functions and your father is anxious for you to participate in them."
"Very well, Mama, if you insist, for I rarely catch a cold anymore. But I slept little last night, I confess. All this is making me very ill indeed. I can hardly settle down my thoughts."
"But why, Violet, when it is obvious it is being done for your sake?"
"If it were not that I believe this will go far to advance Papa's re-acceptance by society, I would have declined, Mama. I can’t abide things being done for hidden purposes such as this, even though it will be a treat to stay at the castle."
"I believe the duke has great expectations from you," said Sadie, smiling widely.
Violet frowned. "However that may be, his grace has a surprise in store for him if he believes it will sway me in any way. I am firm in my commitment and nothing he says or does will change my mind. Of that I am certain, Mama."
"I'm glad of that, Vi. I have become convinced that a lady's reputation is the only real treasure she possesses. Deep down I'm really not 'Lady Kelly,' I'm just Sadie. Nothing I do will make anyone forget I was—"
"Mama—" interrupted Violet, "—you promised, remember?"
"Yes, my dear, I forgot I promised never to mention that time again. And the promise is a good thing, too. I believe I was too fond of remembering a time that is much better to forget. But let me say one thing and then never mention the subject again, Vi. However much I deserve the scorn thrust on me, you do not deserve any of it. You were forced to become Shackel's, Vi, there is a big difference—and you are so young, too.
“You now have the opportunity to hold firm in your beliefs."
"I have become used to the opinion society has of me, Mama," said Violet turning to the window, a faraway look in her eyes, "and it does not bother me anymore. It did at first, but the years have piled up on that and change never came, however much I wished for it. I am viewed today as I was viewed six years ago."
"My darling, I don't like that sad look in your eyes; it makes me very sad too. Perhaps things will change for the better. I have a premonition that this invitation will be the turning point in our lives."
"I doubt it, Mama.” Violet’s blue eyes had filled with tears and she wiped them hurriedly, turning to the window, so that her mother would not see them.
"But even though I can’t change society's opinion of me nor do I want to anymore, I do have control over one person: myself. No one will turn me into what I will not be turned into. Thankfully, I do not have to marry. Papa has provided for me for the rest of my life."
"Take care then, Vi, for the duke is a handsome man."
"More arresting than handsome, I should think,” Violet said with a sigh. She was attracted to him in a way it was difficult for her to account for but she did not think him handsome in the usual way. "In what way do you think him appealing, Mama?"
"Oh, I don't know, a certain something, the way he carries himself, his shapely head and his wide shoulders. He has eyes that hold your glance to him, does he not?"
"Yes,” Violet agreed.
"Be careful you don't succumb to that attraction."
"Debutantes chasing titles are more likely to be attracted to him than I am," said Violet with a laugh. Yet it was an uneasy laugh, for Violet well knew that though she did not consider the duke handsome in the usual way, he was at times extremely attractive in an indefinable way. And the attraction was more dangerous because one could not exactly pinpoint where the attraction lay.
She realized that she was trying to convince herself as much as her mother that she did not find him appealing.
"And as to a lady's reputation," said Violet to her mother, "quite a few 'ladies' that are members of the aristocracy possess no such thing as a good reputation. Because a lady had the title before she engaged in all manner of intrigue and affairs she is shielded from people knowing what she really is and her reputation remains intact.
"Very well, Mama, if you insist, for I rarely catch a cold anymore. But I slept little last night, I confess. All this is making me very ill indeed. I can hardly settle down my thoughts."
"But why, Violet, when it is obvious it is being done for your sake?"
"If it were not that I believe this will go far to advance Papa's re-acceptance by society, I would have declined, Mama. I can’t abide things being done for hidden purposes such as this, even though it will be a treat to stay at the castle."
"I believe the duke has great expectations from you," said Sadie, smiling widely.
Violet frowned. "However that may be, his grace has a surprise in store for him if he believes it will sway me in any way. I am firm in my commitment and nothing he says or does will change my mind. Of that I am certain, Mama."
"I'm glad of that, Vi. I have become convinced that a lady's reputation is the only real treasure she possesses. Deep down I'm really not 'Lady Kelly,' I'm just Sadie. Nothing I do will make anyone forget I was—"
"Mama—" interrupted Violet, "—you promised, remember?"
"Yes, my dear, I forgot I promised never to mention that time again. And the promise is a good thing, too. I believe I was too fond of remembering a time that is much better to forget. But let me say one thing and then never mention the subject again, Vi. However much I deserve the scorn thrust on me, you do not deserve any of it. You were forced to become Shackel's, Vi, there is a big difference—and you are so young, too.
“You now have the opportunity to hold firm in your beliefs."
"I have become used to the opinion society has of me, Mama," said Violet turning to the window, a faraway look in her eyes, "and it does not bother me anymore. It did at first, but the years have piled up on that and change never came, however much I wished for it. I am viewed today as I was viewed six years ago."
"My darling, I don't like that sad look in your eyes; it makes me very sad too. Perhaps things will change for the better. I have a premonition that this invitation will be the turning point in our lives."
"I doubt it, Mama.” Violet’s blue eyes had filled with tears and she wiped them hurriedly, turning to the window, so that her mother would not see them.
"But even though I can’t change society's opinion of me nor do I want to anymore, I do have control over one person: myself. No one will turn me into what I will not be turned into. Thankfully, I do not have to marry. Papa has provided for me for the rest of my life."
"Take care then, Vi, for the duke is a handsome man."
"More arresting than handsome, I should think,” Violet said with a sigh. She was attracted to him in a way it was difficult for her to account for but she did not think him handsome in the usual way. "In what way do you think him appealing, Mama?"
"Oh, I don't know, a certain something, the way he carries himself, his shapely head and his wide shoulders. He has eyes that hold your glance to him, does he not?"
"Yes,” Violet agreed.
"Be careful you don't succumb to that attraction."
"Debutantes chasing titles are more likely to be attracted to him than I am," said Violet with a laugh. Yet it was an uneasy laugh, for Violet well knew that though she did not consider the duke handsome in the usual way, he was at times extremely attractive in an indefinable way. And the attraction was more dangerous because one could not exactly pinpoint where the attraction lay.
She realized that she was trying to convince herself as much as her mother that she did not find him appealing.
"And as to a lady's reputation," said Violet to her mother, "quite a few 'ladies' that are members of the aristocracy possess no such thing as a good reputation. Because a lady had the title before she engaged in all manner of intrigue and affairs she is shielded from people knowing what she really is and her reputation remains intact.
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