Page 59 of Unmasking the Silver Heiress
The trio watched Gigi flounce away, the gathered blue of her skirt swaying prettily against the dance floor as she was received by a perfectly handsome-looking young man, preparing for the first chords of the quadrille. If her mother was aware of any unspoken social cue that she too ought to take her leave, she chose to disregard it, leaving them in a pause of awkward silence.
"Lady Dempierre, I find your ensemble tonight most striking," Nell said finally, and with genuine admiration. "You are positively glowing."
"Why, thank you, Mrs. Atlas!" Lady Dempierre smiled, though Nell got the impression that the elder woman still did not know quite what to make of her. "You are looking lovely yourself this evening. Did you have a pleasant New Year?"
"We did," Nell said, leaning slightly into the warmth of her husband's body at her side. "It was a perfect night to hide away from the snow and make merry inside. Oh! Did Nathaniel tell you? We found the portrait of his family! It is currently hanging in our sitting room."
At this news, Lady Dempierre's posture visibly changed, as though she'd drawn herself up to her full stature. It was difficult to read her face from behind her mask, but it was clear that her interest had been sharply piqued. "Is that so?" she exclaimed breathlessly. "I am most happy to hear it! I should very much like to visit soon and see it myself. It would hearten me so to look upon Mary's face again."
"Do you think she'd feel the same?" came an icy voice from their left. "From what I recall, the two of you squabbled as often as not."
The hairs on Nell's arms rose, her skin prickling with cold disbelief. But, sure enough, she turned to find none other than her aunt Zelda, her features perfectly distinct despite the half-mask of red silk she wore. Her silver-white hair was gathered atop her head in its customary severe style, and her gown was a simple pattern of red and black.
Nathaniel's fingers curled around the curve of her waist, as though he were anchoring her in her moment of surprise.
"Zelda," Lady Dempierre said, her voice flat with her lack of enthusiasm. "As ever, I am surprised to see you. Nothing keeping you in London this year?"
"Oh, my darling Therese," Zelda said with a poisonous little smile. "You know I come every year, no matter the obstacle. I shall never miss it."
"Indeed?" Lady Dempierre replied with a little sigh. "And is ourdarlingHarriet with you this evening? I have not seen her about on the dance floor, and the poor dear does have a tendency to stand out."
"Harriet had business to attend in London. Mrs. Goode is rather self-assured that way," Zelda said smoothly. "A woman to admire, wouldn't you agree? Especially without a husband to secure her ambitions."
The tension between the two women was nigh unbearable.
"I have often wondered," Lady Dempierre said with a lift of her chin. "At what point does a spinster change from a Miss to a Missus? It seems rather arbitrary."
"Oh, it certainly can be," Zelda replied easily, light glinting off her incisors. "I adjusted my own moniker upon opening my business. Harriet saw no reason to wait, and simply adapted the title as soon as she'd told her parents she did not intend to marry, ever. It is a badge of bravery, wouldn't you say, Nell?"
Nell started, so morbidly fascinated by the parlay happening before her that she'd almost forgotten her own presence amidst them. "I couldn't say, Aunt Zelda," she replied politely. "I secured my own title the traditional way."
"Ah, so you did," her aunt replied with a frown, which made Nathaniel bristle at Nell's side.
"Aunt!" Lady Dempierre exclaimed, utterly unconcerned with barbs that were neither directed at her nor delivered from her own lips. "You are Mrs. Atlas's aunt?!"
"Of course I am," Zelda replied with a humorless laugh. "You are losing your talent for information, Therese. It truly seems like a stroke of fate, wouldn't you say? That Mary's son and my favorite niece should fall in love and run off to Scotland together? The timing couldn't have been better."
"Fate, is it?" Nathaniel said, his voice dark and unnaturally calm. "Mrs. Smith, I do believe the time has come for an explanation. Evidently, you had no problem securing yourself an invitation to this ball, and yet, you schemed and contrived the first months of our marriage, seemingly for no reason at all."
"Oh, I'm the schemer, am I?" Zelda said, cutting her cool gaze to meet Nathaniel's. "Do you think I am ignorant to your true intentions, boy? Have you shared your suspicions with your wife, hm? I'd wager not. She might not be so pliable under your charms if she knew what you've been plotting all these years."
"Nathaniel and I are honest with one another," Nell said quickly, her heart lurching in her chest at this unpleasant turn of events. There would be time for an explanation later, in private. She knew very well how skilled her aunt was at inflammatory insinuations. The way her pulse had quickened was simply a reaction to her spouse being attacked, not fear. Not doubt. She trusted Nathaniel. She squared her shoulders. "And he is right. We are owed an explanation."
"Are you?" Zelda replied, turning that sharp look onto her niece that, without Nathaniel’s support, might have sent Nell stumbling a few steps backward. "Honest with each other, I mean. So that is to say that you have confronted him about your suspicions, then? Regarding his murderous impulses?"
"I beg your pardon?" Nathaniel hissed, still holding tight to Nell's waist.
Lady Dempierre had crossed her arms over her chest, her posture rigid but unchanged throughout this development in the conversation. When Zelda turned to her, she appeared to have forgotten the enmity between them completely, and said to Zelda in a quick, businesslike tone, "They have found the cellars."
"Excellent," Zelda breathed. "Not a day too soon, either. Once we get a reply from Pauline, we will need to act quickly, lest we miss our window of opportunity."
"Yes," Therese Dempierre agreed with a sigh. "I suppose we have no choice."
"You may not have choices between the two of you," Nathaniel said, low and steady, "but my wife and I certainly do. No invitation has been extended to either of you regarding Meridian's cellars. You cannot seriously expect that we would entertain it at this point."
"Nathaniel," Nell whispered, setting a soft hand on his arm. "We ought to at least hear what is desired, shouldn't we? For the sake of the Silver Leaf."
He blinked down at her in stunned disbelief, something behind his eyes that sent a dart of pain directly into her heart.
