Chapter 121

Melissa’s eyes were impossibly wide. The shock lasted a few seconds before delight broke across her face.

"You are actually going?"

"I am," Lorelai laughed softly, almost embarrassed by how happy the words made her feel.

Merissa immediately crossed the room and began helping her fold clothing into the second valise.

"But you cannot go, not without me. You know I have always wanted to see the capital."

Lorelai glanced at her, brows furrowing slightly. "Your mother may disagree."

"She may," Merissa admitted, "but I have never been to Caldor. So many lovely places in Arden and I have hardly seen any of them. I have been trapped in Somerton for years and yet to find a single decent gentleman worth marrying. Perhaps the capital will be kinder."

They finished packing quickly, and Lorelai carried one valise downstairs while Merissa followed with the other. Several maids glanced at them as they passed. Dorothea was in the hall, and the scowl that settled upon her face told Lorelai precisely what she was thinking.

"Where do you think you are going?"

Lorelai did not respond. She took her second valise from Merissa and continued toward the front door. It was freeing in a way to turn her back on the woman who had been mean to her the last five years.

She could hear Dorothea speaking behind her, accusing her of having no shame, of refusing to let her brother enjoy his happiness, of seeking attention where she was not wanted. Every word washed over Lorelai without having its usual effect on her.

Outside, she placed her valise inside the waiting carriage and climbed inside.

Thirty minutes later, Merissa still hadn’t emerged. Several times, Lorelei caught herself glancing back towards the front entrance worriedly.

What was taking her so long?

A sudden knock on the carriage window startled her. Turning, she saw it was the same man that handed her Draven’s letter.

"Is everything alright, my lady?" he asked, clearly wondering why they were delaying their departure.

Lorelei shook her head. "No, everything is fine." She answered.

"Then should we be off?"

Lorelei almost nodded. But thinking better of it, she pushed the door open instead and stepped out to head back into the house.

Inside, she found her cousin in the middle of an argument with Dorothea.

"You are not going anywhere," Dorothea was saying. "You will not accompany her when she intends to make a spectacle of herself. I was stupid to invite her into this home but I will not allow her to corrupt you."

"But I want to see Caldor," Merissa whined. "And I want to attend the wedding. Just once, can you grant my desires, you never give me any freedoms while you allow Julian to run amok. You cannot keep me in Somerton forever."

"You will stay here and that is final!" Her mother seethed.

"Why? Why?" Merissa nearly screamed, her frustration bleeding into the words. "Tell me why you won’t let me."

"Because I said so." Dorothea snapped harshly. "Because people can be cruel, especially to women. If they see you with her, do you know what they will think of you? Christ, child! Have I taught you nothing?"

"Why should I care about that? Lorelei is family. She lived with us for years but you are acting like I’m running off with a dangerous stranger." Merissa retorted. "Have you given a thought to my future, mother? I am approaching the end of my second season and I have yet to receive any request for my hand. I hardly even have any suitors to speak of and that will never change as long as I stay in Somerton. You might have no qualms about suffering through a third season but I can’t. I do not have it in me."

Lorelei finally stepped into full view, having remained out of sight for most of their heated exchange.

Both women fell quiet when they noticed her.

"Merissa is right, Aunt Dorothea," Lorelei said.

She caught the burning look of loathing in Dorothea’s eyes, and for one fleeting moment, the old instinct returned. The instinct to retreat. To apologize. To make herself smaller to keep the peace.

She ignored it.

"My brother, Draven, knows many successful unmarried gentlemen who will surely be in attendance," she said calmly. "There will be opportunities for Merissa to meet suitable families in Caldor that she will never find here."

Merissa looked delighted by the support. She left her mother’s side to cling onto her cousin.

Lorelai continued, "Merissa is nineteen, beautiful, and perfectly capable of conducting herself properly. I will look after her while we are there, nothing will happen to her. You have my word as a Montague."

Dorothea gave a cold, humorless laugh. "Your word as a Montague means nothing."

The words struck deep, like an arrow hitting its target.

For an instant, it stirred up old hurts and shame. But it was there for only one moment and gone the next.

Lorelai held Dorothea’s gaze stubbornly. "Is that truly what you believe? Because you are mistaken. My word does carry weight, perhaps not with you, but with people far more important and powerful than you could ever hope to be. Why don’t we put that to the test? I shall write to my brother and tell him exactly how you have treated me all these years. Then we shall see how seriously he takes the matter."

Easing her arm free of Merissa’s grasp, she stepped closer to Dorothea, refusing to be intimidated. "You may have been able to walk all over me until now, but that does not mean I will allow you to continue doing so. If Merissa says she is accompanying me to the capital, then that is precisely what will happen."

They were locked in a battle of will, neither woman ready to back down just yet.

Fighting with Dorothea reminded her of the girl she had been before the scandal that changed everything.

Dorothea might not know it, but beneath that timid exterior was a woman with an extraordinarily strong mind and an even stronger spirit. A woman who was just as opinionated and stubborn as Dorothea herself. That woman had not disappeared. She had only been forced into hiding.

And now, slowly, she was beginning to emerge from her cage.