Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 107756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
All eyes shifted to us. My father looked at me in panic and moved to grab Abena when all of a sudden, a laugh echoed through the hall. It was the queen. She threw her head back, placing her hand over her stomach, then stopped and waved off Verity and the dowager.
“Next!” she declared.
I squeezed my sister’s shoulders and whispered down to her, “Mama will have your head.”
She shrugged. Abena was fearless, and it made me proud.
Finally, it was Hathor’s turn.
“Lady Hathor Du Bell, presented by her mother, the Right Honorable Marchioness of Monthermer.” This time, when the doors opened, all was correct.
The manner in which they both were dressed, the speed they both walked, and the grace they held as they curtsied low were perfect. I so wished for the queen to say a few words of praise for Hathor. She badly needed it.
The queen peered over them, then lifted her head and nodded. For most, that would be more than enough, but likely not for Hathor.
And though it took a great deal of time, all finally came to an end, and we were free to return to our homes until the ball. The walk back to the carriages was filled with talk, and I did my best to ignore it but found myself unable to.
“Pray tell how a girl can be so demure, yet her mother looks like a tragic opera singer.” The ladies in front of me laughed, unaware I was behind them.
“You mean Her Grace, the Dowager Duchess of Everely?” Her companion laughed. “It is clear as day she is a fake.”
“A fake?”
“You didn’t know? She is not the duke’s birth mother. The first Duchess of Everely died in childbirth with the Lady Verity, and not even two months later, his father married that woman. She became their stepmother and even had a child soon after.”
I was close enough that when they began to whisper, I could also hear.
“It’s said he had kept her as his ladybird for many years, and her first son, who is older than the current duke, is actually his illegitimate elder brother.”
“No!”
“Yes! They say the moment he wed her, she remodeled the whole estate, but because she came from such a low standing, she was at a loss for what to do and made a mess of the finances. When the former duke passed, his heir, the current duke, had her removed from the estate in Everely and given a smaller apartment here. He then sent his younger brother—the legitimate one—away to school.”
“Rightfully so. Such a woman, clawing her way into the aristocracy, is distasteful. Look at the mockery she made of their name today. The queen will surely remember.”
“In all honesty, the whole family is quite rotten. Noble birth or not. Did you hear that the duke jilted the famed beauty Aphrodite Du Bell?”
“I have heard her name spoken but do not know her.”
“She is the one whom the queen looked upon for so long at the side of the room today, the one with the renowned curtsy.”
“That was her? I noticed the lady as soon as she entered. She is quite exquisite.”
“The most desired of the ton…even despite her age now. Well, desired by everyone but the Duke of Everely. He preferred a simple bowl of soup to her luxurious feast. So much so, apparently, he drank his fill before they were even wed, ignoring the poor, poor goddess.”
They laughed, and I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“If it’s simple he wants, maybe I shall send my daughter his way.”
They giggled.
“He would sooner take her over the goddess. Sometimes too much beauty is a curse. Men want fun, not a living painting. Though I do hear that he is quite the rake now that his wife has died, indulging in all types of things.”
I noticed one of them had dropped her handkerchief, so I picked it up.
“I beg your pardon, madam,” I called out. When they turned to me, their eyes widened. I lifted the handkerchief to them. “Did either of you happen to drop this?”
“Oh yes, my dear, thank you,” said the elder of the ladies.
“Not at all.” I smiled at them and walked on to our carriage. Luckily, ours was the only one yet to have come. I did not realize how fast I had been walking but preferred it so I could breathe and kick the ground before me slightly.
To hell with you fat-witted dirty-dish old wenches! I screamed in my mind and kicked once more. No good, jingle-brained—
“Aphrodite!”
I jumped at the sound of my mother’s voice. “Mama!”
“Did you forget you had family, or did you seek to fly? What on earth had you walking so quickly and away from us? I called to you, and yet you kept walking.”
“I’m sorry, Mama…I was lost in thought.”
“These thoughts of yours.” She huffed, shook her head, and turned back to look for my sisters. “Hathor, hurry. We must return so you may all prepare for the ball.”