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“Well, you are a beautiful lady. You do not need anything to distract from you. What about this?”

She held up an elegant white silk, and Emma nodded without looking at it too much. It felt wrong for her to wear white, given the circumstances, but it was not as though she had a choice. She would return two days later to try the gown for the first time, and she tried not to dread it. It was more than she ever would have expected to feel about a wedding, not that she had ever expected to have one. It felt altogether too uncomfortable, but she had to continue.

She had to do it for her sister.

As they left the modiste, Emma pretended not to hear the whispering around them but it was impossible to ignore.

“Such a wanton.”

“Despair can lead to depravity, but to be so brazen–”

“And in front of so many!”

“She deserves a rake for a husband. Like finds like, after all.”

Cecilia grumbled, taking Emma’s arm tightly.

“If you would like me to respond to some of these people, I shall gladly do so.”

“That will not be necessary. I understand that I have done this to myself, and I am more than prepared to accept my punishment. Thank you, though.”

Cecilia made a regretful face. “If you insist,” she conceded, and they continued on their way.

“I cannot wait to see you in your gown,” Beatrice said dreamily. “I know she does not expect to have enough time to make anything extravagant, but that does not matter. What matters is that you will look wonderful.”

“A vision,” Sarah agreed. “And what’s more, you shall be married before me! You never would have said that before, would you?”

“No, as it was not what I had planned.”

“Even so, I couldn’t be more excited for you. It will be a perfect ceremony, and then you will go to your new home and start a new life. Who knows? You may even find a closeness with the Duke that you are not expecting. That is what we all want for you.”

Emma knew this, but she also knew that it would never happen. She felt herself tear up, but she quickly steeled herself. She had planned for her life to be loveless, and that was precisely what it would be. There would be no difference, strictly speaking, and so there was no reason to be upset about it.

“Are you quite certain about all of this?” Dorothy asked. “I know that we have already asked you, and I do not mean to anger you by asking, but this has all been so sudden, and it is the exact opposite of what you have always wanted to happen.”

“I am happy for this, I assure you,” Emma smiled. “I am fine, and the Duke and I will be happy enough. This is how it must be, and there is nothing more to it. I knew the risks, after all.”

Nobody pressed her further. A part of her hoped that they would, but she appreciated that they did not wish to upset her further. It was to be a lonely life, but it would not be so bad. She would have children to care for, eventually, and friends to see. Granted, when Dorothy and Beatrice inevitably married, their visits would be fewer and further between, but she would still see them. It would not be too terrible.

When the time came for her fitting, she listened to the same whispers on her way into and out of the modiste. The gown wasperfect, and far more elaborate than she had been led to believe. Even Emma herself had to admit that she was a vision, and had she been marrying someone that she truly loved, it would have been a dream come true.

On her way home, however, she looked at the floor as she walked and saw that someone was blocking her path. She looked up to see Gretchen, that same furious look in her eye.

“Congratulations,” she said emptily, as Emma pushed past. “You successfully stole the Duke from me. I hope that you are happy.”

“Gretchen, not now.”

“Then when?” she laughed, following her. “You know what you did, and now you run away from me!. Are you a coward?”

“No, I am simply otherwise occupied. I have a wedding to plan, after all.”

It wasn’t the kindest thing to say, but in that moment she did not care about what was and was not kind. She had heard enough as it was, and all she wished to do was return home and continue with her preparations.

“You will listen to me,” Gretchen huffed, taking her wrist. “You owe me that much.”

“I do not owe you anything. I did not force you to follow the Duke everywhere and try to entrap him into marriage. It isbecause of you that I know him at all, considering how hard I had to try to save your own reputation.”

“No, you simply wanted him for yourself. That is why you followed him everywhere. You simply could not bear the thought of him being near another lady, one that would make a far better wife than yourself.”