Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Johanna
Wearing one of her new gowns, a beautiful eggplant color trimmed with silver, Johanna turned back and forth to look at herself in the mirror, her eyes wide at the vision before her.
“You look perfect,” Nettie said proudly, as she should since Johanna’s current appearance was mostly due to Nettie’s skills.
“Thank you, Nettie.”
There was a knock on the door, and Nettie immediately jumped.
“I’ll get that!”
Johanna was grateful because she could not stop staring at herself. She looked like a lady. A real lady. The way she had been trying to look when she’d gone to the Blackstone house party. Then, she’d been a tawdry, cheap imitation of what a lady of the ton looked like. An out-of-date one, at that.
Now…
She truly did look like an earl’s sister. A duke’s soon-to-be duchess.
If only she felt as different on the inside as she looked on the outside.
“Ah, perfect,” Lady Stark said as soon as she came through the door, Rose following in her wake.
She was also wearing a new gown. It had been made for another lady who decided that the dark maroon silk did not flatter her, fortunately for Rose.
Though Johanna could tell her cousin was uncomfortable with the low-cut neckline and the richness of the dress, she looked stunning in it.
“Just as you should look, but with one small touch missing.”
Lady Stark gestured at Rose, who handed over a box she was carrying. Johanna had been so distracted by their combined finery that she had not even noticed Rose was holding anything.
Now Lady Stark came forward, a gleam in her eye that was almost predatory.
“Sit.”
Future duchess or not, Johanna sat. Immediately.
Lady Stark moved behind Johanna, so they could both see her in the vanity looking glass, which framed Johanna’s upper body perfectly. The light grey of Lady Stark’s dress behind her made for a perfect foil of colors.
Opening the box, Lady Stark took something out of it before setting it on the vanity in front of Johanna. She did not get more than a glimpse of purple and sparkles before something was draped around her neck.
“Oh,” she said softly, her fingers reaching up to the cool stones as they settled on her collarbone. The array of sparkling purple stones was lighter than her dress, but complemented it well and enhanced the effect the dark purple hue had on her eyes.
“Amethysts,” Lady Stark said smugly. “Just the trick for you. Rubies for Rose eventually, but not tonight.”
“Not ever,” Rose muttered, but Lady Stark did not even twitch, ignoring Rose’s rejection of her suggestion.
“They’re beautiful… but… I cannot…”
“You can and you will. These are from the family’s set, which will be yours after tomorrow. They might as well have been made for you,” Lady Stark said matter-of-factly. “Now, the earrings and brooch. We will save the tiara for tomorrow.”
Johanna took a deep breath, but she could tell Lady Stark was not going to be denied. Arguing would be a waste of breath.
Besides, Lady Stark was correct. Adding the earrings and brooch completed the look.
Now she really did appear to be a duchess.
But she felt like a child wearing her mother’s clothing for play.
“You look beautiful,” Rose said, coming to Johanna’s side and putting her hand on Johanna’s shoulder as if sensing her need for reassurance.
Rose often seemed to know exactly what Johanna needed even before Johanna did.
Not the words, but the comforting hand, the touch of someone who knew her and believed in her and would be there for her no matter what happened.
That was what Johanna needed right now, and somehow, Rose had known it.
The touch settled her, and she took a deep breath. She was still her, no matter what she wore or what title she had, and she would do her best. As she always had. That was all she could do.
“Thank you,” she murmured, reaching up to put her hand over Rose’s. They gave each other a quick squeeze.
“Guests should be arriving shortly,” Lady Stark said, sweeping out of the room as quickly as she’d come in.
Johanna looked up at Rose, bemused.
“Do you think we are meant to follow her?”
“I assume so,” Rose said, sounding both exasperated and entertained.
“Most certainly,” Nettie chimed in, nodding her head.
Johanna got to her feet and strode out, arm in arm with Rose. She was so grateful for her cousin’s presence. She did not know how she would be able to do this without her.
“Your mother began running a fever this afternoon,” Rose said in a low voice. “Dr. Syme has already attended her and did not seem worried. Did you know he is the housekeeper’s nephew?”
“I did not.” How interesting. She wondered if the family connection was why the duke had a young, different kind of doctor in attendance. “I should go see her.”
“Not before supper.” Rose squeezed her arm. “She was sleeping when I peeked in on her, and you do not want to disturb her rest. There has been a great deal of upheaval around her the past few days.”
Upheaval and delusions. Worry that her mother might say something in front of someone else trickled through Johanna, but she did not know what she could do about it.
Her mother had already been gripped with nerves before she’d been feverish…
perhaps that was what had precipitated her belief that she’d caused a duke’s death?
In any case, her mother’s absence from this dinner might not be the worst thing, even though Johanna did not wish her ill health.
“Do you think she will be able to attend the wedding tomorrow?” Johanna whispered as they neared the staircase. She could already hear her brother’s and sisters’ voices echoing in the foyer.
“I do not know. We will have to see how she is doing tomorrow. I will ensure she has some willow bark tea tonight.”
“Thank you.” Johanna could almost taste the flavor of the tea herself the moment Rose mentioned it—it was what her mother always gave them for a fever, and Johanna had never liked it.
They reached the top of the stairs, and she looked down at her family and could not help her smile.
Micah was so handsome, standing stiffly beside the duke, in a coat that was actually fitted to him.
When had he grown into a young man? Bridget and Charlotte were still in short skirts, of course, but they both somehow looked older than they had before, now that they were properly clothed.
Johanna’s heart ached inside her chest, and she reached up to touch her fingertips to her breast to try to relieve the pressure.
Her siblings were growing up and leaving childhood behind, and she was so relieved to have them here in the duke’s London home rather than at their crumbling estate.
Which was an awful feeling to have because that had been their home for their whole lives, but for the first time in a long time, she was truly able to feel real hope for the future.
That things would be different.
That they would have enough to eat. That Micah could get the education he deserved.
That Bridget and Charlotte would get the lessons they needed and the futures they were born for.
The weight, which had felt so heavy on her shoulders for so many years, had lessened overnight when the duke had purchased her.
He was an honorable man. A good man.
Johanna finally let her gaze rest on him and felt her breath catch in her throat, her heart no longer tight in her chest but racing within it.
The dark grey of his jacket was set off by a plum-and-silver waistcoat and a matching plum cravat tied around his neck, only a couple shades off from the color of her own gown.
They were not matching, but they would appear coordinated beside each other—and she knew exactly who had done the coordinating.
Lady Stark appeared particularly smug in her place beside the duke.
The stiff points of his starched white collar framed his jawline.
A silver cravat pin with an amethyst topper was just beneath his chin, holding the complicated knot in place.
His dark hair waved back from his face, so that his burning gaze was completely unobscured as he drank in the sight of her coming down the stairs.
“He is looking at you as though you are a pudding and he wants to devour you,” Rose murmured beneath her breath.
Yes, he was.
And Johanna realized she was all too happy to be devoured.
The two men moved to the bottom of the stairs as she and Rose descended, the duke’s gaze never leaving Johanna’s as he took his place.
Micah moved into position on Rose’s side, watching the duke for cues.
He really had grown so much, but Johanna could not focus on him when the duke held all her attention at that moment.
Her skin tingled, her stomach swooping as she released her arm from Rose’s and took his hand.
“My lady.” He bowed over her hand, turning it so that when he pressed his lips against her skin, it was against the inside of her wrist.
Butterflies exploded in her stomach as her breathing stopped for a moment, her heart pounding so hard in her chest that it felt impossible that no one could hear it. No one else seemed to notice anything amiss, though.
“Johanna, look at me!” Bridget spun in place, arms out around her, skirt billowing. She was beaming as she came to a halt.
“You look beautiful,” Johanna said honestly as the duke pulled her hand onto his arm, so they were standing side by side, her fingers now resting on his wrist with his hand over hers. His very nearness made her feel breathless, but she did her best to hide her reaction to him.
She doubted duchesses were overwhelmed by the mere presence of their husbands.