"Stand up straight. Have you always slouched so much?"

I fought the urge to roll my eyes as I sighed at the Countess' fussing.

"It is only Ella, mother. Your daughter, my sister. It's not the Queen of England coming for a visit," I reminded her but was met only by my mother's patented icy glare.

"My daughter, your sister, and a Duchess now," she warned, her voice low as the elegant carriage drew nearer. "I won't have the Duke worried he's married into a mannerless family."

My lips pulled up into a smirk. We were far past fooling Duke Victor Edward Winterbourne III into believing we were a family with decorum. Given Emily's unpleasantness and Ella's temper which the man had a front seat in witnessing only a season ago, I imagined that ship had sailed and he it's Captain.

"You can stop worrying so much, mother," I said gently, taking her hand and patting it gently as I tucked her arm through the crook of my own. "You've done your duty. Your daughters are married off to more than suitable matches."

"And my son?" She asked, turning to me with a raised brow. I sighed, louder this time.

"Mother, we've spoken about this-"

"Yes and we won't speak of it again now," she said, casting a look over her shoulder at the enormous congregation of gathered nobility lined up and smiling at the Duke's approaching carriage. My mother would never miss an opportunity to flaunt our family's societal advancements in front of the entire upper class. "But later, we will. As a family."

"My marital status is not up for family discussion," I snapped. She turned once, her sharp eyes penetrating me with that icy glare. But I glared right back. That is, until the carriage pulled to a stop in front of us and the nobility burst into excited chatter.

My mother and I stepped forward as the carriage door swung open. I felt warmth blossoming in my chest at the pure, blissful smile on my youngest sister's radiant face.

"Mother," Ella cried happily, running from the carriage and across the drive to us. A few of those behind us chuckled happily as she threw her arms around our mother and then turned to me. "Elijah."

I wrapped her in a warm embrace, holding her for a moment and savoring the touch. I'd missed my youngest sister. She had always been dear to me and these eight months it had been since I last saw her at her wedding had been too much. But she had promised to make the journey from Northumberland and return for a visit at the start of the next season and here she was, true to her word.

The Duke was emerging from the carriage as I released Ella. She turned back to him and beamed. He finished giving his driver instructions and then approached, embracing my mother and then extending a hand to me.

I stared at it for a moment and his smile fell slightly, as if suddenly concerned that the peace we had made had not withstood the test of time. Unable to control it any longer, I broke out into a grin and pulled him in for a quick hug and a pat on the back.

"Welcome back, brother," I said and he smiled at me.

"Please come along and enjoy some refreshments," the Countess said, reaching out an arm in gesture. The Duke took it without hesitation and she led him off to show him around and reintroduce him to the nobility he had left behind. I turned to follow but Ella grabbed my arm and spun me back around to face her.

"Is she here?" She asked.

I frowned

"Who?" I replied.

"Madame Francis."

My jaw clenched. It had been some weeks since I'd heard that name and less since I'd allowed myself to think of it.

"No," I answered, noticing that my voice sounded much firmer than I'd intended. Ella's brow furrowed in confusion and her lips parted, poised on a question that I didn't want anyone to overhear her asking. I took her by the arm and pulled her away from the throng where I could properly explain without fear of eavesdroppers. "She's gone."

"Gone?" She asked, blinking in surprise and confusion. "What do you mean gone?"

"To Paris. Some major design program wrote to her. They said they had heard of her work through word of mouth. The Raven, Pink Lemonade, these are familiar to you, yes?" I raised a brow. Ella had the decency to blush. "They wanted her to join them. And... she went."

"She just... went? But what about-"

"It's over. She couldn't choose between me and her work and I told her she didn't have to."

"Elijah-"

"I would never ask her to give up her dreams, Ella," I told her, voice cracking. "Not for me. Not for anyone."

My sister nodded, tears forming in her big blue eyes. I could tell that she wanted to hug me again. But we both knew how many people were watching us, how many people would see and ask questions. We both knew an embrace would cause more trouble than it was worth. No matter how much I may have needed it.

"How is Victor treating you?" I changed the topic to one more suitable from a big brother as we turned and made our way back toward the house and the waiting festivities.

She cast me a sidelong glance, a smile on her lips.

"I'm not Madison," I reminded her, shaking my head. "I don't want details. Just... are you happy?"

She nodded fervently and my heart soared for her.

"More than I've ever been and even more so every day," she replied, beaming, and I couldn't help but smile right along with her.

Unsurprisingly, my mother's agenda for the evening was bent solely around reminding each and every member of the gentry that we had secured a Dukedom in the family. She flaunted Victor around like one of her fine imported chocolates and Ella was content to stay on his arm, smiling and laughing with the nobility she had grown up around who she'd never much liked before. But now, it seemed that being a Duchess suited her quite well.

I stayed mostly to myself, engaging in too much of the spirits and talking with the other men my age, never straying too far from my mother in case she desired to loop me into the boasting parade.

"-and you know Emily is coming tomorrow," my mother was saying to Lord and Lady Brighton at one point when I was on my third scotch. "I will be so thrilled to have my whole family together under one roof again. And with the addition of such fine son in laws! One cannot help but count one's blessings when-"

Something clattered to the ground behind me. I glanced back to see that it was a lady's reticule. Without thinking, I bent to retrieve it and return it to it's rightful owner. It's rightful owner, however, bent to retrieve it as well and, as my hand grasped the reticule, hers brushed mine. I looked up and found myself gazing into emerald green eyes to rival the Queen's own Crown Jewels.

"Excuse me," she spoke, her voice warm and sweet. I stared back at her, blinking like a fool. Her brows knitted together and she took her reticule, standing and striding away without another word. I watched her go, not even daring to blink.

"Brother?" Ella spoke, touching my shoulder gently as she did.

"Who is that?" I asked, gesturing at the retreating form of the woman I'd just encountered. I watched her until she disappeared around the gardens and I could see her no longer. That's when I realized that Ella had never answered me. I turned to find her watching me and smiling. "What?"

"I've seen that look before," she said, knowingly.

"I've done that look," the Duke added, raising a brow, giving me that infernal smirk of his. Ella giggled and I blinked at the both of them, wondering when they'd extricated themselves from the Countess, when it had become just the three of us standing here alone, and how I had missed so much in my distraction.

"Do you know who she is?" I asked again, ignoring their smiles.

"No," Ella confessed, raising a brow, "but I can find out."

With that, she was gone, off to work her magic on the nearest group of ladies until she discovered the mysterious girl's identity.

"So," the Duke said when she was gone, slapping me on the back in a way I regretted to say I'd missed, "Elijah Harrington does have a heart after all. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

Victor winked, smiling at his own joke as he took a sip of his drink. But I couldn't help but scan the room as his words sank in for my mother. She was talking to a group of middle aged women with her back to us. I breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn't seen. Because, though Victor may be joking now, the fact of the matter was that any woman I may or may not be interested in needed to be kept a secret from the countess for now. At least, until I could find a way to tell her a secret I knew she might never forgive me for.