“Well…” Elizabeth swallowed and considered.
“The truth, if you will.”
Elizabeth sighed. “He was a bit pompous in the beginning and we didn’t exactly have the best time.”
Rose looked relieved that Elizabeth had suffered a bad morning with the viscount, but then she seemed to remember that she was trying to be supportive of Elizabeth making a match with the man and frowned. “That’s too bad.”
“Actually, it all ended rather nicely. He and I had a nice talk and I think I would like to give him a second chance.”
“Oh. Splendid.” Rose’s voice hit an octave Elizabeth had never heard from her sister-in-law before.
Elizabeth’s mouth tugged with a smile. “Holding back your opinions is killing you, isn’t it?”
“Slowly and painfully,” Rose sighed with a grin. They linked arms again and continued down the sunlit sidewalk. “Well, if you are serious about him, then I suppose I ought to plan some sort of dinner or outing to allow you two more time together. What do you think it ought to be?”
Something that absolutely under no circumstances included Oliver Turner.
The sound of laughter and voices trickled through the hallway, reaching Elizabeth and Rose before they ever stepped through Mary’s door.
“It sounds like we are not the only ones visiting Mary today,” said Rose. Elizabeth welcomed that realization. The less time she had to spend alone with her sister, the better. Feelings swarmed through her that she wasn’t sure what to do with. She had always complied with her siblings’ suggestions and demands. It had never been a problem before. But now, as she was trying to make her own place in the world, it annoyed her to have Mary refuse to see her as equal.
“Are we intruding on a party?” asked Rose as she inched open Mary’s door, revealing Carver and Robert standing near Mary, lovely in a modest deep purple dressing gown, resting on a chaise. Miss Vienna Loxley occupied the chair beside her.
The first thing Elizabeth noticed was that Mary was smiling. Albeit, a tense smile. She looked from Mary back to Miss Loxley and felt a tug of jealousy. Jealousy was the last feeling in the world Elizabeth wished to be experiencing. She should be grateful that Mary looked lighter, rather than frustrated she had not been the one to put the smile on her face.
“Come in! Now it most certainly is a party.” Mary held out her han
d to Elizabeth, squeezed it, and smiled her mother hen smile. “I’m happy to see you, darling. You’ve met my dearest friend, Vienna, have you not?” Elizabeth swallowed the words dearest friend. She had had no idea how badly she wished to be Mary’s friend until she had come to London. Now that want stared her in the face and mocked her in the form of a beautiful friend named Vienna.
Of course, Vienna wasn’t actually mocking her. In fact, her smile was so warm and kind that Elizabeth could see quite easily why Mary adored her. That somehow made it worse.
“Elizabeth and I were able to chat briefly at my soirée, but it wasn’t nearly enough. I want to know all about how you are enjoying your first Season.” Elizabeth opened her mouth to respond, but Vienna continued. “I hope it has been nothing like the first Season your sister and I endured together.” Vienna and Mary exchanged knowing looks. Looks that said they had gone through battle and back together.
“I haven’t heard any tales of your first Season, Mary,” said Rose, from where she now stood beside an adoring Carver.
Come to think of it, Elizabeth had never heard her sister speak of her curtsy to Society either. “Was it so terrible?” asked Elizabeth.
Elizabeth looked back and forth between Vienna and Mary, catching the moment that Vienna gave Mary a sad, understanding smile. Mary returned it and then looked to Elizabeth. “It was not the best of Seasons for either of us. But never mind all that. Let’s hear how yours is getting on. Any suitors?” Mother hen had appeared again.
Elizabeth could feel her cheeks pinking. She could also feel that all eyes were on her and she did not care for it one bit. The truth was, she would have told Mary about Lord Hastings if they had been alone. But with Vienna perched in her chair looking like an older and more sophisticated version of herself, Elizabeth felt a little crippled. “Not as of yet.”
“That’s not what I’ve heard,” said Robert, shifting on his feet and clasping his hands behind his back. Robert was known for his unreadable expressions. The man was a master at cards. But the face he was wearing just then said he had a good hand and he wished for everyone to know it.
“And just what have you heard, dearest brother-in-law?” said Elizabeth in the teasing tone she often used with him. Like Rose, he had never been one to pat her head and shoo her back to the nursery.
He smirked slightly. “That Lord Hastings—the Unobtainable himself—seems to have set his sights on you.”
Mary gasped and looked at Elizabeth. “Is that so? I’m missing everything being holed up in this room.”
Vienna grinned. “I thought I saw a spark between you two at my soirée. He was very dedicated to remaining near you the entire evening.” Elizabeth curled her toes inside her slippers, hoping Vienna had not noticed the real reason for Lord Hastings's devotion that evening: making sure she didn’t fall over. Mary could certainly never know about that unfortunate slip up.
From the corner of her eye, she could see Carver open his mouth. But then Rose shoved her elbow into his ribs and something between a squeak and a cough was all that left his mouth. They both then smiled innocently.
“Where did you hear that?” Elizabeth asked Robert, trying to turn the conversation away from any topic that could lead to Mary learning of Elizabeth’s overindulgence.
“From the informant I’ve hired to watch you,” he said, stone-faced. But then a smile cracked his mouth. “Turner, of course.” Something inside her felt shocked by his statement, but she wasn’t quite sure what it was yet.
“You and Oliver were discussing my courtship with Lord Hastings?” Interesting.