Page 12 of The Duke’s Cursed Virgin (Cursed Brides #3)

Chapter Eleven

“ A re the musicians and the orchestra booked, My Lord?” Lady Holton inquired one day while her husband lounged in the parlor with the newspaper—calm and collected, while she was practically sweating rivers.

Not long after Anthony’s ball, urgent preparations were being made for another grand event. Sophia could only guess it was grand based on the way Lady Holton’s frantic preparations took over the household.

Invitations had been sent out after a guest list was hastily prepared. From what Anna said, the most important people in London would be present—or at least that was what Lord Holton implied. Both young women were witnesses to how Lady Holton anxiously fretted about whether the invited musicians could come.

“Yes, they are, my dear,” Lord Holton confidently responded.

“Was it so easy to do?” Lady Holton asked. “Didn’t it take us a while to secure one musician the last time we hosted a soirée?”

Sophia could understand her anxiety. It had been a while since the Holtons had hosted a grand event. They were mostly invited to other people’s balls and soirées. If they invited people, it would be a precious few that they were already comfortable with. The balls they did host were far smaller than the one being currently planned. The upcoming musicale was not just an event, but a statement.

“We had some help from the Duke of Wolvesley. Imagine that! I did not take him for a music connoisseur, but his words were the ones that inspired me to host a musicale in the first place,” the Viscount admitted ruefully, brushing invisible lint from his coat. “He knew the orchestra. His father used to hire them quite frequently.”

Sophia recalled the Duke’s visit. How intense his gaze had been, how easily he’d penetrated her exterior, reaching into her soul.

“Do you think the Duke has taken a fancy to our Anna?” Lady Holton asked, suddenly excited more than frantic.

Sophia felt a twinge of jealousy at that. Indeed, Anna was far more suited to the Duke than she was. A spinster who lived on the fringes of Society. She had no wealth, title, or connections to add to his name.

“My dear, that is an interesting notion. However, I believe he is genuinely eager to forge a true connection with our family. He found our discussions on antiquities and classical literature as enthralling as I do. A rarity among young men these days!” Lord Holton said with a satisfied smile on his face.

“So, what else has he helped you with?” Lady Holton was back to the business of preparations.

Lady Holton’s dreams are coming true , Sophia thought.

It was one thing to be invited. It was quite another thing to host a great, successful event. It would elevate their standing in Society considerably.

“Well, he, uh, has put in a good word for us. He has persuaded a number of people to come.”

Lord Holton was looking a little flustered. Sophia could imagine why. His wife seemed more focused on what the Duke of Wolvesley was doing to help them than what he had been doing himself—the merits of his ideas.

“Good. Good.”

A flurry of activity ensued the moment Lady Holton issued orders to the staff. The Holton household was in chaos, with servants scrubbing the floors and inspecting furniture for any signs of disrepair.

In the kitchen, ingredients were accounted for, and menus were planned. The cook wrote a list on a sheet of paper, categorizing the offerings according to drinks, main meal, and dessert.

“It’s quite fascinating but tiresome!” Anna commented as she lifted her arms for the seamstress to take her measurements.

It was time for a new dress for Anna, and for Sophia’s to be altered and embellished to at least look new. Aunt Mary had wanted her to order a new dress, but she protested.

“It doesn’t matter what I wear, Auntie. It’s Anna they will be looking at. It’s their musicale.”

“Nonsense,” was the response, but she saw the older woman’s eyes soften.

Aunt Mary only gave in with the condition that she would at least have her best dress altered and that she would wear some of her jewelry for the musicale.

“It is tiresome,” Sophia agreed.

“Why do you look so flushed?” Anna asked. “Do you want to rest?”

“No, of course not.”

Sophia wished she didn’t sound so defensive. While she might not want Anna to know the real reason she was blushing, she also didn’t want her to think that she was too weak.

“It’s all the excitement here, which I probably need, anyway.”

“All right then. I feel like you have been quieter as of late. So, I assumed that the preparations have tired you.”

“She should be able to handle it,” Aunt Mary interjected. She was seated across the room, proving to everyone that her ears could hear perfectly well. “If a woman like me—who is almost triple her age—can handle the chaos in your house, then Sophia should be able to.”

Sophia was not surprised. Aunt Mary would always ensure that she was prepared for anything—for war, even. She should have just taken the vocation of nurse or even soldier.

She sighed, but she did give it some serious thought.

That was Lady Holton’s cue to flit into the drawing room, followed by a group of servants.

“Move that candelabra over there. Yes, that will give the whole setting more drama. To the left, Rose. Your left!” Lady Holton’s voice was getting more frustrated by the minute.

To Sophia’s dismay, Rose moved to her right. She was trembling and red in the face. More likely, this wasn’t her only assignment for the day.

“Stop confusing the girl beyond reason,” Aunt Mary muttered as she lounged back on a settee and sipped her tea, enjoying the scene. “Your prattling is making her forget which is left and which is right.”

Sophia and Anna exchanged amused glances. The latter also gratefully stretched after the seamstress had painstakingly taken her measurements. The seamstress’s assistant was pinning some jewels on Sophia’s dress as if to check whether the colors matched.

Sophia rolled her eyes. Knowing Aunt Mary, she would be wearing some of her matronly pearls. So, adding gems to her dress seemed to be for naught.

“Perhaps we should help them,” Anna whispered.

For the first time, she looked more anxious than Sophia. Watching her mother glare at the servants for minor infractions, such as adjusting the drapes the wrong way, could be the reason.

Sophia bit her lip, thoughtful.

“Do you think we can avoid being trampled on?” she asked, watching the servants walk back and forth while Lady Holton followed them closely. “Because I’d rather not be.”

“Well, I won’t be trampled on either. I’m old enough that I might not rise again if I were. Then again, it might be the best solution in this case so that I don’t have to endure this hovering about,” Aunt Mary grumbled.

“Oh, there you are!” Lady Holton exclaimed, her eyes finally landing on the two young women. “Come and help.”

“Everything looks perfect, Mother,” Anna hastily replied. “You don’t need us to make a mess of things.”

“Perfect? Your father has decided to host a musicale, but where is the man? There are so many more things to deal with!” Lady Holton wrung her hands. She certainly had a point.

“Isn’t he calling on the invited guests to see if they can confirm?” Anna asked, trying to be helpful.

“That man is all talk!”

The absolute truth.

“I am pretty certain that the servants have been doing much of the work, Lady Holton,” Aunt Mary reminded her dryly. “The floor is blindingly shiny. The flowers should not be delivered too early, anyway. Perhaps it is time for you to sit and drink lemonade. Let your housekeeper deal with the rest and manage the servants. I know Mrs. Spencer is perfectly capable.”

Sophia hid a smile. It was her aunt’s way of telling Lady Holton to give the reins to someone more competent, quiet, and calm.

Lady Holton was confused. She blinked at the Dowager Countess.“What?”

“You are driving yourself to madness, and you are bringing everyone else along. Anna and Sophia need some fresh air while I assist you in restoring order,” Aunt Mary declared in her most authoritative voice.

“You will help me restore order?” Lady Holton asked, looking shocked.

Aunt Mary stared at her. Then, she rose from the settee and to her full height as if responding to a challenge.

“But who do you think was managing my husband’s estate throughout our marriage? It had always been me.”

That was also the absolute truth. Aunt Mary had always been a formidable woman.

Lady Holton was still speechless, and perhaps simply tired from her fussing about.

Aunt Mary took advantage of her momentary distraction. She turned to the two young women.

“Go, the two of you, before she finds you something to do that the servants are perfectly capable of doing,” she commanded with a flick of her hand.

“Auntie, as much as I don’t want to be trampled on, is this your way of telling us that we are wholly incapable of assisting with the preparations?” Sophia had to ask, tilting her head in curiosity.

“What do you think?” the Dowager Countess huffed, raising an eyebrow.

Anna grinned at her friend and grabbed her arm. They left the drawing room hastily, half-running. It was unbecoming of young ladies, Lady Holton would have said, but they were safely outside, and the lady of the house was still occupied.

“She’s impossible!” Anna complained.

She rested her hands on her thighs, bent over like a man and not the young lady she was supposed to be. She was panting but smiling at the same time.

“Your mother means well,” Sophia replied with a grin, watching her straighten her back like an old woman full of aches and pains.

“Yes, but she must not get herself into such a state. She’d done the right thing by preparing everything early. The Wolf Duke had been helping Father…” Anna trailed off, wiggling her eyebrows at her friend.

Sophia chose not to take the bait even as her friend eyed her curiously.

“Your mother always wants the best for you,” she said in a small voice.

Melancholy surged through her.

No father. No mother. No prospects. That was what she was.

Anna reached out to touch her friend’s cheek comfortingly. Sophia gently removed her hand and smiled, as if to say she would be all right.

“I’m sorry,” Anna said. “I know I’m fortunate to have a mother. Mother means well, but she does not have to be that eager all the time. She does not believe in herself and what she is capable of, always thinking other people superior to herself. If some guests are not pleased, then we at least know who not to invite next time.”

Sophia nodded in understanding. She could never understand how the ton worked, always clinging to the hierarchy. It was greatly wasteful, shutting out intelligent and capable people just because they weren’t as highly ranked or were involved in some scandal.

“I received two letters today,” she announced suddenly, pulling out the said letters from her bodice, much to Anna’s astonishment and amusement.

“Ooh! From whom? The Duke?” Anna asked, her eyes sparkling. “Because I know why the Duke suddenly gave my father the idea of hosting a musicale of all things.”

“Why?” Sophia asked, distracted.

“Because he wants to see you.” Anna’s smile was infectious.

“He doesn’t want to see, Anna,” Sophia sputtered, her insecurities rearing their heads.

Of course, the Duke wouldn’t call on her. No one would ever call on a spinster like her.

“What?” Anna asked, her eyes wide.

“Nothing. Anyway, it wasn’t he who wrote to me. Genevieve and Rosaline did. Oh, I must correct myself for the sake of propriety—Their Graces.”

There was no bitterness in Sophia as she said that. She was happy that her friends had found men to protect them from the rest of the ton. She was glad that they had found someone to love. Being labeled Cursed had taken a toll on her. It must have been the same for them.

“What do the letters say?”

“Genevieve apologized for not visiting me in Scotland. She said so many things had happened. For both of them, their pregnancies and childbirth had prevented them from venturing out of their homes.”

As the words came out of her mouth, Sophia realized that she did understand. Her old friends had found love and created love. Why would they choose her over their new lives?

“Is there anything more?” Anna prodded, linking arms with her as they walked down the garden path.

“Yes. She wants me and Aunt Mary to visit her in Ravenshire. Her baby, a boy named William, was only recently born. She also has a little girl, a two-year-old named Charlotte. Therefore, it’s understandable that she cannot travel yet. She will invite Rosaline, too.”

A soft smile played on Sophia’s lips. She had never imagined seeing her friends again, much less with their babies.

Her smile faded a little when she thought of herself and her future. In her mind, she imagined an empty bassinet in an empty room. Silence stretched from the nursery to the rest of the house.

Emptiness and isolation.

She had lived through it for years. In Scotland, it had seemed bearable and expected.

Anna clapped her hands together in glee, interrupting Sophia’s sad thoughts. “That’s wonderful, Sophia. Oh, do say yes. You deserve it.”

“Oh, I will be there,” Sophia assured her friend. “I cannot wait to see them.”

“What about Rosaline? What did she say in her letter?”

“Much of the same. She is happy with her Duke. They need not apologize to me, but she still did. They have found happiness after so much tragedy,” she said wistfully.

“You will find your happiness, too,” Anna promised.

Sophia was not so certain. She furrowed her brow as she looked ahead, seeing not the lush greens and vibrant flowers, but the dull and empty desert to come.