CHAPTER NINE

“ELLA, DO YOU THINK the duke will ever like me?” Lacey asked as she gathered her ball-gown petticoat from the floor and set it on her pretty pink bed. How she wished he would.

Ella removed the needle that was in her mouth and answered, “I do not know. I hope for your sake he does.”

Lacey sighed and sat herself, with crossed legs—a very unladylike position—upon the bed next to where Ella worked. Ella had been attaching rows and rows of new lace to the petticoat all morning and yet, she still was not done. “Do you need help?” Lacey surprised herself by asking. “It looks very tedious. Perhaps there is a simple chore I can do for you, such as cutting the ribbon.” She glanced over at the spools of trimming her mother had bought earlier.

Ella seemed amazed by her willingness to help, but did not comment on it. “I will begin tying the bows in about thirty minutes or so. If you would like to start cutting them, I would be very appreciative.”

“Perfect,” Lacey exclaimed as she searched the room for the scissors. “How long should I make each one?”

“If you take the ribbon from the tip of your finger to your elbow, it should be plenty.”

“Oh, I think I could do that.” Lacey collected a spool and began to measure and snip the smooth purple fabric. “How many strips should I make?”

Ella pulled the bunches of white lace in front of her, and then laid them out upon the bed. “Perhaps twenty?” She stretched out the ruffles and then shook her head. “Better make it thirty.”

“Goodness! That is a lot of bows.”

“Well, you have one of the largest petticoats I have ever worked on.” Ella smiled and fluffed the layers up a bit. “It is quite stunning, though. It will create a lovely silhouette for your gown. And with the peek-a-boo petticoat running around the whole of the dress, it will be very breathtaking. I am sure the duke will not help but notice you.”

Lacey giggled. “Do you really think so?” There was nothing she wanted more than for Lord Gavenston to become aware of her and possibly ask her to dance. If only she could figure a way not to do such silly things in front of him. Lacey grimaced as she snipped another length of ribbon. The poor man was more than likely terrified of her. “I will never be able to get him to see me as a person, as someone to court, will I?”

Ella mumbled something Lacey could not understand and then asked, “How was your meeting with him the other day? Did it go well? Did he seem interested in you?”

Lacey groaned and set down the scissors. It would be impossible to concentrate on cutting ribbon if she had to answer such questions. Bringing her knees up, she wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her head on top. “It was a disaster. Just an awful disaster.”

“What do you mean? What happened?” Ella found the last spot of lace that still needed to be attached and began stitching. “I thought everything went well. At least, I had not heard of anything amiss.”

Lacey groaned again. “Oh, joy! It is nice to know the servants speak of such things to you.”

“Well, it is hard to ignore when the whole house is attempting to clean up some mess or other,” Ella said as she added a few more fine stitches.

“Stop, please, stop.” Lacey was going to cry—something that rarely happened. But she had never wanted anything more in her life than the charming duke, and now it seemed it would never transpire. Ever. More than likely, she was the mockery of the whole village.

“Lacey, do not worry. I am sure it is not as bad as it seems.”

“No. I am sure it is much worse after what happened on Wednesday.”

“Would you like to tell me what took place with Lord Gavenston?”

“No.”

“Very well, you do not need to speak of it.” Ella slipped the needle into the lace and gave it one final tug before reaching for the scissors and clipping the thread. She shook the petticoat out in front of her. “That came together much quicker than I thought. Now to begin attaching the ribbons.”

Lacey watched her stepsister deftly cut several strips of ribbon within moments. As the quiet of the room came upon her while she watched Ella work, Lacey suddenly burst out, “I pushed him over and kissed him.”

Ella dropped the ribbon and nearly lost the scissors as well. “You did what?”

Lacey took a deep breath and looked straight ahead. “I was attempting to pour the tea. It was not as if I truly meant to crash upon him and for all those tea things to land upon us both and to upset the sofa cushions in the process. No, I had simply gone to pour Lord Gavenston a cup, and as I leaned over to do so, I somehow managed to get my foot caught up under my dress, which caused me to stumble just that little bit. I caught my balance upon the tea cart, which was not properly positioned to support my weight, so it rolled right out from underneath me as the platter tumbled to the floor. My hands flew about every which way as I tried to maintain some balance or dignity.

“Well, I was already pitching forward, so it would make perfect sense as to why I would lunge upon the duke. It happened so fast—one moment I was standing, serene and eager to pour him a cup of tea, and the next instant I was sprawled upon him on the settee. But I still could not gain my balance as I wished, with my foot tucked up inside my gown. So when Lord Gavenston began to slip off the couch with the added weight and angle of my person, I tried all I could to scramble up to guarantee I would not cause him to crash upon the ground. It was in vain, however, for I did manage to land us both in a pile of arms and legs and cushions and tea things. And then when I did look up and found him staring at me with this shaken look upon his features, I did the only thing I could to distract him. I kissed him—quite forcefully—on the lips.”

“You—you kissed him forcefully?” Ella asked.

“Yes. Quite.”

“And what does ‘forcefully’ imply?”

Lacey sighed and scrunched up her mouth. “It means that I had gotten so caught up in the moment of actually kissing him—I mean, kissing the Lord Gavenston—that I may have smashed his lips into his teeth, causing him to wince in pain.” She looked over at her stepsister.

Ella winced. “My goodness,” was all that she said.

“Yes, well, it does not matter how beautiful I look in my gown. I am afraid the duke will only run from me.” Lacey placed her chin upon her knees. “Why must I act like such a buffoon when he is around? Why is it that every single thing that could go wrong does go wrong when he is there? I do not understand my bad luck.” She threw her hands in the air. “How he must despise me. How he must laugh at me when I am not present. There are certainly days when I loathe myself and this exciting ability to play the fool.” Lacey attempted to stop it, but the first tear trickled down her cheek.

“Lacey…” Ella whispered, her heart going out to her. “It is well. It will all be well.”

“Will it?”

“Yes. It must. If he is meant to be your true love, you will know it. Such atrocities will stop happening and all will work in your favor. Or, if they never do stop happening, he will love you despite them.”

Lacey chuckled. “I do not believe anyone would love me and the silliness I bring them.”

“Someone will. Do not give up hope; it will all turn out. You will see.” Ella picked up the ribbons and began to tie the first one into a pretty bow and then had a thought. “Lacey, will you please bring me the gown you were wearing the other day? The one that made you trip? Perhaps it just needs some mending.”

“Oh, thank you!” Lacey jumped up and rushed to the closet. “Mayhap you can figure out what happened.” She rummaged through several dresses as she spoke. “Mother was so upset with me, as you can imagine, that I had to stay in my room until supper.”

Ella’s own stomach had been rumbling greatly the past several hours. Her stepmother still had not given her permission to eat a full meal. Though the maids had been sneaking her bits of bread and cheese and small pieces of dried fruit, it was not enough.

“Here it is.” Lacey pulled the cheerful yellow-and-white dress from the closet and brought it over.

Ella collected the bows she had already tied from her lap and set them on the ground. Then she took the gown and held up the inside hem for inspection. Just as she thought, the hem had been stripped. And it most definitely did not look like an accident. No, this was the work of someone intent on making Lacey seem appalling to the duke.

Someone like Jillian.