Hope spent an uneventful evening in Noelle’s bedchamber. She had taken her time finishing up some mending that needed done on a number of Noelle’s dresses before making sure her room was completely tidied up. After she had finished attending to all of her chores she decided to indulge in writing. She had been working on a story with magical creatures in a mystical world, one where animals could talk and humans could fly as free as the birds in the air. She went to her own small room and retrieved her stack of parchment along with her quill and ink and made herself comfortable at Noelle’s desk before being swept away into the wondrous world she had created.
She must’ve fallen asleep at the desk because the next thing she remembered was a hand on her shoulder shaking her awake. She opened her eyes and slowly sat up, confused for a moment by her strange surroundings. Her neck felt stiff from the awkward position she had fallen asleep in at the desk. She reached up and wiped away a smudge of drool that had escaped one corner of her mouth in her sleep before brushing a lock of hair out of her face, tucking it behind one ear.
“Hope, we need to talk.” It was Noelle.
“Couldn’t it have waited until the morning?” Though she was relieved to know that she had made it back from Soren’s safely, she was slightly annoyed at being awoken in the middle of a deep slumber.
“No, this is important.” Hope knew she was being foolishly optimistic to hope that whatever it was Noelle was going to say somehow wouldn’t involve her but she knew she couldn’t be so lucky. She focused her sleepy eyes on Noelle’s face and reluctantly waited.
“Soren has asked me to sail with him to America and become his wife.” Hope inhaled sharply, “and I have agreed. We leave three days from now.”
“Don’t be irrational milady, you can’t possibly leave your family, your home, your—”
Noelle cut her off. “I’ve already made up my mind to do so, so please kindly refrain from trying to convince me otherwise. But I can’t do it without your help, I need you to become me, to take my place as Lady Noelle.”
“Then I regret to inform you that you won’t be leaving because I refuse to be a pawn in this foolhardy plan.”
Noelle had the gall to appear shocked at her refusal, “You won’t do this for me?”
“I wouldn’t do it for anybody. Now let’s put this nonsense behind us and after we both get a good night’s sleep I’m sure it will all seem silly and unwise and you’ll be thankful that I wouldn’t agree to your plan.”
Much to Hope’s great annoyance, Noelle jutted out her bottom lip in a pout. And even further to her horror, her eyes began to water. Hope could not stand a blubbering woman and wondered if Noelle somehow knew that and was just doing it to try to make her feel sorry.
“You do realize that by doing me this great favor you would only be helping yourself? You would become a lady, no longer having to be a servant. Instead of taking care of someone, you would be taken care of. You’d have all of my beautiful gowns and many more over the years, not to mention a life of ease and luxury. And by marrying the Duke of Kerrington you’d have an honorable and coveted place in society.”
Drat, she had forgotten about marrying the duke, which was the worst part of all. “If your life is as wonderful as all of that then why don’t you stay here and live it yourself?”
Noelle huffed, “Because despite having all of that I wouldn’t have the one thing my heart truly desires—love, true love.”
Hope snorted, “And after knowing Mister Johannsen for a few days you’re convinced that you know what true love is? Pardon me for sounding doubtful but I can’t very well let you run off with a practical stranger and destroy your life as well as the life of your family. No, I simply won’t allow it.”
“Well good thing I don’t require your approval. My mind is made up and I will do it with or without your help. I will be leaving in three days time and either my family will have to face the scandal that will inevitably break due to my actions or they can go on with their lives as if nothing untoward has occurred, it’s up to you.”
Hope felt angrier in that moment than she had ever felt in her entire life. She could not believe Noelle would stoop so low as to manipulate her into thinking that the fate of her family was all on her shoulders. How had it come to this?
Hope quickly retrieved her writing supplies from the desk before turning towards the door and calling over her shoulder, “I’m going to bed and I suggest you do the same. Hopefully a good night’s sleep is all you need and by morning you’ll be more reasonable.” And with that, she left. She knew she was being bold in her speech and that she should’ve stayed and helped Noelle ready for bed but she was so mad at her that she didn’t even care.
Once she was back in the confines of her own small quarters she quickly put away her stuff then began pacing back and forth along the length of her room. She knew she should attempt to go to sleep and pray that when she woke up the next morning it had all been a bad dream but she knew that with her mind racing the way it was sleep would be impossible.