A wry smile caught Selina’s lips.
“And if I continue to make a fool of myself in front of such gentlemen?” she asked, as Lady Hayward laughed. “For whatever reason, I could not even remove my dance card from my wrist when Lord Barrington asked!”
Lady Hayward laughed again, and Selina’s heart lightened just a little, pulling itself away from the despair and the upset that had filled it only some moments ago.
“Do not think that you will struggle for the entirety of this Season, Lady Selina,” Lady Hayward replied, after a moment or two. “At the first few social occasions you might find yourself a little overwhelmed, a little awkward or even a little embarrassed at times, but soon all such feelings will fade away and you will discover a confidence within yourself that you were not aware of before.”
Selina looked towards her chaperone, finding her heart eager to believe it, but her head refusing to do so.
“Are you quite certain, Lady Hayward?” she asked, as her chaperone nodded firmly. “I fear that I shall remain this uncertain, unsure, young lady for the rest of the Season and that I shall have to return to my father’s estate without any sort of success.”
“Nonsense,” Lady Hayward replied, looking towards Selina with a firm and steady gaze as she turned towards her. “You will find yourself quite at your ease in a few days’ time. I am quite sure of it.”
Chapter Two
“What is this?” Charles gestured to a pile of bills that now sat in the middle of his desk, as his sister gazed at them without any flicker of understanding in her eyes. “Amelia!” Charles barked, growing more and more irritated with her. “Might I ask you what the meaning of these are?”
Amelia lifted her eyes to his, a bored expression on her face.
“I do not understand what you mean, Barrington,” she said calmly, as though spending a great deal of money was to be expected. “I required some new items and thus, the accounting for such items was sent to you for payment.” She tilted her head and looked up at him, bird-like. “Is that a difficulty for you?”
Charles bit back his first, angry response, knowing full well that his sister would not take such a sharp answer with any degree of understanding. She was a proud, conceited young lady and, try as he might, Charles simply could not get her to understand why he disliked her behaving so.
“Amelia, you have just had an entire new wardrobe purchased for you,” he reminded her, keeping hold of his fraying temper as best he could. “You have multiple new gowns, which are all of the highest fashion. You have had all of the trinkets which a lady could require given to you, with new gloves, jewelry and bonnets all purchased.” He gestured to the stack of bills. “Why then would you consider purchasing yet more items without even speaking to me first?”
He had looked through each one of the bills and had found his anger growing steadily as he had done so. They had all been fripperies, as far as he was concerned. All items that his sister did not need, but had chosen to purchase regardless – and all without so much as a by-your-leave! Had she come to him, had she expressed to him that she desired such things then, of course, he would have listened to her, but he might also have been able to dissuade her from such nonsense.
Closing his eyes, Charles took in a long breath. Why had he been left with a sister who thought of nothing and nobody but herself? Why had she been placed as a burden upon his shoulders when she ought to have wed their cousin, as he was sure had been arranged? Charles was still unclear as to why the match had never taken place, since it had been expected to occur before his father had passed away, a little over a year ago, and it was not as though Amelia herself would discuss it with him!
“It is just one or two additional items, brother,” Amelia said, her voice becoming something akin to a whine. “You have a great fortune, do you not? These things are nothing to you.”
“That is not the point of this discussion, Amelia!” he retorted, swiftly. “I will not have you telling me that you have decided to order things such as these whenever you wish! From now on, you are forbidden from making any sort of purchase without discussing it with me first.”
Amelia did not instantly respond. Her eyes, so cool and clear like their mother’s, gazed back at him.
“Mama says –”
“Mama does not hold the purse strings,” Charles reminded her, his brow furrowing as another flare of anger took hold of his heart. Had his mother been the one to encourage Amelia to do this? There was little doubt that she wanted the very best for her daughter and, if that meant allowing Amelia to make her way to the milliners and place an order for various items she supposedly required, then he expected that their mother would concede, perhaps even encourage her. “If you wish to remain in London, Amelia – and be reminded that I am the one who will decide whether or not you stay for the Season – you will heed me and do as I ask!”
These words, more than any other, seemed to have an effect on his sister. With wide eyes, she looked back at him, her face paling as she realized what he meant.
“You would not do such a thing!” she whispered,
