Page 113 of Unmasking the Diamond
Charlotte’s heart twisted. “Do you know why he would do such a thing?”
“I haven’t the faintest idea,” Lydia said bitterly. “It was my dowry that kept our estate afloat, and now I am discarded like yesterday’s rubbish. And to think he now cavorts with the governess.”
“I’m so sorry,” she responded, knowing her words were wholly inadequate.
Lydia waved a hand. “You’ve nothing to apologize for. It’s not your fault my husband is a cad. I suppose I expected loyalty where none existed.”
“You deserve better,” Charlotte asserted.
“I do,” Lydia sighed, “but it’s far too late for me. Tell me, Charlotte—what is to become of me, assuming I’m right and no one comes?”
Charlotte hesitated. How could she tell a woman her future was already written and so cruelly? But Lydia’s piercing gaze demanded honesty.
“At around five months’ time,” Charlotte shared, “you’ll die… and they’ll claim it was influenza.”
Lydia closed her eyes. “Five months in this hellhole? I would rather die now.”
“It won’t come to that,” Charlotte said, desperate to undo her own words.
“I wish I could believe you,” Lydia murmured. “I hope your brother or your Luca comes for you. Truly. But there is no saving me.”
“Don’t say that. You mustn’t lose hope.”
“Hope?” Lydia scoffed. “My own husband cast me aside like refuse. Does anyone in thetoneven realize I am gone?”
Charlotte winced. “Not yet, but?—”
Lydia laughed bitterly. “Sixteen days I have been missing, and Society has yet to notice.”
“I noticed,” Charlotte said, her voice firm.
“And look what good that’s done you,” Lydia snapped before softening. “Forgive me. I’m angry and frightened… and I will never see my daughter again.”
Charlotte swallowed hard. “You will. I promise you that.”
A single tear slipped down Lydia’s cheek. “I tried to be a good wife, a good mother. It was all for nothing.”
Charlotte shifted, the cold stones biting through her thin gown. “My fiancé owns a newssheets publication. He’ll tell your story. Once he exposes what’s been done to you, Society will be outraged.”
“And then what?” Lydia whispered. “I return home to a man who despises me?”
“But you’ll be free,” Charlotte insisted.
Lydia gave a tired sigh and lay back down. “Forgive me, Charlotte, but I need some silence. Your optimism is beginning to grate.”
Charlotte let out a quiet, humorless laugh. “You’re mistaken. I’m not an optimist—I’m just trying to keep us both from breaking.”
Lydia’s eyes fluttered open once more. “Does your fiancé love you?”
Charlotte stared at the ceiling. “He says he cares for me… but I don’t know how deeply.”
“Was it love at first sight for you?”
Charlotte laughed under her breath. “Hardly. I found him utterly insufferable—always teasing, always smug. I wanted to wring his neck half the time.”
Lydia’s lips curved faintly. “What changed?”
“He became my friend. Someone I could trust wholeheartedly.”
