“True.” Odette turned to Reinhart. “What did you think of her, my lord, if I may ask?”
“I cannot say she has passed the first test.” After all, he had wanted someone who knew her place as a woman and a wife, who would not be opinionated.
“Are you saying you did not like her?” Jorgen looked surprised.
He grunted. “This is not meant to be a sentimental process.”
After a pause Odette said, “I have not yet given Lady Dorothea a tour of Thornbeck Castle. Will you come with us? Say polite things, ask her about herself, maybe offer her a book from your library since she likes to read?”
“Of course, my lord. I think it is a very good idea,” Jorgen said, a bit too eagerly.
“And don’t snarl at her if she asks you about your injury, the way you did to poor Lady Beatrix.”
Reinhart glared at Odette and resisted the urge to growl.
Had his chancellor and his wife become enchanted by Lady Dorothea? He was not enchanted. He only wanted to delve deeper into her temperament. In truth, she was the only lady whose answers had piqued his curiosity. But she was not at all what he had thought he wanted—a docile, quiet, simple maiden.
Besides, he only had two weeks to mine the jewels—or rocks, as the case might be—of each woman’s character; two weeks to choose who he would take as his wife; two weeks to find the woman he would spend the rest of his life with.
6
“OH, IRMA, IT was terrible.” Avelina covered her eyes with her hands. “I babbled on and sounded ridiculous. I don’t even remember half of what I said, but what I do remember . . . it didn’t sound anything like what Lady Dorothea would have said.”
Irma sighed as she reclined on her sleeping couch, eating pastries from a plate she was balancing with one hand. “What does it matter?” She took another bite, then spoke through the crumbs that blew from her lips. “No one here knows Lady Dorothea, and after we leave, no one will be the wiser.”
“I still have to get through the next two weeks. I feel so out of place. I don’t know what to do or what to say or how to behave. I was never taught to be an earl’s daughter. I feel every moment as if someone is going to accuse me of being an imposter—which I am.”
Never before had she been treated like her opinion mattered. If only she could enjoy it without feeling like someone was going to brand her a fraud and order her to leave at once.
But in her heart she truly believed she was a better lady than Lady Dorothea ever was. Was it wrong to think she was nobler in her heart than the true nobleman’s daughter? If only she had been born the daughter of an earl instead of Dorothea. If only she had not been born to a poor man who himself was only a servant.
A pang of guilt smote her breast at the envious, disloyal thoughts. Her own father might not know how to read or write or control his own fate, and he might never tell her he loved her or appreciated all she did for her little brother and sister, but he was still her father, and he had never tried to marry her off to the first person who asked for her, or betroth her to some rich and powerful nobleman she had never even met, as a titled father would do.
A knock at the door made Avelina jump. “That will be Frau Hartman to take me on a tour of the castle. I think you are supposed to come with me so you can learn where everything is.”
Irma jumped up. She set down the plate of cake and hastily brushed the crumbs off her chest.
“At least Lord Thornbeck won’t be along.” Avelina glanced in the mirror. “It should only be you, me, and Frau Hartman.”
Irma was still brushing herself, muttering, “Very well.”
Avelina took a step toward the door, then remembered she was supposed to be an earl’s daughter. “Irma, you have to get the door.”
“Oh yes.” Irma scurried to the door and opened it.
Frau Hartman entered. “Is Lady Dorothea ready?” Her gaze fell on Avelina. “Shall we take a look around the castle?”
“Of course.” Avelina came forward. “This is my maidservant, Irma.”
Irma curtsied.
“Lord Thornbeck is also coming with us. Shall we go?”
Avelina’s throat suddenly went dry and she swallowed. Why was Lord Thornbeck coming with them? She distinctly remembered Magdalen saying he had not accompanied the other ladies on their tours around the castle. Oh dear. He looked just as severe as she remembered.
Irma actually started back at seeing him behind Frau Hartman.
Avelina faked a smile and placed her hand at Irma’s back, trying to be discreet as she pushed her forward.