“No?” he choked, surprised by Callum’s denial.
Callum inclined his head and declared, “You do not need luck, my friend. You simply need to do the right thing again and again and again, and then the world shall do its best by you.”
Argyle crossed slowly to him and, though he would not embrace him, said with all the passion of a beloved brother, “Do not think of the tragedies that could befall you simply because of what the world is. Think only on the next moment.”
Garret gave a tight nod. It was good advice if he could but follow it.
Chapter 16
All the clothes that had been purchased for a courtesan no longer made any sense, and as Catherine packed them into a trunk, she started to laugh.
Tears slipped down her cheeks, both of confusion and of humor.
It was the strangest mix of feelings.
“What should I do with these?” She turned to her maid, Adelaide. “I cannot use them. I will look an absolute fool in the country wearing these. They make no sense. They’re all too flimsy and gaudy and bold.”
Adelaide shook her head, causing the lace on her mob cap to bounce. “Lady Catherine,” she said, “do not worry. As a duchess, you can dress however you want, but I do agree with you. These will make no sense in York. I think you should choose something warmer, for certain. No doubt the dressmaker in York City will be able to dress you appropriately as soon as you get there. One of these cloaks is quite fine through the summer months, but it is much colder there than in London. I promise you won’t be in dire straits. All will be sorted.”
“Are you coming with me?” she said to Adelaide as a dratted tear slipped down her cheek. Why was she so emotional? And over clothes! It was so silly.
“Would you like me to, my lady?” Adelaide asked suddenly, surprised. “I would’ve thought that since you’re going to be the duchess that you would want to hire a grand lady’s maid. Possibly somebody from Paris.”
“No,” Catherine said. “Why would I want someone from Paris when I could have someone as practical as you? You already know me, Adelaide, and you’ve been kind.”
Adelaide’s cheeks pinked. “A girl like me? I’m barely twenty years of age. Surely, you want someone with more experience to be the lady’s maid of a duchess.”
“No. I wish you,” Catherine said firmly, pushing away from the large trunk that was barely filled and turning towards the maid who had been so kind to her. “I wish someone who will, if not truly hold my hand, tell me sensible things as you have just done and perhaps pull me back from the edge of silly thought as you have also just done.”
A laugh burst from Adelaide’s lips. “I suppose I can do that. You know I am from Yorkshire myself, my lady, and well, my mammy and my nan, they always had the most wonderful good sense.”
“I would like to share in that,” she said, her heart aching for the loss of a female guide. “I haven’t had a mother to tell me good sense in years. I’ve had to rely entirely on my own. Perhaps you can also show my sister good sense too.”
All this month, she had not gotten up the courage to visit Lily. Not as a mistress in training. But now? She couldn’t avoid the truth or seeing her sister. Nor did she wish to any longer. She wanted Lily with her.
She had written to Lily, and Lily would be joining them in the north.
She wondered what Lily would think of this coil. Would her sister be horrified and ashamed of her? She did not think so. They had loved each other too well, too long. But even so, it would be a shock. She couldn’t wait to hold her sister in her arms again. But she wasn’t looking forward to telling her the strange tale of life and how far things were from the fairy tales that they had read as children.
“You look most perplexed, my lady,” her maid observed. “Do you care to unburden yourself? You must keep your thoughts on gentle things.”
Gentle things? Her life had been upended. But she’d asked Adelaide for sensible guidance, and it would be the worst of hypocrisy not to listen to her.
She swallowed. “I was simply thinking of the stories that girls are told, that marriage is meant to be the greatest moment of their lives. The fairy tales.”
“The fairy tales,” Adelaide cut in, “are full of horror stories.”
She blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
“My lady,” Adelaide whispered, leaning in. “Have you not read them properly? Oh yes, there are grand marriages in many of them, but there’s also horrific deaths and maiming.”
“Don’t you think that fairy tales teach girls that marriage is the most important thing?”
“My goodness, not at all.” Adelaide tsked. “Look at what happened to Sleeping Beauty and her prince. Most of the tales don’t have marriage in them at all! And certainly, the most horrible things happened to Cinderella’s stepsisters. There are no promises of happy endings in those stories, but warnings of what not to do.”
She stared at Adelaide. “You are a treasure trove of wonder. You make the fairy tales seem like Greek tragedy or Shakespeare.”
Adelaide frowned. “I’ve not read much Shakespeare, and I don’t know anything about the Greeks, my lady. But if they write great tales of woe and drama, well, they must have taken them from the fairy tales.”