Prologue

PROLOGUE

" G od, why did he even come back?" Samantha asked, grunting.

The girls' father had disappeared for two years, then returned, and seemingly was determined to make his two daughters all the poorer for it. It began when he sent his sister away once more after she had cared for them as if they were her own, then he went on to not care for either of them at all, and then acted as though they were the ones at fault for that.

"Let us just get him inside, and then we will discuss that later," Diana replied, pulling the left half of his body towards the door whilst her sister pulled the right.

It had been seven and ten years since his return. One would assume that in those seven and ten years, the Earl might have had enough time to reflect, and to realize that he had two girls to care for, but he never had. Instead, he had cast them off to the maid they shared, who for all her kindness was not what one might call intelligent. The two girls had effectively been left to fend for themselves, and with Diana being the oldest, it had been on her shoulders.

Samantha cared a great deal about that; Diana never did.

"Why on earth do they even serve him?" Samantha huffed as they dragged him. "You would think that they would know better than to let him get himself into such a state as this."

"They make money, I suppose. I imagine that he is one of their very best customers."

"Yes, a gentlemen's club would probably thrive on drunkards."

"I am not a drunkard," he slurred, and Diana dropped his arm.

"Very well," she said firmly, "walk inside on your own, then."

"I will," he grumbled, trying in vain to haul himself to his feet.

On the fourth failed attempt, Diana pitied him and signaled to her sister to grab him again.

"So," Samantha said carefully, "the Beckwith ball is on Friday, and I was thinking that we could both attend?"

"You would think that with how often we do this, we would have found a better method by now."

"You are avoiding my question."

"Perhaps you should take his arms and I take his legs? We would have to lift him, of course, but it might be easier."

"Diana!"

"Yes?"

"The ball?"

"Yes, I hope that you shall enjoy it. I hope that you will find a wonderful suitor and escape this wretched house."

"It is not wretched."

"It is a little."

It was true. Their house was not worn down by any means. They had restored it since the fire, and it had been decorated twice during their aunt's stay, but upon his return, their father had refused to have anything fixed or renovated. It all had to stay the same, no matter what.

"Well, if you truly do think that." Samantha smiled, though she was panting from her efforts. "Then it is all the better that you attend the ball with me. You can escape for a while, too."

"I would hardly call the ton an escape. I do not know how you do it."

"It is easy once you get over the first few comments. Not only that, but it is quite delightful to meet all of those people. Surely you must see the beauty in it?"

"Not at all," Diana huffed.

"Then it shall be quite difficult for you to make a match for yourself. That means you will not leave this house, either. Isn't that what you want?"

"It is what I want for you. It does not matter what I do."

"You are wrong, Sister. It matters a great deal to me. I want you to be happy."

"Then go to the ball without me, find love, and make a life of your own. It is all I have ever wanted. Besides, if I am gone, who will take care of him ?"

"I can take care of myself," their father spat, and the two girls sighed.

"Oh, no, is that him?" their maid, Elizabeth, asked, rushing to their aid. "This is the third time this week, and it is Wednesday!"

"Believe me, we know," Diana sighed. "Now, perhaps I am right and it would be better to loft."

"It would certainly be better for his clothing." Elizabeth nodded. "As the person responsible for cleaning those grass stains out of his shirts, it is certainly my preference."

"Wonderful." Diana nodded. "Then it is settled. Samantha, you take his arms, I shall take his legs, and Elizabeth if you could support the middle."

"Is that… appropriate?"

"If it is between that and cleaning a green shirt that was once white, which would you prefer?"

The maid's preference, as it turned out, was the former.

They propped the Earl up on the sofa, with him still grumbling that he was fine, that there was no need for such fuss, that he required a drink, and then left the room, locking the door behind them.

"He shall be furious later," Samantha said quietly.

"He shall be asleep within ten minutes, more like," Diana replied. "And he will not remember a thing. He never does."

"I know, but I worry that one day he will, and then what will he do?"

"In an ideal world, he might learn something, but I will not hold my breath for that."

"Nor will I, but there is one thing that I can count on, is there not?"

"Please do not tell me anything more about this ball." Diana grimaced. "I do not wish to attend. I do not charm like you do."

"If I charmed even half as much as you claim I do, I would not be twenty and unmarried."

"You are unmarried simply because you choose to be. I know that if you tried, you would be perfectly fine. Father may have squandered a lot of money on his… indulgences, but at least he has not touched our dowries, so you at least have that. You might as well have mine, too."

"I will pretend not to have heard that last part, Di, for you will find a husband of your own one day. Besides, I do not want a husband because it means that I would have to leave you. I do not wish to do that, it is not right. Not after everything that you did for me."

"I hardly did much for you."

"You taught me everything!"

By now, their maid was at least out of earshot.

"You are the reason that I can read and write, and the reason that I can speak French and that I can do some mathematics and play the violin without it sounding like a very unfortunate cat. Should I end up a wife, it shall be all thanks to you for preparing me so well."

"And it will have been an honor to do so, I assure you. Samantha, I did not do all of those things just to have you wait for me. I did it so that you would shine. I want that for you, and so I need you to at least try."

"And I will, just as soon as you do the same. If I must find a husband, then so should you. I have to play the part of the perfect lady, and so it is only fair that you do the same."

Samantha rarely won a battle of wits, but Diana had to admit defeat. There was nothing that she could say to refute her words; she had expectations, and so she had to meet them herself in order to be fair.

"One ball," she sighed. "One. I will endure a single night of the looks and the comments just for you, and nothing more, simply because I do not think my heart could take anything more than that."

"You are being dramatic."

"Only slightly."

"Very well. One it is, and then when you have a wonderful night and you are begging me to attend another together, I shall laugh brightly and remind you that I told you so."

"If you insist, but that will not happen. I have done all of this before, remember?"

"That was different. That was seven years ago, when Father had forced you out when you did not wish to be and you were seen in London for the first time since?—"

Neither one of them could bring themselves to say it, even then.

"What I mean to say is," Samantha continued, "it was a shock to them all, and they were bound to talk. This time is different, though. This time, I shall be there too, and it will be the two of us facing it, if there is even anything to say at all."

"Of course, there will be things to say about us."

"With all of the scandals in London? You cannot believe that. There will be some viscount that has had an illegitimate heir, or a daughter of some duke that hopes to marry a commoner, or some other such thing that is far more interesting than the two Winston sisters re-entering Society."

"I do not believe that even slightly."

"And you are probably correct not to." Samantha grinned. "But we will not know for sure if we do not try. If it is truly terrible, then we shall leave immediately and never attend another ball, and I shall never pester you again."

"Yet another thing that I wholeheartedly do not believe."

"Well, this time you are wrong. I promise not to mention it ever again if you truly do hate it."

Diana hated that she couldn't say no to her sister.

The following day, the two of them ransacked their wardrobes, searching for a gown each. There had not been any money for their clothes in a long time; their father was positive that it was a waste of money, as they would only outgrow them. Neither sister felt like telling him that they were ladies now and would not grow any taller than they were. It would have been pointless to do so.

"What about this?" Samantha asked, pulling a pale green gown out of the pile. "This would be perfect for you. It is the same color as your eyes."

"It is also a size too small. It always was. I shall already be quite uncomfortable all evening, and so I should like my gown to not add to that."

"That is a shame, because it is the best gown we seem to have."

"Then you can wear it. You are smaller than me, and you ought to outshine me anyway, as you are the one on the marriage mart."

"I could never outshine you," she sighed. "But it is such a lovely gown. Very well, I shall. And you can wear… this one!"

Diana's breath caught in her throat. In her sister's hands, there was a light blue gown, one that was all too familiar to her even if Samantha did not recognize it.

"What is it?" Samantha asked. "Do you not like it?"

"I like it all too much. It's Aunt Roberta's."

It had been one of her favorites, and throughout the two years that she had stayed with them, Diana had watched her walk around in it and dream of having one of her own one day.

"Then you simply must wear it." Samantha nodded firmly. "If it fits you, then it is meant to be. Let us try it on you!"

"No!" Diana yelped, and her sister jumped back slightly.

"What is it?"

"It is just so perfect. It is not mine to wear. Besides, what if it does not fit me at all? It shall only waste time."

"But it looks to be your size. What is the worst that could happen?"

I could look at myself, Diana thought to herself, and not be half the lady she was.

"It isn't the right one," she replied, shaking her head. "What about this one?"

"That hideous yellow one? That simply will not do. No, it will be the blue one. At least try it on."

Diana once more cursed the fact that she couldn't say no to her sister, and with a sigh allowed her to put it on her. She looked at herself in the mirror, only to gasp at her reflection. It had been her aunt's dress, but it was as though it had been made for her.

"This fits… all too well," she breathed.

"Then it is settled! This is the one that you shall wear. How wonderful, we both have incredible dresses, and nobody shall be any the wiser that they are not new."

They would assume it to be the case, of course, but at least it would be speculation and nothing more. There would be much speculation about the two of them, but one look at herself in her aunt's blue gown and she knew that she would be able to hold herself together through it. If Aunt Roberta could leave her life behind for two years to raise two girls as if they were her own, even if one of them was determined to be difficult, then Diana could manage a ball. She would not enjoy it, and she would never wish to attend a second, but she would get through it and that was all that mattered.

"Now for the hardest part," she sighed.

"Dazzling the ton ?"

"No." She laughed sadly. "Finding a way to get Father there."

"Surely he will not drink tomorrow? He must know how important it is that we make a good impression."

"The man has never cared for the impression he gives, you know that."

"No, I know. I thought that maybe with all of the pressure for us to marry, though, he might be different."

"He might," Diana replied, though she was not at all convinced of it.

"And if he does not," Samantha said softly. "What do we do then?"

"I will fix it."

There was a confidence in Diana's voice that she did not feel, but she had to make her sister believe her. She would find a way to make Samantha happy no matter what, even if it meant crossing oceans for her.

"Or…" Samantha laughed sadly. "We could live out the rest of our days as spinsters. I do not think it would be too terrible, you know."

"Yes, you do."

"On the contrary! It would allow me to spend my time doing things I'd rather do, like reading or traveling."

"You cannot travel, you know that."

"No, but a girl can dream, can she not?"

"Samantha," Diana asked shakily, "you do wish to marry, do you not?"

"In all honesty, Sister," Samantha replied carefully, "no."

"What?"

"I know, I know. It is what you have wanted for me all of my life, but the truth is… I do not want to be a wife, or a mother. I cannot think of a worse fate for myself than being some gentleman's lady. I want to have a life in the real world, and be responsible for myself."

"You do not want that. I know that it might sound inviting, but it is not half as wonderful as you might think. It would be incredibly difficult."

"And you have prepared me for that. Let us not forget that you were the one that made me so accomplished. You made me more than that, though. You made me determined. I could do it, I know that I could."

"I love that you are a dreamer," Diana said gently, taking her sister's hands in her own, "and perhaps one day that shall be possible, but for now you must be reasonable. A husband and children and a home."

She watched her sister's face fall, and she couldn't stand it, but she knew that she was doing the right thing. Samantha would not have to miss anything like she had, and she had already done all that she could to ensure that. They had come too far to fail now, and it would not happen.

"You are disappointed now," Diana said gently, "and perhaps you are even angry with me now, and that is perfectly alright. One day, you will be in your drawing room and one of your little ones will come stumbling in and crawl into your arms, and you will feel as though everything was worth it, and you will find such happiness."

"Do you truly think so?"

"Of course I do. There is nothing in the world that I am more certain of."

Samantha nodded with a smile, beginning to put the gowns away. "Very well. That can all begin tomorrow, for the both of us."

Diana simply hoped that she was right.