“I am a woman at the advanced age of four and forty!”
“It was a dance, mama, not an offer of courtship,” Felicity said with a measure of amusement.
The slight blush on her mother’s face jolted her heart. Was her mother perhaps interested in the widowed viscount? Her mother retained her youthful appearance with her trim build and prettiness. There was no gray to be found in her dark blonde hair, and the lines at her mouth were few, and more of a testament that she loved to laugh than anything else. Despite not wearing the latest fashion, Felicity always thought her startlingly lovely. Her natural kindness and her readiness to smile attracted many people to her side. Though she admitted, her mother was a little too fond of gossiping! “Mama—”
“Judith tells me that Perdie has invited you to live with her in Scotland,” her mother said, in an evident bid to change the topic, of course.
Felicity grinned and obliged. Her mother was the only one who called the formidable dowager duchess by her intimate name. “It was an invitation to stay with her for a few weeks. I have not decided.”
“Why? Why did I have to hear about this from the dowager duchess?”
Clasping her mother’s arm, she squeezed it gently. “Perdie is newly married; there is no need for me to travel with her to her husband’s Scottish estate.”
Her mother huffed. “You already went on that hair-brained trip with her when she ran away from home. Every time I think about it, my nerves get shattered all over again. Imagine two genteel ladies skipping about the roads as if they are impervious to harm!”
“We were very careful,” she said soothingly, for what was perhaps the hundredth time. “And Hattie did accompany us.”
“Hattie is a servant of little means or will to protect two young ladies!”
Her mama seemed to recall the incident with great frequency, and her nerves were always beset by the anguish of what could have happened. It made no sense for Felicity to point out that nothing terrible had happened, that itcouldhave, was enough to distract her mother. It was best to remain silent, so they strolled in companionable silence for a few minutes.
“There is little for you here in town,” her mother said, her equanimity regained. “I would not mind it if you were to leave. Do a spot of travel. Perhaps you will meet a nice gentleman who will make a respectable offer.”
Her mother eternally hoped her daughter, who was firmly on the shelf collecting dust moats, would meet a gentleman who would not mind that she had little wealth, beauty, or connections. Felicity had no notion where they would find such a paragon but did not say so.
“Mama, I—”
“A gentleman is staring at you, Felicity,” her mother said with faint alarm. Then she gasped. “I do believe it to be the Earl of Wyndham.”
Felicity’s heart skipped several beats, but she worked to mask her reaction. Worse, her mother’s tone had transformed to one of excited astonishment, and Felicity swallowed a groan. She’d already endured a great deal of interrogation by her mother the day after the ball because a few scandal sheets thought it newsworthy to mention that the earl had danced.
Ridiculous, she darkly thought. Still, only her mother could ever believe a man labeled the most elusive catch of the season would be captivated by a penniless spinster. “Mama—”
“My dear, that is the stare of a man captivated by your charms.”
This time she did groan. “Mama, it is nothing of the sort, and should you contrive to drop a handkerchief or something before him, I shall die of mortification.”
Her mother chuckled, brown eyes very much like her own, warming to whatever scheme she saw in her head. “I would never be so obvious. But we must—”
“Mama, please!”
Her mother eyed her consideringly for a long moment. “I only wish to see you happy and contented with your lot in life.”
“I dare not lie and say I am contented, but I am hoping to invest in some of the schemes the duchess proposes. It should allow us a comfortable living in a few years when they mature. I shall be very careful, mama.”
“I meant your happiness with a husband.”
“A woman does not need a man to be happy,” she said with a touch of asperity.
“But I know you, my dear; you long for your own home,” her mother said quietly, and with that touch of shame in her eyes. “We’ve not had a roof to call our own in years. The dowager duchess is very kind to me, but I cannot think her kindness will extend to taking care of us forever. I had hoped that when the earl danced with you, and only you, since the start of the season meant something.”
Her throat ached. Now that she had made the decision to pretend to be the earl’s fiancée, she had to inform her mother. They only had each other, and Felicity could not bear the idea of lying to her. “Mama?”
“Yes, dear?”
“I am to visit Hertfordshire for a few weeks.”
Her mother frowned. “Who do we know from Hertfordshire? Is it someone from that club you intend on visiting?”