Page 84 of Enslaved to the Seduction of a Lady
“So she told you how wrong they are, then?” Alison asked, her chin firm. “He didn’t do it, you know. And neither did Jenny. They’ve been set up, I’m sure of it.”
“I think you’re probably right,” Teresa said, smiling softly.
“Really?” Alison asked. “You believe me?”
“Yes,” Teresa said, chuckling. “Of course I believe you. You have a fine sense of right and wrong, and of people.”
“I suspect you are the only one to believe me,” Alison said, looking down at the blankets tangled around her waist.
She knew how she sounded—pathetic and whiny, a child having a tantrum for not getting their way. She knew that she sounded like a lovesick fool who could not see the truth from a lie. And yet she was more certain about this than she was about anything. Luke did not steal that letter opener.
“Perhaps you are right,” Teresa said. “But whatever the case, lying here feeling sorry for yourself—”
“I feel sorry for Luke,” Alison snapped, not wanting Teresa to think her reaction was merely out of self-pity.
“Well, feeling sorry for Luke, then. You will achieve nothing from your bed.”
“You’re right,” Alison said, sitting up a little straighter, the notion dawning on her. “I can’t believe I’ve been so silly. I’ve been so determined to fight and yet, at this hurdle I’ve been so easily knocked back.”
“Exactly,” Teresa said, rising from the bed. She took Alison’s hand and guided her out of the bed, too. Her long nightshirt fell to her ankles and she put a hand up to her hair.
“I won’t let this happen,” Alison said, smiling for the first time since it occurred. “I will be with Luke, one way or another. And if Father doesn’t like that, well, it’s not like he has a whole lot of choice.”
“Let’s go speak to them both now. Explain things to them. Father is not unreasonable. He will listen to what you have to say.”
“You’re right. Let me just find my gown—”
“No,” Teresa said, chuckling. “I’ve already asked Fanny to bring you up a jug and bowl, to give you a proper wash, and then she will do your hair and get you dressed. She will be here presently. Andthenwe shall go see Mother and Father.”
“Oh Teresa!” Alison clutched Teresa’s upper arms and pulled her close, kissing her on the cheek. “You are quite the best sister a girl could hope to have.”
“That can’t possibly be true,” Teresa said, shaking her head.
“Why ever not?” Alison asked, surprise creeping into her new-found voice.
“Because that isyou, of course.”
As Alison washed and dressed, she felt increasingly like her old self again. She was still devastated that Luke was gone, naturally, but Teresa was right. She needed to pick herself up and fight for what she wanted. And if her father wouldn’t let her win, then she needed to find another way.
We will run away.
She put on her most modest gown, a simple cream-colored cotton with no frills and no lace. It was lightly embroidered, but it was not fanciful, and it gave Alison an air of innocence that she suspected she would need with her father.
“You look beautiful,” Teresa said as she re-entered the room.
Fanny was in the process of pinning up mounds of Alison’s hair, pins stuck out of her mouth as she worked. A little would be left to hang girlishly around her face, but for the most part, it would be piled atop her head in a restrained fashion.
“Thank you,” Alison said. “And thank you for coming to see me. I can’t believe I’ve been foolish enough to lie around doing nothing, while I could have been fighting for my life.”
“Not at all,” Teresa said, perching on the corner of Alison’s bed as she watched. “Such a thing would be enough to knock even the strongest of warriors. That you are up now, and ready, is testament to your strength of love.”
“Do you really think so?” Alison asked.
“Yes, of course. Come now, Mother and Father are taking tea. I told them we shall join them.”
Alison took a deep breath, checking her reflection one last time, and then she followed her sister down the stairs and to the drawing room.
“Glad to see you’re feeling better, Alison,” the Duke drawled, a broad and self-satisfied grin on his face.
