Chapter 3

Felicity had seized her chance. She hired someone to forge Edric's handwriting on a divorce decree, then bribed Finch into delivering it to my courtyard.

She had been certain that a merchant's daughter as desperate for wealth and status as I would fall apart at the sight of it, throwing a fit, weeping and wailing, and refusing to leave.

That would have been her cue to step in, playing the gracious peacemaker, making herself look gentle and magnanimous while turning the entire household against me once and for all, until I was driven out for good.

She had accounted for everything, except for what I actually wanted.

At that very moment, she was sitting with the Dowager Lady Valthorpe in the garden, sipping tea and speaking ill of me, predicting that I was surely locked in my room, sobbing and regretting everything.

The Dowager Lady played with her rings absently, her face full of scorn, remarking that I had no sense of my own station and no business occupying the title of Lady Regent.

Then, a servant came rushing in, flustered and out of breath.

"Dowager Lady, Miss Wrenfield… The Lady Regent, Miss Thayne is gone. She packed her own trunks and left. She didn't take a single thing from the household."

Felicity's hand stilled on her teacup, a flicker of surprise crossing her eyes before she composed herself again. She told herself I was simply putting on a performance.

However, the Dowager Lady's reaction was immediate. The color drained from her face, and the porcelain teacup slipped from her fingers. It hit the ground with a sharp crack and shattered into pieces, tea splashing across the stone.

She stared at the servant in disbelief.

"What did you just say? She left, just like that? She didn't take any of the jewels, the silks, or the gold in this household?"

The servant nodded repeatedly.

"It's true, Dowager Lady. The staff saw it clearly. Miss Thayne took only the dowry she first brought here with her. She touched nothing else."

After a long, stunned silence, the Dowager Lady shot to her feet, gripped her attendant's arm, and strode toward my courtyard, her pace sharp and urgent.

Felicity followed close behind, the surprise in her eyes deepening with every step, and an uneasy feeling beginning to stir beneath it.

My courtyard had always been spare, and now, it was bare. The chairs and table were arranged neatly in their places, and the looking glass on the vanity still gleamed, but there were no combs or jewelry sitting on it anymore.

Every fine silk gown in the wardrobe remained, not a single piece missing. Only my own plain clothes were gone, as if they had never been there at all.

The Dowager Lady sent someone to inspect the storeroom and confirm that the 10,000 gold pieces had indeed been withdrawn, and that I had taken nothing beyond my own dowry.

The steward bowed and reported that I had left explicit instructions before my departure. Anything belonging to the household was not mine, and now that I was leaving, I would not touch a single piece of it.

The Dowager Lady stood in the middle of my empty courtyard, her face flushed a deep red, caught between fury and frustration, muttering under her breath without pause.

"Ungrateful wretch! Good riddance, I say. One less eyesore in this household! She thinks she's so above it all, and yet she still walked off with 10,000 gold pieces, didn't she?!"

The words poured out of her mouth, but underneath them, something was not sitting right.

She had spent three years guarding against me, certain I would try to bleed the household dry. My leaving with such a clean break made it look as though she had been the petty one all along, measuring a good person by her own small nature. It stung like a slap to the face.

The attendants standing around kept their heads bowed, their expressions guarded, though every one of them held a quiet flicker of surprise behind their eyes. None of them had expected that the merchant's daughter, whom they had always looked down on, would leave with that kind of dignity.

Just then, Felicity stepped forward, took the Dowager Lady gently by the arm, and spoke in a soft, soothing voice.

"Please don't upset yourself over this. It's better that she's gone. You won't have to worry about her anymore. If she can't appreciate what she had here, then leaving is her loss. You'll have me by your side from now on."

Her tone was tender, her manner attentive. She offered a handkerchief for the Dowager Lady to wipe her hands, every inch the picture of a dutiful and well-mannered young woman.

The Dowager Lady let herself be coaxed, her expression softening just a fraction. She let out a sigh and patted Felicity's hand.

"You've always been the thoughtful one, Felicity. A hundred times better than that Suvanne. She claims she doesn't care for the household's wealth, and yet she still took the 10,000 gold pieces, didn't she? At the end of the day, she's still nothing but a greedy merchant's daughter."