Page 53 of The Devil's Accidental Duchess
CHAPTER 18
“You seem very cheerful today,” Lizzy remarked as she picked the petals off a daisy.
The three young ladies were enjoying a fine summer afternoon in the gardens, lounging on a trimmed square of lawn surrounded by fragrant rose bushes.
Selina had been humming to herself and caressing the velvet petals of a rose against her palm. She stopped and stared at her friend, feeling as if she had been caught in the act last night.
“It is a lovely day,” she said stiffly. “How else should I be?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Fretful, exhausted, sick to the back teeth of roses, certainly.” Lizzy chuckled. “EvenIam tired of roses, and I wasn’t the one who had to smell every bouquet that my grandmother shoved in front of your nose.”
The morning had been filled with preparations for the ball as well as initial preparations for the wedding. Truthfully, Selina hadn’t realized there were quite so many things to consider about becoming a bride: what type of linens she wanted for the tables; what sort of flowers she preferred; what sort of orchestra she wanted to play at the festivities afterward; what jewelry she wished to borrow from the Dowager Duchess, who had a vast and intimidating collection.
“I hate to disappoint you, but I don’t feel the least bit stressed,” Selina replied, struggling to hide a smirk.
After Philip had revealed his particular talents to her right in these very gardens, albeit in a different spot, her utter relaxation had yet to wear off.
“I have no reason to,” she continued. “Your grandmother has everything perfectly in hand. I don’t need to do anything other than nod my head or shake it.”
Melody, who had been examining the different varieties of roses and making extensive notes in a small notebook, raised her head from her endeavors.
“Youdoseem more cheerful than usual,” she noted. “Not that you are ever truly gloomy. You just seem… brighter, like these beautiful orange roses.”
Not you too!
There was a part of Selina that desperately wanted to tell her friends what had happened last night. The trouble was, oneof her friends happened to be the sister of her betrothed. Lizzy wouldn’t want to hear of such things; it would make her sick to her stomach.
“I think it must be because I am away from home,” Selina offered, silently praying they would accept the excuse. “I don’t have to worry about my father and his temper. Yes, he will be here for the ball, but he will be on his best behavior in front of so many people.”
Lizzy beamed, as if Selina had just given the correct answer. “It suits you. I knew it would. You can’t help but be giddy when you know you are about to spend every day with one of your best friends.” She flopped dramatically onto the grass. “I have been so lonely, Selina! You can’t imagine it.”
“I doubt you could be lonely in any room that has a mirror, Lizzy,” Melody quipped and promptly covered her mouth, her eyes wide in astonishment.
It was uncharacteristic of the quietest member of their group to be so deliciously cutting, though they were no strangers to friendly teasing.
Rather than take offense, Lizzy suddenly sat up and clapped her hands together in vigorous applause, laughing raucously. “That was exemplary, Mel! Finally,finally, my sardonic wit is rubbing off on you!”
“Goodness, I’m sorry,” Melody replied, shaking her head. “Truly, I don’t know what possessed me. I think it must be the perfume of these flowers addling my mind.”
“Don’t you dare apologize,” Lizzy insisted. “That was utter perfection. Besides, you are not wrong. I know I am vain, but vanity is the only thing I’ve had to amuse myself with for so long. Until I met you two.”
Selina smiled at her beloved friends. “What about your grandmother? I doubt there has been a dull moment with her around.”
“That’s true,” Lizzy said, “but she naps for hours, and I daresay that her social calendar is even busier than a debutante’s. She is always off doing something with one friend or another.”
Stroking the rose petal, Selina closed her eyes to the bright, warming sunlight. “Do you think we’ll be that way when we’re old and grey? Do you think we’ll see each other often?”
“You can’t escape us, Selina,” Lizzy teased.
“I hope so,” Melody said. “I never really had friends until I met you two. Certainly none who… didn’t mind me being the way I am—always studying, always prattling about one thing or another.”
Selina opened her eyes, saddened by the sight of Melody’s chin dipped to her chest. “We adore you just the way you are. We always will. It isbecauseof your nature that I cherish you.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Lizzy nodded. “Why, I am at least twice as intelligent as I was because of your friendship. I was an utter dunce before I met you. I am not ashamed to say it.”
“You were not,” Melody protested, blushing.
“I was! Whenever I didn’t understand a word before, I would just remain ignorant, but now my vocabulary has expanded because I can ask you for the meaning, and you will know it instantly,” Lizzy insisted. “Just the other day, I used ‘plangent’ in a sentence, and not only did I use it correctly, but I also knew what it meant.”
