Page 109 of A Lady of Means
-Scandalous Lives of London
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“It’s filling up.How many people did you invite?”Olivia asked, sitting on a chaise lounge opposite her sisters in the bride’s antechamber inside the cathedral.
Noelle inexpertly pinned a curl into Moria’s coiffure with the help of Ella.Ella took the pins from her and shooed her out of the way.
Kathleen handed Moria a glass of champagne.“On my wedding day, mother gave me a brimming glass of champagne and said, ‘though you’ve no reason to be nervous, I’m sure your nerves don’t know that and showed up anyway unannounced.So, drink up.’And so I did.And so shall we.”
“Slange var, mum,” Olivia said, throwing back Lawrence’s flask to her older sister’s dismay.
Kathleen was the only one of Rosamunde’s daughters who’d get to have her on her wedding day.But she had the same red hair, same green-grey blue eyes, same soft smile, sharing her words of encouragement.
“Except not sure we can say the same on this occasion,” Moria said, tossing back half the champagne in one gulp.
“What reason have you to be nervous?”Olivia asked, eyes wide and worried.Then she broke into giggles and the inhabitants of the room all turned to look at her.“I’m only kidding.”
Noelle suddenly gasped and Moria spilled her champagne.A million hands went to dabbing, and it turned out she’d soiled the bench beside her and not her dress.
“Mind telling me why you’re gasping like that, sister; before you ruin everyone’s formal wear?”Moria asked, scooting to the edge of the bench.
Noelle made an apologetic face.“Sorry, I just thought…it occurred to me…” She started pacing, and Kathleen was urging her to continue while Olivia was making an X with her hands to tell her to stop.Letitia was removing the cap from Lawrence’s flask for a hearty nip of her own.Ella made a face at Moria in the mirror like she was trying to hide her laugh.Loving these women and being loved by them, god, what would she do without them?
Moria took Noelle’s wrist, and her sister looked down at her and said, “What if he shows up here?”
Kathleen spit out her champagne.“I’m definitely missing something, aren’t I?”She looked between her three younger sisters, sighed.“I’ll do my best not to judge, just no more secrets and half-truths and lies by omission.”
Moria was still holding onto Noelle, this time her hand around two of Noelle’s fingers.“Devyn is alive.”
Kathleen was wide-eyed, turning to look at the door.“Did you switch grooms on us on the day of your wedding, Moria Pembrooke?”
Moria shook her head.
Olivia laughed, seemingly at the absurdity.She interjected, “But…does she have to choose?Is there a possibility to pursue a relationship…of sorts…with both of them?”
Noelle’s head was tilted to the side like she was trying to work out a complex math equation, Kathleen was rubbing her temples, Miss Kelley took a timely sip of her champagne as if to avoid speaking.
“Right, so what do you want, Moria?”Noelle asked gently.
No one had really ever asked her that, but Devyn had.Many times.
What is it you want?
How could it be that simple?It had never been simple, not a single day of her life.When she’d been born with the face that she had, the position and family she’d been born into?She wasn’t whining or complaining about it.She knew she’d been hit with a much prettier fate than scores of women on earth at any given time in history.But what she wanted hadn’t factored into things.There had been times when she had done what she wanted, and the consequences had chased her down and held her there.
Moria was still, the only sound and movement she made was her calculated breaths.
What she wanted was-
“It’s almost time.Is she ready?”Jasper said from the doorway.
She was pretty certain her sisters were shooting daggers at him with their eyes and trying to clue him in thatno, the bride was not, in fact,ready.
“Her veil isn’t on yet,” Kathleen said.
“Mo?”Jasper asked, and he kneeled down in front of her chair.His eyes were kind.They went a little more grey-blue when they were kind.When he was haughty and annoyed they were more jade.
“Do you not want to do this anymore?”
