Page 49 of Duke of Emeralds (Dukes of Decadence #2)
“ G ive it back!”
Catriona winced, but her fingers didn’t falter, flying across the keys of the pianoforte with easy precision. At her feet, her three-year-old cocker spaniel, Nina, lifted her head as Ava stormed past, Maisie quick on her heels.
“It isn’t yours!” Maisie shrieked, basically throwing herself at Ava to snatch the bonnet out of her hand. “It only looks like yours.”
“Oh, it only looks like mine? How convenient. And I suppose the satin slippers I found in your bedchamber simply looked like mine as well.”
“They did! So does every other slipper of every other lady in London. Surely, you don’t think you are so creative and unique that you are the only one to possess such a style of footwear.”
“I am certainly more unique than you.”
Maisie let out a grunt of frustration, stomping her foot. Catriona thinned her lips. She kept playing, but her eyes remained on her bickering sisters who were shouting so loudly at each other that they must certainly be heard by passers-by outside.
And then to make matters worse, the dogs chimed in. Gemma, who sat by Frederic’s feet, began barking first then Culver from his spot next to the hearth. Only Nina remained quiet, even as she watched everything carefully.
“Give it back!” Maisie screamed again and lunched for the bonnet. Ava, being just a few inches taller and far quicker, side-stepped her easily, nearly making Maisie slip to the ground.
“Not until you admit that you have been stealing from my armoire,” Ava stated, marching away.
“I will admit no such thing.”
“Then I shan’t allow you to borrow my bonnet.”
“And I don’t need you to since it is not yours to lend.” Maisie made another attempt to grab at it, and she landed unceremoniously in the couch right next to Frederic, who was unperturbed by their noisy argument.
In fact, he was reading the morning newspaper, paying them very little mind.
Catriona couldn’t tell if it was because he was naturally unbothered or because he’d gotten quite hard of hearing in the past year.
She wouldn’t be surprised if their shouting sounded like normal conversation to him though their actions clearly indicated otherwise.
“Cat!” Maisie wailed, whipping around to face her. “Can’t you insist that Ava stop this? She is always trying to make it seems as if I do everything she does.”
“That’s because you do!” Ava shot out. She danced behind the couch where Frederic sat ignoring them, taunting Maisie by waving the bonnet. “And this is proof.”
“Catriona!” Maisie called again.
Catriona purposely missed a key, the sharp sound ringing through the drawing room. The dogs ceased their barking, and her sisters quieted, all eyes on her.
She stayed utterly still, hands still poised over the keys. Catriona drew in one slow breath then another, but it was not enough to quell her annoyance.
“I find it hard to believe that two mature ladies like yourselves can bicker like children over the silliest of things,” she said slowly, lowering her hands to her lap.
She gave her sisters a look that had them both straightening and bowing their heads in shame.
“Ava, you know good and well that that is not your bonnet.”
Ava’s head shot up. “But?—”
“And that is because your bonnet is currently somewhere in Hyde Park since you decided to race your horse along Rotten Row.”
She lowered her head again. “I thought that my maid had retrieved it,” she murmured.
“And Maisie,” Catriona went on, feeling very little pleasure when her youngest sister snapped to attention. “You should not allow Ava to provoke you so easily. You know very well that she does it for sport, and you make it rather simple for her.”
“I hardly see how I should be blamed for that,” she protested on a whine.
“Perhaps you would be far more at peace if you did not give in to every argument that Ava picks with you. And Ava, stop picking fights with Maisie. You two are ten-and-nine and ten-and-seven. You’ve been in England for two years.
Surely you must know that it is high time you put aside your childlike behaviors and realize that you are not in Scotland any longer.
Our neighbors can hear you two screaming at each other, for goodness sake. ”
“I’m sorry,” they murmured in unison, absolutely contrite.
But it wasn’t enough to quell Catriona’s irritation. The headache pressing on the back of her head hadn’t abated in the slightest, so she turned her attention the other subject of her irritation.
“And you,” she said to her uncle, who raised one brow at her, making it clear that he’d been hearing everything all along and had simply been making it happen, “stop pretending as if you cannot hear what is going on.”
Frederic scrunched his face in confusion. He’d aged considerably in the last two years but still maintained that glint of mischief in his blue eyes. He looked back at Ava. “What did she say?”
Ava held her hand up to her mouth to hide her smile. Maisie hung her head lower, but her shoulders shook with obvious laughter.
Catriona just sighed. On any other day, perhaps she would have more tolerance for her sisters’ immaturity and her uncle’s lackadaisical attitude, but today was different.
“I’m going for a walk,” she announced.
“Will you be back for luncheon?” Frederic asked. He’d heard her just fine just now, it seemed.
She didn’t bother to point it out. “I’m only going out into the back of the gardens, but yes, I will return for luncheon.”
She left the drawing room before anyone could say anything.
Catriona didn’t breathe easier until she was well on her way outdoors.
She didn’t like being so strict. It was a role she fell into easily over the years since their mother had passed away when Maisie had just been born.
She’d stepped into the role of a mother even though she was only three-and-twenty, but as her sisters grew older, she tried not to be so overbearing.
But she couldn’t help herself today. She was too far on the edge. Tonight would be the first time the Wallace sisters appeared at a London event after all.
It was just the beginning of the Season.
Many of the English elite had not returned from their countryside homes yet, and London was still rather empty.
It was the best time for them to appear before society.
They had been in London for the past two years, but the past two years had been rather difficult.
In the subtle, undermining way that only the English could perfect, she and her sisters had been ostracized as outsiders who would be much better off going back to Scotland.
Catriona had little hope for tonight, and her sisters’ behavior just now did not make her feel any better.
But Frederic had insisted. It had been two years, after all.
Catriona was nearing spinster age, he would say, while she would say that she’d already passed it.
She didn’t care to get married anymore, but she cared about her sisters.
She cared about Ava finding someone who would match her wit and energy, who would appreciate her wild nature.
She wanted Maisie to find her one true love, for her hopeless romantic of a sister to live her fairytale romance she’d always dreamed of.
She didn’t care much about her own future as long as her sisters were secured.
Tonight would make or break it. Tonight was far more important than anyone truly realized it was.
She sighed heavily as she headed through the garden towards the back gate, Nina right on her heels.
Her dog was her shadow, trailing behind her everywhere she went.
Upon meeting Nina two years ago, Frederic had grown so fond of her that he’d gone out and gotten two dogs of his own, insisting that they become his loyal shadows like Nina was for Catriona.
Instead, the two dogs had taken to Ava and Maisie instead.
Culver rarely ever left Ava’s side, and Gemma, as quiet as her owner, was very much the same with Maisie.
Nina barked and raced ahead, knowing where they were going.
It brought a smile to Catriona’s face. There was a small river behind the house, just deep enough for the water to brush Catriona’s bosom.
Sometimes, when she felt particularly daring, she would sit by the bank with her feet in the water, letting the current sway her legs to the side.
Since she was not feeling daring today, she intended to bring out the blanket she’d hidden in the fallen log by the bank and sit.
She did just that while Nina pranced in the shallower areas of the river.
For a few minutes, she sat there feeling at peace, watching Nina jump around in the water.
She could almost forget about the anxiousness she’d been feeling all morning at the thought of attending the ball this evening, but the thought did not stay away for very long.
As soon as she remembered it, she sighed again.
At times like these, she wished her father was still here. She wished her mother hadn’t passed away when she was so young
But then, she would not be in this position if either one of them were still alive, she assumed.
A high-pitched squeal pierced the ear. Catriona jumped to her feet, realizing suddenly that Nina wasn’t in the spot she’d last seen her in. She was standing on the bank of the river a few feet away, barking at something that was splashing in the water.
“Nina, what are you doing?” Catriona called, rushing over. Her dog whipped her head around and barked at her before returning her attention to the splashes.
And then, Catriona’s heart sunk as she saw what was causing the noise.