Chapter 3
Chapter Three
“Have you seen Isolde?” Celestine’s mother asked her sharply. “Where has she gotten to?”
“Oh…” Celestine turned and looked across the garden in search. “I am not sure.”
“You were supposed to be keeping an eye on her,” her mother said in a huff. “And Marigold, for that matter.” Her mother put her hands on her hips. “I turn away from one second…”
“I am sure they are somewhere, Mother.”
“That does me little good now, Celestine. Lord Grundon was asking after Isolde, but I am certain he will wish to meet with Marigold too.” Her mother looked throughout the garden, her brow furrowing angrily.
“Those girls….” A shake of the head. “Make yourself useful and find them, Celestine. Sometimes I wonder…” She started to mutter to herself as she powered through the garden.
Celestine watched her mother go and she did not hide the look of abject annoyance that crossed her face as she did. It was the same that she had been wearing all week, and for good reason.
It is only recently that my mother has started to annoy me so? Or am I only just now realizing it…
It had been this way all week, or so it felt like. Every chance that her mother was given, she seemed determined to snap at Celestine as if each malady that befell her was Celestine’s fault. She blamed her for all her woes, especially those that concerned Isolde and Marigold.
Today was the worst of it by far.
The Hargrave family were attending a garden party at Lord Westmere’s Estate.
It was a rather lavish affair, attended by half the peerage it looked like, the type that had Celestine’s mother rushing to and fro as she attempted to put in a good word for her daughters so that they might find a husband worthy of their names.
As she did this, Celestine was expected to watch over her two younger sisters to ensure that they came into no trouble.
Which she was doing… or trying to do. But both Isolde and Marigold were rebellious, they were not the type to be told to stay put and behave, and no sooner did Celestine turn her back were they gone.
Why does it always fall on me to watch over them?
She ought to not have minded so much. After all, was Celestine’s calling not to make sure that her sisters were not taken advantage of? That was all she wanted, and yet…
This past week, something changed in Celestine.
Where she wanted nothing more than to do as only she was able to do, she slowly became sick and tired of always being treated like an imposition.
Really, she was starting to understand the negative effects of being thought of as ‘mad.’ That being that nobody took her seriously.
“Is she gone?” Isolde appeared as if from nowhere, a wicked smirk on her lips. “I thought she would never leave.”
“There you are!” Celestine snatched her sister by the arm. “Where did you run off to?”
“Nowhere…” Isolde tried to pull her arm free, but Celestine refused to let go. “Just avoiding Mother. Celestine…” She pulled harder on her arm, which Celestine clung to. “Let me go.”
“Not until we find Marigold.” Celestine looked across the busy garden party, frustration mounting because her other sister was nowhere to be seen. “I told you both to stay put.”
“And why would we listen?” Isolde complained. “It is not as if we have to do everything you tell us.”
“It might be nice if you did for a change.”
“Let me go!” Isolde cried out a little too loudly. This saw a few lords and ladies nearby turn their heads; judgmental eyebrows were raised at Celestine.
“Will you keep your voice down,” Celestine hissed at Isolde. “People are staring.”
“Then let me… go!” She wrenched her arm free and held it to her body. “What is the matter with you, Celestine?”
“Me? All I am doing is trying to help you, Isolde. Why can you not see that?”
Isolde scoffed. “Perhaps you should ask yourself that question.” She turned and started to walk away.
“Isolde! Where are you going? Come back here!”
Isolde did no such thing. She filtered through the crowd, soon lost among the array of colorful gowns.
What has gotten into that girl!
It was becoming too much for Celestine to handle. She wanted to help her two sisters, but they did not want to be helped. She had never noticed before just how argumentative they were, and how determined they were to do the exact opposite of what she asked them.
Or had it always been this way? And was it only just now that Celestine was starting to realize it…
That was a damning realization and one that Celestine had suspected for some time, ignored fully because she did not want to consider the reason. But as this week had proven resolutely, Celestine was nowhere near as happy and content in her life and her role as she liked to believe.
“Celestine…” her mother’s voice spoke from just over her shoulder.
Celestine suppressed the urge to groan. She was certain her mother was going to snap at her again for having not found her two sisters, and she braced herself as she forced a smile and turned.
“Oh.” Celestine said in surprise. “Mother…”
“There is someone I would like for you to meet,” her mother said curtly. “Lord Grundon, this is my second eldest daughter, Celestine.”
“Charmed,” Lord Grundon said as he took Celestine’s hand without asking and brought it to his lips.
Lord Grundon was a man who Celestine had seen before but did not know personally.
He was tall and lithe like a blade with a sharp chin and a long face to match.
His dark blonde hair was perfectly combed, and his outfit was expensive and tailored to make his shoulders appear wider than they were.
And his eyes were small and dark and just a little too close together.
Mostly, he was regal in every sense of the word.
He stood with a straight back, a pronounced chest, and his face was expressionless in a way that suggested a perfect control of his emotions.
Indeed, as he looked Celestine over, she saw no light behind his eyes, and no sense at all that he was the least bit interested in meeting her.
“I am so sorry, Mother,” Celestine said. “I was unable to find Isolde or –”
“Never mind that,” her mother waved her down. “I was telling Lord Grundon all about you and he was so interested in making your acquaintance.”
She blinked at the uptight lord. “Why?”
He chuckled but there was no humor in it.
“I have seen you about the ton, Miss Celestine. And where certain rumors drift, I prefer to find out for myself the truth of them.” A smile touched his lips, but it was lifeless.
“One rumor I know to be true, however, is that of your beauty. It is unparalleled.”
“Oh.” She blinked. “Thank you.”
“Your mother has been telling me all about you,” he continued plainly. “She has painted quite the portrait. I was wondering if you might join me on a small walk? It would be wonderful to get to know you better.”
“I…” Celestine blinked in surprise. “Why?”
He chuckled again; and again, it held no humor. “You were right, Lady Fairbrook. She is as blunt as a hammer. But I find it endearing.”
Celestine looked pointedly at her mother as if demanding an explanation on the spot. Her mother widened her eyes at Celestine and glanced at Lord Grundon as if to warn Celestine off doing or saying anything perverse.
Is she being serious? What would make my mother think that I wanted anything to do with Lord Grundon? Or anybody?
Reality crashed upon Celestine’s shoulders like a tidal wave.
She had been a fool to believe that her recent reputation might save her.
She had been a fool to think that there was anything she might do at all.
She could cause alarm. She could embarrass herself.
She could scare away half the ton. But at the end of the day, she was still a lady, and things like this were expected.
It was just so frustrating! Celestine had convinced herself that she need only worry about her sisters – sisters who did not want to be worried about in the first place! She thought that she was above this nonsense and that she had finally found her place and her calling in this world.
Ultimately, nothing she did would make a difference. Her life was not her own… her sisters’ lives were not their own… they were tools to be used, and nothing was going to change that.
“I… I need…” She looked about the garden party, desperate to get away. “I need to visit the retiring room.”
“Celestine!” her mother snapped. “Lord Grundon has asked you a question.”
“Another time,” she said with a forced smile. “It was nice to meet you Lord Grun…” She trailed off as she stepped around the snooty lord and stumbled across the garden.
There was no need to guess why this week had seen Celestine’s reality smack so dramatically into her so that she might wonder how she had been so blind.
She knew the reason, and while she had hoped to ignore it and pretend that it had never happened, she knew how that doing such things was a fool’s errand.
His Grace, the Duke of Blackthorne…
I had hoped it was a joke. Or that if I pretended it did not happen, I might be able to live in such a reality as that. The fool I am…
His proposal to Celestine had been so random and surprising that Celestine wondered if it happened at all. No need to grow angry over it. No need to act confused. He must have been baiting her and once he left her home, he would forget about it, and she would never see or think of him again.
Now, Celestine saw his proposal for what it was. It was the opening of the floodgates, a light shining onto everything that Celestine had tried to ignore so that she could no longer walk blindly through her problems.
The Duke was the first but as her mother had just made clear, he would not be the last.
I need to get out of here…
Celestine stumbled through the garden party, her head down, not knowing where she was going but knowing she had to go somewhere. She spied the side of the manor and figured that she could skirt down the path and hide in her family’s carriage until this was over.