Read Online Desperately Seeking Suzanna by Elizabeth Michels - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Elizabeth Michels
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such. I’m quite certain Auntie wouldn’t permit such excesses. And you’ll have no need of your ball gowns. Of course your ball gowns never suited you to begin with, based on the way you decorated yourself last night. That ensemble was more suited to someone else…” She smiled, her thin lips curling up into sharp points. “…Someone like Suzanna?”
How did she know? Sue’s eyes flew to Evangeline. She watched as a blush crept up her sister’s face, her eyes averted in the mirror as she fumbled with a fold on her gown. “Mama, these pins are sticking me.”
“Oh, yes, my precious. I didn’t mean to become so preoccupied with your sister. Let’s get you out of that gown.”
Sue gaped at her mother’s retreating form. After four failed seasons, she would either find a suitor this year or be shipped away from everything she knew to keep Great-Aunt Mildred company…for the remainder of her life?
She looked down at the crumbs covering her faded muslin day dress. It was true she had no marriage prospects. There didn’t seem to be many options open to her, other than what her mother suggested. She certainly couldn’t stay unwed and with her mother forever—compared to that future, one spent with her great-aunt was looking quite lovely.
Was being a paid relation to a bitter old woman the best she could hope for in life?
She flicked a stray crumb from her knee with a finger, watching it fall onto an abandoned drawing of a ball gown lying on the floor. Her family certainly thought her worthy of the occupation. Or perhaps some charming gentleman would choose her this year, but she knew that wouldn’t happen—not to her. One corner of her mouth turned up in a wry smile. Her last season. She would attempt to enjoy this last summer knowing that in the end she would leave. Forever.
Four
Brooke House Asylum, London
March 27, 1816
The cool breeze whipped through her loose hair and pinned the thin dress to her body as she slipped around the corner into the alley. Henrietta had lost count of the years she’d been locked within those walls. She laid a hand on the bricks at her side to steady herself. The wall was warm. She turned, squinting up into the afternoon sun. She’d been inside so long, she’d forgotten what the heat of the sun felt like on her skin.
“Warmth,” she whispered. Most of her life was a blur, as if seeing years through a thick fog, but she did know one thing: she would never return to Brooke House Asylum.
The front door of the asylum creaked open and footsteps shuffled onto the stone steps. Someone must have noticed she was missing. Henrietta flattened herself to the bricks at her back, her breath catching in her throat as she held herself tight to the wall.
“Henrietta Ellis is not accounted for within the building.” Doctor Monro’s sharp tones crept down her spine, making the hair rise on the back of her neck.
“She didn’t get past me, Doc. You have my word,” the guard’s voice rumbled through the street.
“If she didn’t pass you, where do you suppose she’s hiding?”
“Last time she was in the kitchen. Could have gone there again, I suppose. Or there was the time with the broom cupboard, or the gate behind the mews.”
“Insolent…” The rest of Doctor Monro’s insult was drowned out by the sound of carriage wheels rolling down the street.
The sound of horse hooves grew louder as the conveyance neared the mouth of the alley. If she could reach the carriage, she could be away from this place for good. Could she get to the back of the vehicle before the guard or the doctor reached her? She took a breath and glanced down at her slippered feet. There was no hope of making it on foot. Perhaps she could have run for freedom in her youth, but not now. Her nostrils flared as she tested her legs, rocking to the side for a moment before taking off down the alley.
She moved at a slow lumber at best as she tried to catch the carriage before it passed. Wheels turned
How did she know? Sue’s eyes flew to Evangeline. She watched as a blush crept up her sister’s face, her eyes averted in the mirror as she fumbled with a fold on her gown. “Mama, these pins are sticking me.”
“Oh, yes, my precious. I didn’t mean to become so preoccupied with your sister. Let’s get you out of that gown.”
Sue gaped at her mother’s retreating form. After four failed seasons, she would either find a suitor this year or be shipped away from everything she knew to keep Great-Aunt Mildred company…for the remainder of her life?
She looked down at the crumbs covering her faded muslin day dress. It was true she had no marriage prospects. There didn’t seem to be many options open to her, other than what her mother suggested. She certainly couldn’t stay unwed and with her mother forever—compared to that future, one spent with her great-aunt was looking quite lovely.
Was being a paid relation to a bitter old woman the best she could hope for in life?
She flicked a stray crumb from her knee with a finger, watching it fall onto an abandoned drawing of a ball gown lying on the floor. Her family certainly thought her worthy of the occupation. Or perhaps some charming gentleman would choose her this year, but she knew that wouldn’t happen—not to her. One corner of her mouth turned up in a wry smile. Her last season. She would attempt to enjoy this last summer knowing that in the end she would leave. Forever.
Four
Brooke House Asylum, London
March 27, 1816
The cool breeze whipped through her loose hair and pinned the thin dress to her body as she slipped around the corner into the alley. Henrietta had lost count of the years she’d been locked within those walls. She laid a hand on the bricks at her side to steady herself. The wall was warm. She turned, squinting up into the afternoon sun. She’d been inside so long, she’d forgotten what the heat of the sun felt like on her skin.
“Warmth,” she whispered. Most of her life was a blur, as if seeing years through a thick fog, but she did know one thing: she would never return to Brooke House Asylum.
The front door of the asylum creaked open and footsteps shuffled onto the stone steps. Someone must have noticed she was missing. Henrietta flattened herself to the bricks at her back, her breath catching in her throat as she held herself tight to the wall.
“Henrietta Ellis is not accounted for within the building.” Doctor Monro’s sharp tones crept down her spine, making the hair rise on the back of her neck.
“She didn’t get past me, Doc. You have my word,” the guard’s voice rumbled through the street.
“If she didn’t pass you, where do you suppose she’s hiding?”
“Last time she was in the kitchen. Could have gone there again, I suppose. Or there was the time with the broom cupboard, or the gate behind the mews.”
“Insolent…” The rest of Doctor Monro’s insult was drowned out by the sound of carriage wheels rolling down the street.
The sound of horse hooves grew louder as the conveyance neared the mouth of the alley. If she could reach the carriage, she could be away from this place for good. Could she get to the back of the vehicle before the guard or the doctor reached her? She took a breath and glanced down at her slippered feet. There was no hope of making it on foot. Perhaps she could have run for freedom in her youth, but not now. Her nostrils flared as she tested her legs, rocking to the side for a moment before taking off down the alley.
She moved at a slow lumber at best as she tried to catch the carriage before it passed. Wheels turned
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