Page 54 of A Lady of Means
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Not one oftheir family members had been altogether surprised to hear that Moria and Devyn had gotten engaged the night of the play.They’d not been able to hold it in the moment they’d entered Clairville’s carriage.When Devyn had taken her home and spoken to her elder brother with her in the room, Jasper was a little put out that Devyn hadn’t spoken to him first; but he’d conceded that Moria was four and twenty, and her own woman.Moria had wanted to kiss Devyn for not sending her out of the room for the conversation.
And then her whole family was rushing in, Olivia just returned from a ball in a flowery dress yelling: “My sister’s going to be a bride!Finally!”making everyone laugh.
Every congratulations, every hug, each champagne toast to the couple’s happiness from all the loved ones who truly cared, in her family home, felt like everything she had waited for.
But even with all their support, she’d found sleep hard to greet that night.
Be happy,her inner voice berated as she tossed and turned.
Why does it feel like being happy is only delaying the inevitable?That in my happy delirium, I won’t feel the other shoe getting ready to drop?
Devyn was expected back at her family home in London at any moment, committed to spending all the time he could with Moria until he deployed.Moria left the breakfast table intent on taking her correspondence upstairs to her desk, contemplating how she’d spill the news that she was engaged, and not to The Duke.
But as soon as she turned the corner, her feet nearly collapsed from beneath her the moment the calendar on her desk caught her attention.She might have forgotten to take the page off a few too many days in a row, she had to rip a few pages to find the correct date.The bother was, she’d been so happy, her darkest days hadn’t been on her mind.
“Ella?”she called, trying and failing to hide the strain in her voice.
Ella returned with a bundle of fabric over her arm.“Yes, my lady?”
“What day is it?”
“Friday?The 6th, I believe.”
Moria’s stomach dropped, her heart fell down a flight of stairs.How could she have forgotten?Her own daughter’s birthday was tomorrow and she’d celebrated in Brookevale the last two years, but somehow she was here.In London.
“Pack a bag, we’re going to Brookevale,” she said, walking toward her closet.
“My lady?Is everything alright?”Ella asked, placing a hand on her arm.
Moria wanted her to leave.She felt a sob tearing its way through her chest, trying to escape through her mouth.Her eyes burned with tears pushing to break free.Her throat burned as she choked down a sob.
“Perfectly fine,” she said, wiping at her eyes.
She wasn’t perfectly fine.Rose wasthere,alone, in a graveyard, with no one to celebrate that she’d existed.
Moria felt the cold wood floor meet her as she slid down her door.The hem of her lavender morning dress tore as her foot collided with it.Her hair fell from her coiffure as she buried her head in her arms.The glint of her ring, Devyn’s mother’s ring on her finger, caught her gaze.The tears fell harder.
“My lady,” Ella cooed.
Moria’s throat was starting to feel raw and her head was starting to hurt.Moria didn’t care, she let arms pull her into an embrace, resting her arm on a shoulder.
“There, love.It’s going to be alright.I’m here.”
But it wasn’t Ella’s voice.It was a masculine voice.She opened her eyes and pulled back.She had been so distraught, she hadn’t heard him enter.
“Devyn, you’re here,” she tried to coax her voice into an even tone as the words came out, but they sounded choked and pained even to her own ears.
“Yes, love.What can I do for you?”His hands were so gentle and warm as he pushed her tear-soaked hair from her face and traced her cheek.
“I need.To pack.A trunk.”She could feel how swollen her eyes were as she forced them to meet his.
“Where are we going?”he asked with the most steadying voice she’d ever heard.She didn’t miss the ‘we’ in his voice.Her ears caught it, nestled it into her conscience, counted her heartbeats in its cadence.
“The church.”
He nodded, never taking his eyes off hers.“Where is this church?”
