Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
Y ou are such a fool, Emma scolded herself, the greatest fool to ever live, even.
She hadn’t thought of the risks as she climbed the tree, only that she might redeem herself after being unable to reach the one in the orangery. Her judgment was also clouded, she considered, because she had only just told the Duke something that she had been concerned about without hesitation. She couldn’t trust him.
And yet she wanted to, and when he caught her and held her in his arms she felt safe for the first time in her life. He had set her ablaze, and it was very dangerous indeed. Then again, he did not take liberties with her the way she had expected, and as soon as she asked him to put her down he did so, leaving for the ballroom with her in a most honorable fashion.
Which was, she decided, the real reason why she was such a fool.
“Congratulations!” the Duke of Pridefield announced as they entered. “You are the first to finish. It appears that you make an excellent team.”
“Is there a prize?” Levi asked.
“Indeed. I had this locket made for the winner. I thought if two gentlemen won, one could give it to a lady as a gift. Fortunately, Miss Kendall may have it for herself.”
“Oh!” she gasped. “Thank you. It is lovely.”
It was a delicate gold chain with a perfectly sized locket on it. It was large enough to fit a small miniature in, or a dried petal as Dorothy preferred to do. Despite its dainty size, the craftsmanship must have cost a fortune, and it led her to wonder just how wealthy dukes were.
“Here,” the Duke of Lupton said gently. “Let me fasten it for you.”
Her fingertips moved deftly on the back of her neck, quickly fixing it in place. His gentle touch on her neck should have felt foreign, but it did not. It was almost natural, which she supposed was worse but she could not bring herself to believe such a thing. She was grateful that he did it so quickly. If he spent much longer touching her she did not know what she might have said.
As the other guests finished, they were greeted with a drink and socialized with one another. Dorothy and Cecilia arrived first out of the group, going immediately to Emma with large smiles on their faces. They had not won, which Emma had expected to irritate Cecilia, but they seemed to have enjoyed themselves nonetheless.
“You know,” Cecilia said wisely, “had we not spent most of our time on that one clue, we might have won.”
“And who would have taken the prize?” Emma asked, and their eyes fell on her locket.
“Oh, Emma, that is beautiful!” Dorothy sighed wistfully. “I should have liked it for myself.”
“Well, one day, we shall all have identical ones made for ourselves. What do you think?”
Dorothy’s eyes sparkled at the idea.
“Who was Beatrice paired with?” Emma asked. “Did you see her?”
“She was with that awful Gretchen. The poor girl must have had a miserable time.”
Emma grimaced, clumsily unclasping her necklace and slipping it into her bodice. It wouldn’t have been fair, she thought, to celebrate when her friend had had such a miserable time.
And yet, when Beatrice appeared, she was arm in arm with Gretchen.
All three ladies looked at them in confusion, and Emma swore that when Gretchen noticed them, there was a sly smile on her face.
“What on Earth is Beatrice doing?” Dorothy asked. “Gretchen Winston is awful, she knows that.”
“Perhaps she is only being polite?” Cecilia suggested. “In any case, she shall come over when she is ready. In the meantime, shall we search for your sister, Emma?”
They searched the ballroom for a while before deciding that Sarah had not yet finished. Eventually, she came into the ballroom on the arm of a much older gentleman, one that none of them recognized.
“Poor thing,” Cecilia sighed. “Come, let us rescue her.”
She took Dorothy’s arm and marched over to her, perhaps not wanting Emma to be in any trouble with her father. She was grateful for that. Sarah joined the two of them but gave Emma a look of horror as they went back to her.
“We must talk later,” she whispered.
“Sarah? What is it?”
“Later.”
With a fixed smile, Sarah leaped into a bright conversation about the treasure hunt and where she had been. Emma did not listen to a word of it, however, instead paralyzed by the look on her sister’s face when she approached her. Whatever had happened, she was terrified, and a thousand possibilities flooded her.
Before she could take her away, their father appeared and told Sarah to join him. She did not argue, as she never did, and followed him without complaint. Emma moved to follow, but one look from her father was enough to stop her in her tracks. It was not for her to do, that much was clear, and she did not wish to make it worse for Sarah, whatever she was doing.
“Is she alright?” Cecilia asked. “She seemed unwell.”
“Something is wrong. I will have to find her later in order to find out what exactly it is, but it has to be something. I have never seen her look so scared.”
“Perhaps she simply had an unpleasant time with that man,” Dorothy suggested. “Try not to dwell on it until you know more. In the meantime, we should decide what we have done to make Beatrice prefer Gretchen of all people.”
“I shall find out,” Emma said firmly, watching them leave the ballroom together, still arm in arm. “It will provide a distraction.”
Her friends did not argue, and she ran off behind them.
She kept her movements quiet, not wanting to alert them to her presence. The hallways caused each sound to echo, but as the ladies were speaking it was difficult for them to hear her, especially as she was keeping her distance. She took off her slippers and held them in one hand, making herself practically silent.
“It is strange that you and I have never spoken before today,” Gretchen remarked. “I had noticed you before, but you were never alone.”
“No, my friends have always made certain of that. They are very good to me. You should join us!”
When I have passed away, perhaps, Emma thought to herself.
“Unfortunately, I cannot. Miss Kendall dislikes me, you see, and I fear that she would make life difficult for me.”
“Emma? She doesn’t dislike anyone. Well, apart from a few rakes, but that is more than justified. You must have had a misunderstanding.”
“No, she made it very clear. You shall see for yourself in just a moment, but I am in love, and she is doing everything in her power to stop it.”
Emma paused. Love? Is that what she thought she shared with the Duke? She almost chuckled at her naivety, but that would have led only to her being seen, and she wished to know what was happening. She continued on her way, listening to them as well as she could.
“Emma has never stopped a love match. It doesn’t sound like her at all.”
“All spinsters do it. They envy us younger ladies and do everything in their power to make us one of them. Unfortunately for her, I shall not be one, for I have already found the perfect husband! He wrote a note for me last night and slipped it under my door, asking me to meet him here alone. If you wouldn’t mind…”
They came to a stop outside a door, and Emma pressed herself into a nearby doorway, praying that they would not notice her.
“Could you wait here for a few moments? And then, all I need is for you to open the door. I will take it from there. Thank you for being such a good friend!”
Without another word, she slipped into a room, closing the door behind her. With Gretchen gone, Emma at last approached Beatrice with a puzzled expression. At first sight of her, Beatrice groaned.
“Emma, she is insufferable,” she whispered. “She was ecstatic when we were paired together, and then I had to spend all afternoon by her side while she tried to decipher the clues. She was useless at it, by the way, but she wouldn’t let me help her. Now she has brought me here, and for the life of me I do not know why!.”
Emma hushed her gently before pressing her ear to the door. She could not understand any words, but it was undoubtedly the Duke of Lupton’s voice on the other side of the door. Her heart pounded, wondering why he had asked her to meet him again.
Then she heard the frustration in Gretchen’s voice, and her footsteps approaching loudly before the door swung open. Unable to adjust her position, Emma fell forward, and sprawled out on the floor. Gretchen made a horrible scoffing sound and stepped over her, almost kicking her in the process.
Emma scrambled to her feet, Beatrice helping her. Her eyes did not leave his, and though he looked as though he wanted to say something he did not. She turned and left with Beatrice without another word.
“She meant him ?” Beatrice asked incredulously. “But he–”
“It is a long story. She seems to have a plan, but given what we just witnessed it would seem that it has not worked. Leave it be.”
“But you and the Duke–”
“Beatrice, please, I cannot discuss this right now. There is nothing between the Duke and me. I only wished to help save Gretchen from ruin.”
Beatrice nodded, not pressing the matter.
“I will not breathe a word about it to anyone, of course,” she said gently. “Whatever Gretchen is trying to do, I will not help her succeed. Now, if you will, do not let me out of your sight again. Terrible things happen when you are not around.”
Emma laughed softly. She pitied Beatrice for the terrible afternoon she had had, but she also envied her slightly. At least she could call it a terrible day and forget about it, but Emma had spent a wonderful time with the Duke and then he had ruined it. Again.
Well, he hadn’t ruined it exactly. After all, he could not have been blamed for Gretchen ambushing him again, but that did not explain the note. She shook her head, remaining silent until they reached the ballroom and found Cecilia and Dorothy and pulled them to one side. They explained what had happened, and they swore not to tell a soul about it.
“It is very strange, though,” Dorothy reasoned. “Who would willingly tempt such scandal?”
“Fools,” Cecilia replied. “Innocent little fools that think they would be an exception to ruin. They never are, either.”
The Duke reentered the ballroom at that moment, and he saw Emma at once. She did not know what to do except take the moment to find her sister. It had all been a welcome distraction, but she knew that whatever was happening to Sarah must have been worse than what Gretchen was attempting. She began searching for her, but she was not in the ballroom. Her father, on the other hand, was, and he looked furious that she was approaching.
“Where is Sarah?” she asked as politely as she could.
“She has complained of a headache and retired to her bedchamber for a while. You are to leave her be.”
“But–”
“You are to leave her be. She does not need you storming into her room and filling her head with thoughts. We are in a precarious enough situation as it is.”
“What do you mean?”
“Emma, I cannot explain every detail of every situation. I do not have the time, nor the patience, nor the will. You will leave your sister be, and I will explain my reasoning when we return home. You can wait a few days, can’t you?”
It was true that there were only three days remaining until they would leave the party, but it was an awfully long time to wait. She couldn’t stand the thought of her sister suffering and not doing anything to help her, even if it was simply offering her support through it. Then again, her father did not take kindly to disobedience.
“Of course, Father,” she replied. “I shall leave her until then.”
She was, of course, lying, but he accepted it and turned back to his conversation as if she were not there at all. Thankfully, his inability to acknowledge her served her well in that respect, as he would not notice her disappearance.
She made her way quickly to Sarah’s room, knocking gently on her door.
“Sarah?” she asked softly. “May I come in?”
She did not receive a response, but she could clearly hear her sister on the other side of the door.
She was crying.
Without another thought, Emma forced her way in.