They Mocked Their Elder Sister For Being Unmarried… Until A Mysterious Duke Approached Her At The..

Chapter 6

Duke Alistair Thornwood began appearing at Whitmore Manor so frequently that servants started preparing his preferred tea before his carriage even reached the front gates.

At first, society treated the visits like harmless curiosity. Then newspapers in London began printing subtle remarks about the mysterious attention the Duke seemed to be giving Lord Reginald’s unmarried eldest daughter. Gossip spread through drawing rooms, opera halls, and church gatherings with astonishing speed.

“Perhaps Thornwood has gone mad.”

“No powerful man visits a woman repeatedly without intention.”

“Surely he cannot truly admire Miss Whitmore.”

Inside the manor, everything changed. Lord Reginald suddenly invited Elara to sit nearer important guests during supper. He asked her opinion during conversations whenever Alistair visited. He introduced her proudly before wealthy businessmen as though he had always valued her presence.

Lady Helena transformed even more dramatically. Expensive gowns arrived from London almost weekly — emerald silk, pale silver satin, lace gloves trimmed with pearls. She hovered around Elara constantly before gatherings, adjusting necklaces, rearranging hairpins, speaking with a warmth she had not shown her daughter in years.

“You must wear your hair differently,” Lady Helena insisted one afternoon, adjusting a sapphire necklace around Elara’s throat. “The Duke notices elegance.”

Elara barely recognized the strange affection in her mother’s behavior. For years, she had been invisible. Now she was suddenly the most important person in the household.

But her sisters noticed, and they hated it.

Seraphina’s bitterness worsened after discovering that Hadrian had secretly sold several pieces of her jewelry to repay gambling debts. Their marriage, once displayed proudly before society, had become filled with shouting behind closed doors and nights spent waiting for him to return from gambling clubs.

Lavinia’s loneliness deepened quietly. Her husband, Lucian Harrington, rarely slept at their estate anymore, spending most evenings buried in political meetings while treating his wife more like decoration than companionship.

Arabella’s glamorous marriage darkened quickly after the wedding. Phineas Whitcombe controlled everything she wore, where she traveled, whom she visited. The man who once showered her with compliments now criticized her constantly whenever guests departed.

Yet none of the sisters blamed their husbands. They blamed Elara.

One afternoon, Seraphina sat angrily inside the drawing room, twisting her wine glass between nervous fingers. “She manipulated him. No powerful man suddenly notices a woman like Elara without reason.”

Lavinia remained quieter, but no less resentful. “She makes herself appear innocent. Men enjoy rescuing women they pity.”

Arabella slammed her teacup onto the table. “She enjoys humiliating us now. After everything we have done for her.”

Their jealousy poisoned every conversation inside the manor. Soon, rumors began spreading through society that Elara had emotionally trapped Alistair using vulnerability and false modesty. Seraphina encouraged the gossip privately while pretending innocence publicly. Lavinia went further — during a dinner gathering in London, she secretly arranged for Lady Vivienne Ashford to attend, knowing the woman still desired Alistair’s attention desperately.

Vivienne arrived wearing black velvet and diamonds that glittered beneath candlelight. Throughout the evening, she laughed softly beside Alistair, touching his arm occasionally while speaking about old memories they once shared.

Elara watched quietly from across the room, feeling something painful tighten inside her chest. She had begun to believe that Alistair’s attention was genuine. But seeing him beside Vivienne, so beautiful and confident, made old insecurities return like a wave.

Then Vivienne leaned closer toward Alistair and murmured, “You were happier before becoming so serious.”

Alistair’s expression hardened instantly. “No. I was simply more foolish.”

The rejection silenced Vivienne completely. For the first time, Elara saw the woman’s perfect mask crack.