Ever since her marriage into the Ravenshade family, Roseanne had lived under Olivia's shadow. It didn't matter that she bore the title of Countess now; the inferiority never left her. Olivia had been born a marquis's daughter, raised in a very cultured, well-off family, and carried herself with a grace that Roseanne could never mimic.
People never saw Olivia as just another noblewoman; they whispered of her as the Countess of Ravenshade, the jewel of high society, the woman whose name opened doors and turned heads. Men's eyes lingered too long on her, women sought her favor, and every gathering seemed to circle back to her as though she were the axis of their world.
And Roseanne? She was nothing in comparison. No matter what she did, no matter how hard she smiled, how many gowns she wore, or how carefully she curried favor, she could not measure up to what Olivia had effortlessly been. Olivia had given the family not just her beauty, but an heir.
