"I'm not looking for shortcuts," Bianca said. "I just want comfort. And surely because of you I could have a better position."
Valerie looked at her calmly. Too calmly, to the point that it felt cold.
"I am not the lady of this house," she replied softly. "I am not the Duke's wife. Nor am I a favored woman who can bend everything to her will."
She paused, making sure every word landed where it should. "You should understand that."
Bianca pressed her lips together, then finally spoke the sentence she had been holding back like a final card laid on the table. "But you're carrying the Duke's child."
Silence.
Valerie did not react at once. Her expression did not change, but something hardened in her gaze.
"Precisely because of that," she said at last, her voice low and controlled, "I will not abuse a position that is not even mine yet."
