Lucy gave her a look that clearly indicated she thought Erienne was trying too hard with the nonchalance. “Wouldn’t you rather get the meeting over with? We can have a nice meal and all catch up. That doesn’t have to be awkward, either.”
Erienne straightened her shoulders. “I am employed as a governess at this house. Eating meals as a guest is inappropriate.”
Lucy blinked at her. “Who says so? You’re the childhood friend of my husband and his brother, and your father is a baron, according to Derek. There’s no reason in the world I cannot or should not invite you to our dinner table to share a meal with old friends.”
“I’d rather not.” Her reply was succinct, and hopefully would put an end to Lucy’s badgering.
“What if I insist?” Lucy countered.
Erienne pressed her fingertips to her temples where a headache was quickly forming. “I cannot imagine Collin would relish a dinner with the hired help.”
“Nonsense.” Lucy crossed her arms over her chest and made a little huffing noise. “You’re being stubborn and ridiculous. In fact, I’d say you’re making far too much of this. If your past with Collin is nothing, as you say it is, why would you object so strongly to a dinner with him?”
Drat. The duchess made sense, too much sense, and she’d just made the one argument Erienne could hardly refute without making it seem as if she cared far more than she was telling herself she did.
“It’s only one dinner,” Lucy continued. “It doesn’t need to be such a bother.”
Erienne contemplated the matter for a moment. Perhaps it would be for the best. Have dinner, greet each other, pretend as if nothing had ever happened, and then go about their business for the next fortnight. If she was fortunate, she might not even see Collin again, or only in passing.
She sighed. “Very well, one dinner. If you insist.”
A triumphant smile spread across Lucy’s face. “Excellent. Now, you must come with me to my rooms. I’ll have my maid fix your hair, and I insist upon you wearing one of my gowns.”
Erienne arched a brow. “That sounds an awful lot as if I’d be trying too hard.”
“You’re an old friend, and we’re merely going to put some rouge on your cheeks and pin up your hair. If you also borrow some jewelry, so be it.”
“Lucy?” Erienne dragged out the word and gave her a skeptical glare. “You wouldn’t be trying to make me beautiful, would you?”
“Erienne, darling, you’re already beautiful. I’m merely going to make Collin wish he hadn’t waited so long to see you again.”
And suddenly, Erienne knew she couldn’t win. Lucy was a cheerful squall, blowing through the peaceful ocean of her life, and there was no way to stop the waves that would inevitably toss Erienne to and fro. Reluctantly, she stood and trailed the duchess out of the room and toward the other woman’s bedchamber. Erienne highly doubted rouge and a pretty gown would make Collin wish anything. She would end up regretting this. She knew she would. It had been an age since she’d dressed in finery and attended an elegant dinner with people of the Quality. Would she even remember how to go about it? And what sort of small talk could she possibly invent over dinner with Collin and Derek Hunt?
One could only imagine the sort of beautification the duchess had in store for her, but Erienne had already learned quite well that Lucy got what Lucy wanted, and apparently, at the moment, Lucy wanted to make Erienne look like a fine lady instead of a governess.
They entered the duchess’s rooms, where Lucy proceeded to drag Erienne by the hand into her large dressing room. She threw open the doors of several enormous wardrobes to reveal gowns of every fabric and color hanging inside. The space looked like a dressmaker’s shop. Erienne wanted to turn in a circle and look at each and every one of the lovely gowns.
“I do believe you’re my size before I had the children.” Lucy plunked her hands on her hips and sized up Erienne. “I’d hate for all these pretty gowns to go to waste.” She rushed over to pull out a gorgeous, ice-blue satin concoction with silver trim and a silver sarsnet overskirt. “This will go perfectly with your eyes. Oh, and with diamonds, it’ll be exquisite!”
Erienne shook her head and bit her lip to hide a smile. She shouldn’t be enjoying this, but she couldn’t help herself. In her heart, she was still a girl who liked to look pretty once in a while. And the mention of diamonds made her the tiniest bit giddy.
“I have the most lovely matching silver slippers with bows on the ends to go with this,” Lucy continued.
“It’s not too much, is it?” Erienne asked in a doubtful tone.
“Not at all.” Lucy waggled her eyebrows. “You want to see the diamonds, don’t you?”
It was official. Erienne was Cinderella and Lucy was her fairy godmother. “Very well,” Erienne said, finally warming to the topic. “Show me the diamonds.”
Lucy gave a small squeal of excitement. She rang for her maid and asked the woman to gather a necklace and matching earbobs. Then she escorted Erienne over to the dressing table and forced her to sit. “I think a chignon for your hair tonight, don’t you? Elegant, but simple.” She picked up a brush, plucked the pins out of Erienne’s serviceable coiffure, and began brushing the long, blond locks.
“Oh, Lucy,” Erienne said with a laugh, closing her eyes and leaning back. “I know I’m going to regret this later, but it is fun, isn’t it?”
“One never regrets a beautification, dear. And the fun hasn’t even started yet.”
Erienne opened her eyes and stared at her reflection in the mirror. She finally allowed a large smile to spread across her face. She was thinner than she used to be. She was older than she used to be. Would Collin still find her attractive? Would she still find him attractive?
“So,” Lucy said, after the maid returned with the jewels. She held up the gorgeous necklace, and Erienne’s eyes widened in amazement. “What exactly happened between you and Collin all those years ago?”
Chapter Ten
Brighton, June 1807
Erienne tossed her schoolbooks aside and flew up the stairs to her bedchamber. She had just turned sixteen, and was bored stiff learning comportment and French when she’d much rather be outside in the fresh air, breathing in the scent of the sea, the wind whipping her hair. But today, today was a much better day than the long boring days before it, because Collin was back in town. He’d been gone to the army for nearly three years and was on leave for a fortnight. He’d written to her as he’d promised, letters that weren’t personal in nature because he knew her parents would read them.
Her parents were none too pleased with her infatuation with one of the Hunt brothers. The boys came from the family of a disgraced army officer who drank too much and treated his sons poorly, but that hadn’t stopped Erienne from falling madly in love with Collin. Of course they were only friends at first, but she couldn’t recall a time when she hadn’t admired him. Sometime around her thirteenth birthday, when Collin was sixteen, just before he’d left for the army, they’d begun a game. One of them would write something on a small slip of paper, a challenge. Whatever the words, the other must comply or forfeit.
Collin had slipped her a note when he’d seen her in church that Sunday. It contained only six words: Meet me by the sycamore tree. She hadn’t had to ask which sycamore tree. A huge one graced the area behind the church in the little grove just past the cemetery. She’d feigned the need to use the necessary and hurried outside to the tree.
It was there, as they wiped tears away from their eyes and said their goodbyes, that Erienne had lifted up on her tiptoes and whispered in Collin’s ear that she would love him forever.