With that, she patted him on the shoulders and left, leaving Jeffrey sitting with only Viola across from him at the table, arms crossed as she leaned back and stared at him contemplatively.
“So tell me the truth,” she said. “What really happened?”
Jeffrey sighed. Viola was as soft and gentle as she appeared, but she could be relentless when she wanted something.
“Her name is Lady Phoebe Winters and her father was a viscount,” he began, and Viola’s eyes lit up from behind her spectacles.
“Of course, Jeffrey. I am acquainted with Lady Phoebe, and have, in fact, introduced the two of you in the past. Do you not recall her? She is striking.”
Striking — that was the word for her. Not beautiful, but there was something about her that captivated him like no other woman had as of yet.
“I overheard a conversation between the lady and her friends. She—”
“You wereeavesdropping?”
“It was an accident,” he defended himself. “Anyway, she was going on about women, and men and women’s place in our society. She seems to think women should be equal to men, that anyone who says they do not have the ability to make the same decisions or also hold power is in error, that they are preposterous. Can you believe it? She thinks that we should all change so that women’s opinions can be heard. I can hardly imagine it.”
He snorted, picking up a bit of toast, but when Viola was silent, he looked back up at her to judge her reaction.
“Let me guess,” she said, leaning onto the table, her brown eyes intent upon him. “You argued with her.”
“I did notargue,” he said indignantly. “I simply suggested that it would be best if she no longer spread such ideas to other young women. She could impede her own friends’ ability to find a match if they begin to share such ideas. Lady Phoebe herself had best be careful, or she will find that she no longer has any prospects at all, if she did to begin with. She is lucky that I did not widely share her words.”
Viola was shaking her head at him, pieces of light brown hair escaping the knot at the back of her head.
“What?”
“Do you really believe so strongly that you are right?”
“Of course I do,” he retorted. “What other answer could there be?”
“Well,” she said slowly. “Perhaps Lady Phoebe has a point.”
Jeffrey looked up at her in shock. “You agree with her? You cannot, you —”
“Why not?” Viola asked, widening her hands in front of her. “Because I am your sister? That doesn’t mean I do not have my own beliefs. Think of it like this. If you could choose to trust one of your siblings with your entire life — God forbid you became ill, and you could no longer look after your estate, your investments — who would you trust?”
Jeffrey was silent for a moment. Of course, if anything did happen to him, the title and all it entailed would fall to his brother, Ambrose. But Ambrose was not exactly the most… responsible man he knew.
“You,” he finally said begrudgingly.
“You see?” she asked, a smile brightening her face. “You would trust me, a woman.”
“That’s different,” he finally said, unwilling to meet her eyes.
“How so?”
“You are practical — rational. You are intelligent and would not make decisions on a whim.”
“So you think I am an anomaly, then?” she asked. “That no other woman is like me? It does not matter whether a person is a man or a woman, Jeffrey. What matters is the person.”
And with that, she simply shook her head at him — in regret? Or dismay? He wasn’t altogether sure — and rose from the table, striding out the door with her head held high and no returning look his way, though she did stop to quickly pet Maxwell before continuing on.
Jeffrey sighed as he rubbed his temple. This was going to be a long day.