The Heiress of Winterwood - By Sarah Ladd Page 0,16
Amelia. “Why are you so out of sorts tonight? Do not tell me you are still thinking about that captain.”
The lie slid easily from Amelia’s lips. “Of course not.”
“Well, I should think not, especially tonight of all nights. I overheard Mother tell Father that the Simmonses are coming after all, and—” She paused midsentence and looked around, a frown darkening her face. “Have you seen my necklace? The one with the ruby pendant?”
Amelia nodded toward the jewelry chest atop the dresser.
“Ah.” Helena retrieved the gold chain and held it up to her exposed throat. She pivoted, watching her reflection in the glass. “I do believe you have escaped catastrophe, dear Cousin.”
Amelia adjusted her petticoat over her stays as Elizabeth returned to the room. “I do not understand.”
Helena rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the feather. “It is early yet to tell, but I think you are going to come out of yesterday’s episode unscathed. An entire day has passed. If Captain Sterling had planned to expose you, we would have already heard about it. Count yourself fortunate.”
Amelia suppressed a groan. The interchange with the captain in the drawing room had been humiliating enough. Now, after the incident in the graveyard and today’s interlude with Edward, she was practically at her wit’s end. Feeling the need to defend herself once more, Amelia murmured, “As I told you before, it was a business proposition. Nothing more.”
“Well, call it whatever you like.” Helena took the dress from Amelia and handed it to the lady’s maid. Elizabeth helped slide it on over the petticoat, careful not to disturb Amelia’s meticulously arranged tresses. “At least Mr. Littleton hasn’t discovered what you have done.”
Amelia turned to allow Elizabeth to fasten the ivory buttons down the back of her gown. Glancing into the mirror, she straightened the silver netting adorning the bodice. There was no point in arguing. She needed to concentrate on what she would say to Edward, not on persuading Helena, who at any rate would not be swayed.
Once the buttons were fastened, Helena reached for Edward’s sapphire necklace. She dangled the piece in front of her. “I do hope one day my betrothed gives me such lovely tokens of affection,” she said, her voice wistful. The candles’ flickering glow caught the intricate angles of the jeweled pendant, sending slivers of indigo light into the air. Helena draped it around Amelia’s neck and turned her back toward the mirror. “Perfection.”
Amelia’s gaze lingered on the jewelry’s reflection, and she touched it with uneasy fingers as she considered the imminent union the necklace symbolized and the man who had given it to her. Her stomach flittered at the thought of what she must do tonight. Now that Captain Sterling had refused her proposal, she had to convince Edward to allow Lucy to remain at Winterwood Manor. This would be her one request of him. But it would not be easy. Despite his mercurial temper, Edward was not easy to sway once he had made up his mind. Amelia would have to be intentional with her words.
But Amelia did have one advantage. Once she married and reached twenty-four years of age, which would be soon, she would be a very wealthy woman. That meant her husband, by matrimonial law, would increase his fortune too. And Edward was an ambitious man, with ambitious plans for building on his success in business. Had he not on more than one occasion referenced his plans to expand Winterwood once he was officially its master? Well, he needed her cooperation for that to happen. If necessary, she would remind him of this detail.
Amelia followed Helena from the dressing room. The voices of family and friends wafted up the curved staircase toward them. She bent her neck to see down to the main floor below and almost immediately spied Edward. Dressed in an impeccable black tailcoat and brilliant emerald waistcoat, drink already in hand, he stood laughing with a group of men.
She drew a deep breath. Until they could speak alone about Lucy, she would play the part of an excited and amiable bride. Straightening her shoulders, she shook out the folds of her dress and prepared to descend. But just as her foot was about to fall on the first step, she spotted another face, one she had not anticipated. A gasp escaped her lips, and she grabbed Helena’s bare arm and yanked her back on the landing.