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“How do you mean?” She asked.

Seraphina accepted her tea, but lowered the cup and saucer to her lap, not thirsty.

“He has given me Merrivale,” she explained.

Mary’s face broke into a wide smile as she laughed.

“He has? Oh what wonderful news! I had heard he’d forced you out. I mean, you have been staying with the Briarwoods, so it made sense.”

She’d heard?Seraphina thought.More rumors. Wonderful.

“Well, that means you still have access to his accountsanda home to stay in. Which will be good for both of us,” Mary said happily.

Seraphina’s body grew tense. She now understood why her friends were insistent on not visiting Mary alone. As a guest of the Briarwoods, Mary had spoken to her like a compassionate mother. Now, though, Seraphina realized that it was a ruse. It was then she decided to take an actual look around the room, pushing past her bittersweet memories, and took stock of everything.

The paintings were missing from the walls, as were the silver and china knickknacks that had once graced the mantle above the fireplace. The fancy French rug that usually covered the hardwood floors was missing too. And at the door, she only then realized, it was Mary who had answered, not their butler.

“How is Papa, Mama?” Seraphina inquired, her gaze slowly making her way back to her mother. For the first time she took a closer look at her mother, and saw the new wrinkles that marked her face. Lines usually disguised with cosmetics.

Mary’s bright smile vanished, her lips settling into a grim line as her grip on her tea cup tightened.

“It is rude to change the subject so quickly, Seraphina,” her mother chastised.

“No, Mama,” she replied, pulling her shoulders back as she straightened her spine, “Something tells me it is not I who is the rude one here.”

She was no longer just a titled man’s bastard. She was a Duchess. A woman who commanded respect. And she would not be played.

“I ask again, how is Papa?”

Mary’s eyes narrowed as her lips twitched toward a snarl.

“Well if you must know,” Mary hissed, “He has given up his sponsorship of me ever since that horrid display you put on the night before your engagement to Lord Repington. I am lucky that he even allows me to stay in this house, as long as I am able to pay him for it.”

“I see.”

Seraphina put her cup of tea back on the table and placed her hands in her lap. Through her sadness, rage began to roil.

“So you did not invite me here to raise my spirits but in fact to ask me for money,” she stated.

Mary lifted her chin proudly.

“Well seeing that it was your poor actions that landed me in this predicament, I believe that you owe mesomething.I raised you to be a lady, not a maid, and if it weren't for that you wouldn’t have caught the attention of your precious Duke.”

Then, as if she couldn’t just stop at one barb, Mary added, “A man who, by the way, turned out to be as monstrous as the I warned you.”

Seraphina pressed her hands tightly to one another, fighting a more visceral reaction. Yes, what Hugo had done to her was cruel. But she was no dolt. She saw past the facade he so carefully portrayed and understood the utter agony that lay below the surface. Even heartbroken and angry, she knew that about her husband.

“You have no idea what kind of man he is, Mother, and you will do well to not speak so poorly of him ever again,” Seraphina warned.

“I see that this is not going to be a pleasant visit, Mary sighed, giving up her ruse altogether. “So let us speak plainly. I can continue selling things for another month or so to keep this house, but I will eventually run out of items to sell and I will be homeless, Seraphina. I need a place to stay. I need funds to live.

“Now, I am sorry that your husband hurt your feelings, but he did give you many things by not annulling your marriage. You have what I hear is avastand extraordinarily productive estate in Merrivale. And, despite the previous rumors spread of the Duke’s finances, after a little research of my own I have discovered that he is in fact quite wealthy. He has more than enough to support not just you, but me. It will not take me long to pack my things. We will leave today.”

“Absolutely not.” Seraphina shot to her feet.

She shook her head, not sure if she was more disappointed in her mother or herself for believing that the woman would genuinely want to comfort her.

“I am so foolish,” she laughed bitterly, shaking her head, “For ever thinking that you would actually care for my wellbeing.”