The Uncompromising Marquess (Christmas in London #3)

Prologue

“Florence, you must listen to me.”

Clasping her hands in her lap for fear that her mother would see her fidgeting, such was her nervousness, Florence did her best to keep her gaze pinned to her mother. Lady Grangemouth was walking up and down the drawing room, but continually sent sharp glances in Florence’s direction.

“This is not to be yet another occasion where you make a fool of yourself and bring shame to our family, do I make myself clear?”

Heat billowed in Florence’s face, and she dropped her head, looking down at her hands. “Yes, Mother.”

“You have behaved foolishly indeed – on more than one occasion thus far – and quite ruined your London Season!”

Florence pressed her lips flat, trying to keep the tremor in her frame at bay. Her mother and father simply did not understand, and no amount of trying to express how she was feeling to them made any difference.

“I was glad to have returned home!” Lady Grangemouth exclaimed. “That is a feeling I have never once had with any of my daughters.”

Closing her eyes, Florence let the pain roll over her chest and dig into her heart. She did not need to be reminded of her three elder sisters, all of whom had made excellent matches within their first Season. They had all such poise and confidence, such as Florence had never enjoyed.

“You should have made a suitable match last Season,” Lady Grangemouth continued, with a sniff as she continued to pace up and down the drawing room, directing her words solely towards Florence, letting her know – yet again – of her keen disappointment in what she had not managed to achieve.

“My intention was always for my daughters to each make a match in their first Season, and I had almost achieved that aim!”

“I did my best, Mother,” Florence began, a catch in her voice. “I did try but –”

“Try?” Lady Grangemouth turned toward Florence, throwing up her hands. “My dear child, do you honestly believe that what you did last Season was your very best?”

Swallowing at the knot in her throat, Florence nodded, but her mother was already speaking again, continuing on with her diatribe.

“Might I remind you that when you were first brought into London, at our very first ball, you stammered and stuttered so foolishly, I was forced to hide you at the back of the ballroom? Do you recall the time that you tripped over your own feet when dancing and caused Lord Harkness to create a vast commotion? Or have you forgotten that, when walking in Hyde Park, you nearly tumbled headlong into the pond? Had it not been for your cousin, then I think you would have been utterly mortified!”

Florence did indeed remember everything that her mother had chosen to point out. It was not as if she could forget them, for she herself had been so mortified, she had begged the ground to open up and swallow her whole rather than endure any more shame. If only her mother could understand!

“That is not to occur again, Florence. Do I make myself clear?”

What was she to say? She could not refuse, but neither could she promise that it would not happen again.

Licking her lips, Florence lifted her gaze and looked straight back at her mother, her heart pounding.

“Mother, whilst I will do my best – just as I have always done – I am afraid that I cannot promise that –”

“You will promise!” Lady Grangemouth threw up her hands, then took a step closer to Florence.

“Do you not understand? You must do a good deal better than before, Florence, else your chances of a successful match will be quite ruined, and you will have no gentleman showing you even the smallest interest! I must have all of my daughters wed within the first Season and –”

“But… but we have returned from London,” Florence said, slowly, interrupting her mother unintentionally, such was her surprise. “I do not understand.”

Lady Grangemouth put her hands to her waist, elbows akimbo. “If you would do me the honor of actually listening to me, then mayhap you would understand!”

A little chagrined, Florence lowered her gaze again, sitting in silence as nervousness began to claw at her bones.

“I thank you.” With a sigh, Lady Grangemouth dropped her hands to her sides. “We are to return to London for the little Season.”

Florence’s heart began to beat in a panicked rhythm, her fingers tightening in her lap.

“Christmas will soon be upon us, will it not? That is an excellent time for gentlemen to make a suitable match… gentlemen who have not managed to make such a match before in the summer Season!”

The nervousness in Florence’s chest grew with greater strength, making her chest constrict.

“You will have to behave impeccably. It is my hope that your near accidents will have been all but forgotten by now, for the ton will have had various scandals and whispers going through it since our departure.” Lady Grangemouth took a step closer to Florence as she forced herself to lift her head and look back at her mother.

“You do understand me, do you not? You understand what is required of you.”

“I have always understood it,” Florence answered, her heart beating so fiercely, she was sure it would be heard by her mother. “It is not that I have failed to understand, Mother, truly.”

“Then what is it?”

Florence closed her eyes. The exasperation in her mother’s voice told her that Lady Grangemouth had no real interest in understanding.

All she wanted was to be the mother who had found a first Season match for all of her daughters, for that would surely make her name resound through society!

The sense of failure licked at Florence’s painful heart as she tried to find the words to explain.

“Laura, Jemima, and Edith have always had a confidence within them that I do not possess – a self-assurance they have had since they were children. I have always struggled in that way.” Seeing her mother’s narrowed eyes, Florence spoke quickly, trying to get the words out in a coherent fashion as she prayed that, this time, there would be a little change in her mother’s heart.

“I do not know what it is or where it has come from, but whenever I am in company, I become… afraid.”

Lady Grangemouth rolled her eyes. “Afraid? What is there to be afraid of? You are quite nonsensical, Florence, truly.”

Her shoulders slumped at her mother’s harsh words. She ought not to have let herself hope, not even for a moment, for it was quite clear that there was not even the desire to understand Florence and her struggle.

“You will behave with a good deal more poise and elegance than you have previously displayed,” Lady Grangemouth continued, walking towards the door and bringing an end to their conversation. “We shall leave in three weeks.”

There was nothing left for Florence to say.

The weight of responsibility fell on her like a mantle, and she quaked inwardly.

She had done her best during the London Season, but her fears and uncertainty had led her to behave in a manner that had caused problems – not only for her but for her family also.

Her clumsiness came from her nervous anxiety, her lack of confidence pushing her to the shadows instead of to the front of society.

This had never been a concern for any of her sisters, she knew, but try as she might, Florence had never been able to overcome her shyness.

“What am I to do?”

The words were spoken to an empty room, and no response came back to her.

Her mind grew clouded with thoughts, with fears of what her mother’s expectations would be for her during the Christmas Season…

and just how poorly she would be able to fulfil them.

It was not as though anything had changed between the summer Season and this one!

She did not have any more certainty in herself, was not buoyed with confidence or the like.

Instead, she was just as she had always been, battling bashfulness, anxiety, and worry.

Stepping into society again would bring her no relief, Florence was quite certain of that.

Instead, she would feel herself all the more concerned, afraid that she would not only do something clumsy and bring mortification upon herself but that she would also fail in fulfilling her mother’s demands that she find a husband by the end of the year.

Just what am I to do?

Covering her face with her hands, Florence let her shoulders round as tears began to burn in her eyes.

She did not hold them back, did not tell herself to contain them within.

Instead, she let them fall, her heart aching as loneliness swept over her.

With no understanding from either parent, she was forced now to face this alone and without any real support.

And Florence had no doubt, she was sure to fail again.