It was awful, having to live under the rule of her stepmother, but she had to accept it.
“Now, as for inviting Lord Hanbrooke, I think that is wise. He is a good man, from what I have heard. Not only that, but he is someone to have as a family friend. He has good connections, and we never know when it might benefit our daughters to have this connection,” Mary’s father said, clearly ignorant of any particular rivalry between Mary and Charlotte.
But Mary did not wish to be alone throughout the event. If her stepmother insisted upon her being watched, there was nothing she could do to escape it, but she did not want to be in that position all on her own. She needed to have a friend by her side.
“May I at least invite Sarah?” she asked.
“No! Good heavens, no. I told you that this is only for the best, most proper members of society,” Lady Rachel insisted.
Mary opened her mouth to protest, but she was glad that her father spoke up first. It would not have gone well if Mary had been the one to debate it, but Lady Rachel could not openly refuse Mary’s father without being accused of a particular disrespect.
“Enough now, darling. Of course she may invite Sarah—Sarah is her dearest friend. I know that you wish for only lords and ladies of the highest order, but I insist that we allow Mary to invite her friend,” he said.
Lady Rachel sighed and tersely responded to him.
“If that is what you wish, I shall abide by it, but I urge you to reconsider. It will seem very odd if we invite only the greatest members of society and yet we allow a young woman who is really more of a spinster—someone without a title and with only enough money in the family that her sisters were able to marry—to attend.
It would be very odd. I would hate our guests to think we allow our daughters to run around with the riffraff,” she said.
Mary was furious. She could not believe that Lady Rachel would describe Sarah in that way. What right did she have to be so cruel? It was utterly unjust. She wanted Sarah to have the opportunity to be happy and enjoy herself among their family without having to worry about her lack of title.
Moreover, it was not Sarah’s fault that her family was not rich. They were very well respected and that was all that mattered.
“Darling, that is enough,” Mary’s father said, without any harshness in his tone. He sounded bored, more than anything.
“You disagree with me?” Lady Rachel whined.
“I do in this regard. I want my daughter to enjoy her life and to have a good friend. I have no qualms with the young woman she has chosen for that role. Sarah Lambton and her family are all very good people.
I am fond of them. If she wishes for Sarah to come, that is perfectly fine with me. I know that my Mary will do the right thing and prove herself to you. Fear not, darling; Mary is going to grow into the most elegant and refined young woman in London,” he said.
Mary tried not to be offended. She had already been working very hard to be elegant and refined. Not only for the sake of her family, but for herself. She wanted to have a good reputation and to be everything that everyone wanted her to be—more, even.
She wanted to prove that she could matter and a part of that meant that she needed to live up to everyone’s expectations.
It seemed, however, as though she had been letting everyone down. She could not figure out exactly how she was doing this, but they were always disappointed in her for being too kind to the people that Lady Rachel thought beneath them. It was infuriating and Mary simply longed for a chance to be free.
But she was glad that her father had at least defended her in this. Although Lady Rachel and Charlotte sat there at the table, grimacing over the thought of Sarah being present, Mary was terribly relieved. She was thankful, more than she could say.
This was a good opportunity for her to show her stepmother and stepsister that they had underestimated Sarah. Maybe if they had a chance to be around her, they would know how lovely she was and then it would be far simpler to make them realise that they had done the right thing in inviting her.
Of course, she also knew that there was a chance for things to be even more complicated than before. After all, if Mary was trying to stay out of Charlotte’s way with Lord Hanbrooke, what would she do if he happened to mention their ride?
What would she do if her stepsister learned that Mary had feelings for him and had chosen to spend time with him despite Charlotte’s warning?
For now, Mary had to ignore that worry. She was eager to see him again, even if it was under these controlling circumstances. After all, Lady Rachel might be able to stop Mary from approaching Lord Hanbrooke, but would it be possible for her to stop Lord Hanbrooke from approaching Mary?