“Orley? Are you so familiar with the duke?” she questioned. I flushed. No secretary addressed their employer—especially a duke—in such an informal manner. A slip of the tongue, I told myself. Nothing more.
“I am his secretary.”
The older woman frowned and led me to the window.
“What do you see outside?” She asked. I shook my head not understanding. “Look. What do you see.”
I looked. “Betas, a few alphas.”
“What else?”
“What else?” I frowned. “Carriages, horses, houses. The rain,” I smiled as the pavement began to darken with fat drops.
“And who owns it?” she pressed
“Alphas.”
“And do you see any unaccompanied omegas?”
“Of course not!” I scoffed. “They do not let us—“
“Yet you wander the streets in your disguise without fear. Your world has been one of privilege. You have been taught more than most omegas. More than most alphas and betas too. For some reason, you have decided to dress as your twin and go out into the world. Risking everything, I might add. Yet when you looked at me, here in the perfect safety of your uncle’s house and with an omega, you hesitated. When we first met your guard was up. Why is that?”
“You didn’t want me to see the injustice in the fact that as an omega I cannot go about my life like one of them?” I asked, confused.
“You know all that. Have been raised with your eyes open to injustice. But do you know why you are afraid to be an omega?”
“I’m not—“ I snapped my mouth shut as I remembered how desperately I had wished for an omega to talk with, air my concerns, and ask for advice. “I… At home, I do not know many strange omegas. And our neighbours in Hertfordshire rarely acknowledge us because of our family’s reputation.”
“Do you respect omegas who are less educated than you?” she asked.
My cheeks heated in embarrassment. I would have never aired such thoughts out loud, but the memory of how I so easily dismissed my aunt and her friends, even Mrs Markham when we first met, spoke louder than I had ever expected.
“You have never been confronted by your own prejudices. Tell me. Have you spent more time in the company of alphas or omegas since your arrival in London?”
“Alphas,” I admitted. “I’m not out in society. I’ve not been presented. Any omegas I meet are here when I am with my aunt, and she is quiet.”
Her lips thinned and her face folded into a frown. I looked away, back to the street, which had mostly cleared because of the now steady rain.
“I would like to offer you my help,” the older omega said. “Your aunt is well-meaning, but I fear she cannot give you the guidance that perhaps you need. I offer my help as a friend to your sister. I can prepare you to go out in society in your natural dynamic. You needs must learn how to be an omega.”
“Mrs Markham… I do not care to be a good omega. Or a good alpha, for that matter! I am nothing but who I am and I take pride in that.”
“The world does not take pride in dynamics acting out of turn.”
“Dammit. Why!” I bit my lip, embarrassed at my outburst. She claimed some friendship through my eldest sister. Her quick eye, her experience in the world made me certain that if there was an omega I could open up to, she could be the one. Yet Mrs Markham had purposefully provoked me to respond by talking about the duke’s plans as if he were uncaring, which I now knew to be untrue...
“He is going to marry her with no intention of taking her as a mate. But I understand his reasons,” I decided to see what her response would be to my position. “They are honourable.Heis honourable.”
“Is that all?” she gave me an ironic smile.
“Could there be another reason?” I narrowed my eyes. A stab of uncertainty cut through me. Was I revealing too much and to a near stranger?
“Perhaps.”
“Or not.” I allowed the bite to enter my voice. I would not be played the fool by her. “You were the one who raised the issue, madam.”
“We both want the countess taken care of,” she sighed. “I recommended her to the duke. Perhaps I was hasty in doing so… I meant it for the best.”