Chapter 62
SIXTY-TWO
Ravenglass
In the days leading up to the New Year’s Eve party, the house was a hive of activity.
It reminded Geneva of when her mother and brothers had still been alive.
There had been such a sense of anticipation then, a hum of excitement that filled the house even if she and Honor weren’t permitted to attend because they were too young.
They would hide on the nursery landing, listening to the music and the murmured laughter drifting up from the drawing room, imagining what it would be like when they were old enough to join the festivities and eventually come out to society.
It had all seemed so glamorous and magical then. Now she knew better.
The war to end all wars had altered the country in countless ways, but, for young women of breeding, very little had changed.
They were still only a step above livestock, paraded through London’s marriage markets until they found a suitable buyer.
Geneva hadn’t even had the fleeting thrill of a court presentation or a coming-out ball.
Instead, she had been sold to the highest—and only—bidder, a human sacrifice to the gods of nobility and wealth.
Honor might envy Geneva’s supposed good fortune, but her sister didn’t yet grasp the price it carried.
Geneva admitted that things could be worse and that, as far as bargains with the devil went, she was escaping lightly.
But to have her future wrested from her at such a young age seemed unbearably unfair.
She hadn’t lived yet, hadn’t done anything of note, and, if her father had his way, by this time next year she might already have a child.
Her wishes seemed to matter to no one. She was simply a tool, a vessel to be filled as quickly as possible.
And what if Jesse proved a cruel or indifferent husband?
Plenty of men kept mistresses and even secret families.
What did she truly know of the man she was expected to wed, a month from now, if her father managed to hold on?
Jesse professed admiration, but he might simply be playing the smitten suitor to please Douglas.
Once her father was gone, everything could change.
The more she thought on it, the more despondent she grew.
Even though Jesse tried to coax her into Ravenglass for lunch or persuade her to go skating with him, Honor, and Rose, Geneva chose solitary walks or the refuge of her room or the library.
She needed time to accept the changes barreling towards her and to tamp down the resentment she felt towards her father.
She couldn’t even speak to Rory. That door was closed forever, barred by their mutual anger and resentment.
It was fitting that Rory was heading to the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, and she would remain here—where she was neither free nor felt particularly brave.