Page 3 of From Unwanted to Duchess
Reluctantly, Frances stepped into the room and then noted that there was another room adjacent to it. It stood open, and inside she spotted several armoires.
A dressing room. She was to have her own dressing room. It was absurd. This situation was growing more ludicrous by the minute.
Still, she sat, folding her hands in her lap.
“I must admit that I have somewhat tricked you and your father. I do need a companion. It is true. But not in the sense that you might have imagined. I would like the company, but I do not intend for you to stay here very long.”
“What do you mean?”
“I intend to find you a good husband. The Season has just started, and I intend for you to partake in it. We will find you a fine husband.”
“A husband,” she whispered.
This had to be a dream. What a turn of events this is!
“You cannot mean it,” she said. “I am not titled. I am linked to the Langley family, but that’s it. My father is a gentleman, as he owns a farm, but it is a small farm. I have no dowry. One of the reasons I was sent away is that my parents have no money.”
“You do not need to worry about such things. I am well-connected. My nieces are well-positioned ladies. Everybody will want to be connected to our family somehow. But you need not worry about that. I will make sure that somebody decent offers for you. We will look through all the dresses here and select something that suits you. I already purchased the vouchers for Almack’s. The patronesses know me well.”
Frances sat back, shaking her head. “This cannot be real. But why would you do this for me? You scarcely know me.”
“That is true,” Aunt Eugenia agreed. “But I knew your mother. You see, when your parents were first married, they were very much in love. They would come and call on me whenever they were in London or back at my seaside estate. They would staywith me for a few weeks at a time. I adored them, especially your mother. But as the years went by, I could see that the love they had for one another fizzled out. Oh, it was terribly sad to see, but it could not be denied.
“After a while, your mother confided in me. She knew that your father had mistresses. Oh, she struggled terribly with it. I did my best to support her, but then she grew ill.”
She leaned forward and grasped Frances’s hands. “You were still so small then. She loved you very much. You were the apple of her eye. She would bring you everywhere all the time. My husband offered to hire a wet nurse because he thought it was proper, but she refused.”
Frances’s heart ached as she heard the tale of her mother. She had hoped that Aunt Eugenia might have known her and could tell her stories about her, but she hadn’t expected this. For them to have been so close.
“You cared for my mother?”
“Very much. I was never blessed with children of my own, but I adored her. You see, when she grew ill, she made a request of me. She knew that she was not long for this world and that your father would install his mistress in her place as soon as he had a chance. She feared for you and what would become of you. She asked that by the time you came of age, if you had not made a match or if your living situation did not prove promising, I would take you under my wing.”
Frances couldn’t believe her ears. Her mother had made all these plans so far in advance. It also hurt her to know that her mother had suffered so much and that she had known, even in her final days, that her father would install his mistress in her place.
“I would have sent for you much sooner, but as you know, my brother, the late Earl of Lowey, was quite the rakish sort, given to all manner of excess and dissipation. His life was, shall we say, not well managed. He brought me here to look after his daughters, and I did. And the truth is, I neglected my duty to you. I should have brought you here years ago. But I was occupied with the girls, you see.” Aunt Eugenia cringed, as though she was embarrassed.
Frances shrugged. She was used to being second best. An afterthought.
“Well, we are not closely related,” she said. “It is no wonder that you would focus more on true relations.”
“You are also a true relation. As I said, your mother was like a daughter to me. I loved her. And I will do right by her through you.”
“But how did you know that I was not yet promised to anyone?”
Aunt Eugenia smiled. “I have kept in touch with some of the other Langleys who live on the former Langley estate. Your great-aunt Marjorie wrote to me regularly, telling me that your father did not treat you as he did your half-sister. At first, Ithought sending money might help, but I suspect that you never saw a dime of it.”
“I did not,” Frances admitted.
“Well, you shall have everything you could ever need now. We will find you dresses. We will fit you with attire befitting a young lady, and then you will be out on the town, and we will find you a husband.”
Frances’s mind whirled. She had no notion of what it meant to be a debutante. To be out. She didn’t know how to dance. She had no accomplishments.
I shall make a complete cake of myself.
And yet her aunt seemed so excited and so determined that she did not want to upset her. She’d have to find the time to tell her the truth, but now was not that time.
A knock on the door interrupted them, and the butler appeared with a silver platter. He handed it to Aunt Eugenia, who lifted a carefully folded letter. She opened it, placed spectacles on her nose, read it, and then let out a sigh.
“If you will excuse me, there is something I must attend to.”
She got up and left Frances alone in the giant room that was going to be hers, at least for the time being.
