Chapter 24 #2
“Well now, let me just take a moment to pick the best blooms for you,” Katherine said cheerily, as the girl eagerly clambered up onto the vanity’s stool, swinging her legs with the giddiness that only a child could have.
As the maid began sifting through the flowers and sliding them into Sophie’s hair, Beatrice came to stand closer to Anna. Although not too close.
“I was told to see how ye’re progressin’,” Beatrice said flatly, her reddish-brown eyes taking in the sight of Anna in her wedding gown. “Jeremy wants me to help ye get ready, though I daenae see what business it is of mine.”
Anna laughed awkwardly. “I suppose because we shall be sisters of a sort, after this is all over.”
“I daenae need a sister,” Beatrice replied.
“Well… um… nevertheless,” Anna mumbled, as she caught Katherine’s eye in the mirror. The lady’s maid looked ready to fight, offended on Anna’s behalf.
“I daenae like weddings,” Beatrice added, as she walked over to the vanity and slowly trailed her fingertips over the dried flowers that hadn’t been chosen for Anna’s hair and had yet to be placed into Sophie’s.
“Thought I’d tell ye that I daenae think me and me daughter will be attendin’.
It’s nae personal; I just… aye, I daenae like weddings. ”
Sophie frowned. “We cannae go to the weddin’?”
“Nay, love,” Beatrice replied. “We can go and see that goat of yers instead.”
The girl’s frown softened, her smile returning. “Sprightly will love me flower crown.”
“He will,” Anna said, schooling her tone into something cheerful for Sophie’s sake. “But do not get your hair too close to him with those pretty flowers, or he might have a nibble.”
Sophie giggled uproariously, a far cry from the stilted atmosphere in the rest of the room.
“He’d better nae,” Beatrice muttered, her nose turned up. “But aye, I’m sorry we willnae be there.”
It would have been easy for Anna’s temper to flare at the woman’s cold attitude, especially at such a moment as this, when Anna needed all the encouragement she could get.
But she held her tongue as she watched Beatrice pick up a dried thistle and bring the purple flower of it to her lips, kissing it.
Of course, she is not in the mood for a wedding. Anna’s demeanor softened. She wasn’t the only widow now residing in Stonebridge Manor, and Beatrice’s initiation into widowhood was that much fresher. More to the point, it was obvious that Beatrice actually missed her husband.
“That is quite all right,” Anna assured. “I would not expect you to be there. It has all been rather sudden, and… considering what has happened to you, there really is no need for you to trouble yourself.”
Beatrice shot her a frosty glance. “What would ye ken of what has happened, eh?”
“I… um… know that you lost your husband recently,” Anna replied, blushing furiously.
In the face of such obvious dislike, she didn’t have a clue what to do. She had never much liked confrontation… until she met Jeremy.
“Lost?” Beatrice scoffed. “That’s such a small word for it. More like, I had half of me heart torn out and stamped on. Daenae tell me that ye ken what happened when ye were nae there! How could ye ken what it is like to watch the man ye love breathe his last?”
In her seat, Sophie seemed to shrink from the noise.
Katherine squared her shoulders. “Her Grace has lost people, too. We were just talking about her father, who was as dear to her, I am sure, as your husband was to you.”
“It is not a competition, remember,” Anna said quietly, putting a calming hand on Sophie’s shoulder. “No, Mrs. Bolt, I do not know what you have suffered, nor can I understand the pain you are in. All I can do is offer my sympathies.”
Beatrice sniffed. “Aye, well, they’re nae wanted.” She looked as if she might cry. “Sympathies daenae do anythin’, and if ye had a bit of common sense about ye, ye wouldnae bother with marryin’. Ye’d find a convent, and ye’d stay there, as far removed from the world as ye can be.”
Without another word, Jeremy’s sister-in-law picked Sophie up, the girl’s flower crown barely done, and stormed out of the room, slamming the door so hard behind her that the walls rattled.
In the wake of her departure, Anna and Katherine exchanged startled looks.
This was turning out to be quite the unusual wedding day, and not a bit of it was helping Anna to calm her nerves and doubts for the actual occasion.
“Grief does odd things to people, Your Grace,” Katherine said to break the tense silence. “Take no notice of her.”
Anna cleared her throat and smoothed down the front of her skirts. “Unless she is right? Maybe I should find a convent. We could both go, then I would not have to be without you.” She chuckled stiffly. “It would be one way to avoid another terrible match.”
“Do you want to leave?” Katherine asked, her tone serious. “I can arrange it. If not a convent, I can certainly sneak you away to the townhouse.”
Taking a deep breath and squeezing her eyes shut to hold back any tears that might dare to fall, Anna shook her head.
“It is not the first time I have married out of duty. I should not tarnish my papa’s legacy by being dragged through the muck of the scandal sheets for a second time.
” Her voice hitched at the thought of his dismay.
“I want to get this over with. Please, let us go to the chapel before my legs are too shaky to walk.”
Katherine swooped in and took hold of Anna’s arm. “Everything will be all right.”
“Do you promise?” Anna asked with a weak smile.
Her friend gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “I swear it, and you know that I would never lie to you.”
For now, it was all the encouragement Anna needed to get through the ceremony. With guests waiting for a wedding and society eager for news, she really didn’t have a choice anymore.
Be condemned to a loveless marriage or condemn herself to the worst possible scorn that would ensure she never showed her face outside Stonebridge again? Not to mention, bringing ill-repute down on the likes of Sophie and Beatrice, who had already endured too much.
No, it wasn’t a choice at all.