"Penelope! Where is mother going?" Lily asked as she ran over to Penelope.
"Erin is here, and I told mother that I wouldn’t be upset if they spoke now," Penelope answered.
"Why would you say that? I adore Erin, but she mustn’t be forgiven so easily. Why is it that as soon as her husband’s old friendship is affecting her business, she can come here to be forgiven?" Lily asked.
Penelope stood up and dusted off her dress. "We do not know if Erin will be forgiven easily. This is why I thought it was best that we were not around during her talk with Erin. Erin is our dressmaker, and we have the right to not use her again, but she was our mother’s friend."
If her mother chose to forgive Erin, then Penelope wouldn’t be upset. It was over two decades of friendship that the two women might want to hold onto.
"If you are still upset with Erin, you can find a new dressmaker to use. I am currently on the search for my own dressmaker. I need someone who isn’t a family friend," said Penelope.
Penelope didn’t like the position she was in because Erin was a close friend of her mother. She didn’t want a repeat of Erin no longer being close to the family, and she could not have her dresses.
"I will find my own dressmaker as well," Lily decided.
"I like Erin’s dresses," Isabelle said, wanting to stay with Erin.
"Then, you should use her. No one would be upset if you do," Penelope promised.
"But I don’t like that you two do everything together, and I do something else!" Isabelle argued, her cheeks flushed.
Penelope and Lily looked at each other. Isabelle had always been cute when she got upset.
"Is it because you are twins? Why wasn’t I given a twin?" Isabelle asked, upset.
"Maybe father didn’t yearn for it hard enough the third time around," Lily said jokingly. "You don’t need to have a twin, Belle. You have us. Now, let us go find what room they are in so we can eavesdrop by the window."
Melody frowned. "I don’t think that is a good idea. Penelope," she turned to her niece for help.
"Forgive me, Aunt Melody. I wish to hear it as well," Penelope said, picking up her dress to follow her sisters.
Melody watched the girls run off for a moment, and after thinking it over, she decided to follow them. Should there be something said that the girls shouldn’t overhear, she would need to pull them away.
Inside, Erin was escorted to the drawing room where Alessandra would meet her.
When Erin entered behind the butler, the room was empty. Alessandra was yet to arrive, so it gave Erin more time to prepare to face Alessandra.
It was strange for Erin to be in this position where she was afraid to see Alessandra. Since meeting Alessandra, she was always excited to see Alessandra again.
"Can I offer you something to drink?"
"No, I am fine," Erin replied.
"The duchess will be here shortly," said Gerald.
Erin took a deep breath. All she needed to do was speak her truth and hope Alessandra would forgive her.
It wasn’t long before Erin heard the sound of shoes hitting against the floor and knew that Alessandra was coming.
"Duchess," the butler’s greeting confirmed it.
Erin turned around to face the door and was welcomed by a face she missed dearly. She felt relieved when Alessandra smiled, though it wasn’t the usual. It was a small smile meant for a greeting.
"Duchess," Erin greeted Alessandra with a curtsy. "It is good to see that you are well."
"I am pleased to see that you are also well, Erin. You may sit," Alessandra said, pointing to the chair. "I have asked the butler to prepare you something to help cool you down from the long trip."
Erin sat down and watched as Alessandra walked to the other chair to sit down.
"That is kind of you. I brought the money I promised Edgar that I would bring," Erin said, placing a bag on the table.
Alessandra looked at the bag. This wasn’t what she thought Erin came for.
"I see," Alessandra replied. "I shall inform my husband of it. I will have Gerald put it away when he returns."
"You do not need to count it?" Erin asked.
Alessandra frowned. "Would you bring the wrong amount? I trust you, Erin."
Alessandra’s confession of trusting Erin was like a needle pressing against Erin’s heart.
Erin looked away from Alessandra, her guilt consuming her.
"You trust me. You trusted me, and I broke your trust. I am sorry for what I did, Alessandra. I know firsthand what you faced in the past, yet I turned my back on you," Erin said, apologetic.
Alessandra heard the crack in Erin’s voice. It was evidence that Erin was truly sorry for what she did, and it was hurting her.
"You could have told me of your troubles, Erin. That you were worried about the shop, or perhaps you felt pressured to do it. You didn’t offer me the chance to speak with you before it happened. I wrote to you many times and sent guards for the dresses you," Alessandra said, trying to remain calm to relay her feelings.
"You didn’t answer me. At first, I thought you weren’t well and got upset with myself for not going to see you. I should have gone to see you if I thought you weren’t well. I was wrong," Alessandra admitted to her fault.
"Don’t apologise. Had you come to the shop or my home, I cannot say confidently that I would have opened the door," said Erin.
"Still, as a good friend, I should have visited. It hurt me that I had to meet you by chance at a ball and learn then that you didn’t want to do business with us anymore. That you had also ignored Penelope. I draw the line at my husband and children," Alessandra said.
Alessandra could take what others did to her and ignore it, but when it came to her family, she could not do it.
"You know what my family means to me. I have spoken to you in private about how it feels to finally have a family that I love. I shared my fears that they might face the cruelty that I faced if I let the wrong person around them. I welcomed you into their lives because I trust you," Alessandra said, her composure slipping away.
Alessandra took a deep breath before continuing and said, "I know that it seems to be a small betrayal since no one was injured, but you did hurt me, Erin."