The Wings of the Truly Beautiful

seventeen.

When Lord Blackheart came down to the kitchen to tell everyone about Hetta's invitation, Winifred felt her heart flutter. It had been doing that quite a lot and she was beginning to get tired of it.

It's just Lord Blackheart. She would say to herself. He's only the man that sat there an listened to your story and then cradled you in his arms while you cried.

She scoffed at herself inwardly. Only. She had dreams about that moment. When she had realized that he was holding her and the safety she had felt. She had fallen asleep in his arms, exhausted from the emotional retelling of her past. Ms. Pemberly had told her that he had carried her in an explained that she had overexerted herself on their walk and fell asleep in the garden. 

"Winifred?"

She snapped back to the present. He had called her name and everyone was looking at her expectantly. "Yes, my lord?"

"May I have a word with you?"

She nodded watched as he walked to Ms. Pemberly's little sitting room down the hall. He clearly expected her to follow. As she passed the other kitchen maids, she heard them whispering and knew that she and Lord Blackheart were the objects of their gossip. They were beginning to notice something.

When they reached the room his pulled the door up but didn't close it, which she was grateful for. She could just imagine what the girls would say if they saw that. 

"I talked to Hetta," he said, getting right to it. "She- I know that you don't want to go to the wedding with me but I would like it if you would come with me."

Her brow wrinkled. "I thought you were going to tell her that you couldn't do that."

"Well, I tried but-"

As she watched his hesitation, something occurred to her. "She said something that made you change your mind. What was it?"

"Nothing, I-," he hesitated because what he was about to say wasn't going to sound good.

"What did she say?" 

"She said that if I didn't go with you, she'd pair me with a debutante," he said in defeat.

She nodded. "Ahh, I see. So if I go with you, you won't have to worry about the debutantes," she said shortly.

He shook his head, racking his brain for a way to make her understand that Hetta was trying to help him without coming out and saying why.

"Wait,"she said pausing. "Aren't you going to be part of the wedding party?"

"No, because I'm not actually part of the family," he said rolling his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"My parents cut me off. Disowned me, actually. My mother would never let me be part of the wedding. It's bad enough that I will be there at all."

"But you threw that party for Hetta and she comes to see you often," Winifred said in confusion.

"My sister didn't disown me, my parents did. And the party I threw was sort of behind my their back."

Winifred didn't know what to do with the new information. But she definitely wanted to know why he was disowned. Not that it was any of her business, but she told him her secret and she wanted to know at least one of his.

"But that's not the point. I don't want you to think that I'm saying all this because of Hetta and her debutantes. I would be honored to take you to the wedding. I just didn't think it would be something you'd be comfortable with."