody to know that from a first impression?”

Lydia let her chin rest on the arms that she crossed over her bent knees. It was foolish of her to think that she would have time to do things on her own. She had never been allowed to pursue her own dreams or passions because she had dedicated her life to the service of others.

She did not wish to think that she was bitter. Through necessity, she had been motherly to her sister and helped raise Kitty as best as she could. Jacob traveled so often that she was fortunate enough to have the skills to run her own home and some control over the finances.

Had she become too comfortable?

It seemed so impossible to accept that the life that she had grown accustomed to was likely about to be ripped out from underneath her feet.

“Do you know anything about this duke? Did the earl ever speak of him to you?” Kitty asked. It sounded as if it were just a casual conversation, but Lydia could see it for what it was. She was attempting to discern what she was in for.

“Not much from my husband. He was never one to gossip or give a single piece of information more than was strictly necessary, you know that. But I have heard about him.” Lydia sighed. Nothing that she was about to say was going to put her sister more at ease. “A standoffish rake. That’s what they say about him.”

Well, it was far from all that she had heard about his rather colorful reputation, but it was all that she was going to share with Kitty.

There were a great many things that she kept from her sister. Sometimes she wished nothing more than to speak her mind freely and shed all the responsibilities on her shoulders, but she could not.

There had only been one time where she had been able to get away with that. The night that she had spent with the only rake that she liked to think about. To this day, she had never encountered those eyes again. Every time that she saw a man of equal height or stature, she still found herself wondering about the identity of the only man who had ever let her take control of herself, even if only for a moment.

If only she had not run from him that night, what might her life look like now? Sometimes she embarrassed herself with indulgent fantasies of how far she might have been willing to go that night. If he had taken her, as she sometimes desperately wished that he had… would she still be sitting here today like this? No, she knew the answer.

“Lydia?”

“Hm?” She had allowed herself to become lost in thought once more. “Sorry, what did you say?”

“I said, what do you plan to do?”

She had no idea. All Lydia knew was that she was never going to allow herself to be a slave to a man ever again. Nor will either of her daughters.

“I’m going to fix this.”