Chapter 5
Five
Having set out early in the morning, they pulled in at the gates of Phoebe’s family manor by late afternoon. When she had referred to it as remote, she hadn’t been talking about the distance from the capital but the lack of other homes and towns in the region.
The vast majority of Wynkara’s population lived east or south of the capital, and they had traveled through no towns or even villages of any size on their journey to Phoebe’s home.
The lack could be explained by geography.
The ground sloped upward toward the northwestern mountains, and the land was too rocky for fields or even decent pastures.
At least the road was good, and they made excellent time, arriving before Aurelia had expected. Even so, her body was stiff from the hours of travel, and she alighted in front of the manor house with eagerness, taking in the sight of Phoebe’s home.
Her eyes widened as she absorbed the size of the building before her. Front steps led up to a large door, but the multistory home extended out into two graceful wings, and she could see several smaller doors to either side, along with any number of generously sized windows.
“My goodness,” her mother said mildly, climbing down behind her. “How lovely. I didn’t realize it would be quite so large.”
Aurelia looked back at her mother, frowning.
In a truly contrary fashion, the daunted expression on her mother’s face removed Aurelia’s own hesitation.
Large or not, it was still Phoebe’s home, so there was no reason for them to be intimidated.
Perhaps her family had fallen on hard times recently, which would explain her change in fortune.
The creak of the door made her turn back to the house, eager to see her friend.
But it wasn’t Phoebe who descended the stairs.
Dimly, Aurelia registered an elderly lady coming toward them at a dignified pace, but most of her focus was fixed on the tall, masculine figure who trod lightly down the stairs ahead of her, coming toward them with a smile.
She could feel the color draining from her cheeks as she stared at the handsome face of Danton, Earl of Windward. What was the Earl doing at Phoebe’s house? Surely he had not accepted an invitation to a remote house party in the middle of the social season.
To her left, the mountains loomed over them, and she sucked in a breath. She could think of one reason the Earl might have wanted to attend a house party within stone’s throw of the northwestern mountains.
She almost blurted out some combination of accusation and question, but the sight of the Earl bowing over her mother’s hand silenced her.
“Welcome!” He straightened and smiled in Aurelia’s direction, including her in his greeting. “I’m so glad you could join us.”
Aurelia blinked at him, her mind struggling to absorb the meaning of his words. Why was the Earl welcoming them? Where were Phoebe and her family?
The Earl drew the older woman forward, presenting her formally to Aurelia’s mother before turning to Aurelia with an almost conspiratorial smile. She sucked in a breath, affected as usual by the power of his smile, even as her mind filled with confusion and indignation.
“This is my Aunt Ophelia,” he said. “She’s a widow, and her own family is long grown, so she came to our rescue when Phoebe grew old enough to need a chaperone.”
“Humph!” Lady Ophelia said. “And it was about time, too! Raising a young girl alone in such wilds as this.” She shook her head, but the look she gave her nephew held affection.
He grinned back at her. “I said you rescued us, didn’t I? And now you’re graciously playing host to our friends.”
“Phoebe?” Aurelia asked feebly, only seeming able to manage the one word.
“Yes, I apologize my sister isn’t here to greet you.” A faint note of exasperation sounded in the Earl’s polite tone. “She’s probably off reading somewhere.”
“Phoebe is your sister,” Aurelia repeated faintly.
His brows drew together slightly, the movement so faint she nearly missed it.
“I’ve been most grateful to you for your kindness to her. She was nervous about her first visit to the capital, but she seemed to relax considerably once she made a friend.”
Aurelia swallowed, finally understanding the mystery of their dance. Now she knew why the Earl had sought her out and why he had known her name. He had been thanking her for befriending his sister.
Had he known the social effect of inviting her for even one dance? Is that why he had done it?
Something sour settled in her belly, but she ignored it. She had absolutely no reason to feel disappointed that the Earl had seen her as an altruistic project—returning one kindness with another. He had done her a favor, and she appreciated it.
What he had done now, however, was another matter altogether.
Her ire rose further. The Earl hadn’t been fortuitously invited to a house party close to the mountains—he was the one hosting the party.
She had told him in the stables that she wouldn’t go to the mountains with him, and he had responded by going home and telling his sister to extend a last-minute invite to their party in her direction.
And like a naive fool, she had accepted without any idea what it was she was accepting.
She glanced sideways at her mother and caught a stern look.
Clearly her mother knew Aurelia was on the verge of saying something more honest than polite.
With effort she clamped her mouth shut. Her mother would be furious if she said what was on her mind, so it was better that she said nothing at all.
Instead, she dropped into the shallowest possible curtsy, forcing a smile, although it must have looked wooden at best. Her mother’s expression turned pained, but at least she couldn’t upbraid Aurelia on her behavior.
A housekeeper appeared and was introduced by Lady Ophelia. Aurelia followed her into the house with relief, refusing to look back, although she could feel the Earl’s eyes on her back.
They crossed through the large entryway of the manor, Aurelia’s mind whirling with enough outrage and confusion that she didn’t notice the other occupants of the space until they came face to face. Aurelia froze, recognizing both fashionably dressed young ladies.
Lady Lucia also stopped, staring at Aurelia with slightly raised brows. The girl at her side, Lady Malia, leaned forward to whisper something in her ear, and Lady Lucia shrugged. Aurelia flushed.
She didn’t need to hear Lady Malia’s words to interpret her expression.
The high-born girls were as surprised to see Aurelia had been invited as Aurelia was surprised to see them.
Except now that she knew the house party was being hosted by the Earl of Windward, she wasn’t surprised at all.
She should have realized immediately what his identity would mean about the other guests.
Thank goodness her mother had insisted she pack all her most fashionable gowns.
Aurelia’s gaze flew to her mother, who was greeting the younger women with polite calm. Her face held no sign of surprise despite the unexpected start to their visit.
“Mother,” she hissed, clamping onto her mother’s arm. “I’d like a word.”
Her mother’s expression didn’t change until they had made it out of the entryway and beyond the view of Lady Lucia and Lady Malia, at which point she gave her daughter an exasperated look.
“You could have been a little nicer to those girls! They must be a very similar age to you.”
Aurelia ignored her mother’s scolding. “You knew!” she declared in her fiercest whisper. “You knew we were coming to the Earl’s estate.”
“Of course I knew!” Her mother gave her a long-suffering look. “Did you really think I would bring you to a home I knew nothing about? I made a few discreet inquiries about Phoebe’s family as soon as you became friends.”
“You did what!?” Aurelia couldn’t absorb yet another betrayal. “Mother! Why didn’t you tell me!?”
Her mother shrugged. “I assumed Phoebe would have told you.” She hesitated. “And if you didn’t know, I thought it might be for the best. You might not have been so eager to come if you’d known who the other guests were likely to be. But it’s a wonderful opportunity for us!”
Aurelia sighed. “You should have told me.”
“I’m sorry, my dear.” Her mother pressed her hand. “I just hope you can relax now that we’re here and have a good time. You belong here just as much as any of those other girls.”
Aurelia managed a small smile and a nod, hoping her mother couldn’t see the sadness behind it.
It was her mother who needed to believe her own words, not Aurelia.
Aurelia didn’t worry that she didn’t belong—she just preferred reading to interacting with people she didn’t know and who had little real interest in her besides.
She might not like crowds of people staring at her, but to her mind, it was a perfectly sensible position and had nothing to do with her self-worth.
But her mother had been raised to carry her family’s hopes, just as Aurelia’s father had.
Except in her mother’s case, she had succeeded—only to come under the disappointed, critical eye of her mother-in-law.
Her mother hadn’t been born into the same position Aurelia had been, and she knew what it was to be out of place.
So if the house party was important to her mother, then Aurelia would endure it with as much grace as she could manage. She wouldn’t sulk and ruin her mother’s enjoyment of the visit.