“And he for her,” Evelyn said. “Allison’s whole family seems to be lucky in love.”
Jocelyn’s gaze was drawn to Allison’s three handsome brothers, who had filed into the room and were scattered around the table with their lovely brides. All of them did indeed seem to be glowingly happy, even though they’d been married for years. But every single one of them had also married far beneath them. Was that the trick? Was it impossible to marry among the ton and be happy?
Jocelyn’s own marriage had been a disaster. At eighteen, she’d been married off to a man older than her father. He’d been cruel and condescending, and he’d died just months after the birth of their son, leaving her to raise his heir alone.
“Do you disagree?” Inspector Ness asked her, seeming to pick up on her discontent.
She stiffened even more if such a thing was were possible, embarrassed to have been so easy to read. “I do not. My sister is correct. Allison and her brothers all seem to have found love.”
“But you don’t believe in it for yourself,” he surmised matter-of-factly.
“I don’t know that I believe in it at all. Love, that is,” she surprised herself by saying.
Evelyn gasped. “Jocelyn! How can you say such a thing? Of course, love exists.”
“I don’t know,” Inspector Ness mused, catching Jocelyn’s gaze and holding it. “I’m inclined to agree with the countess. Lots of people claim to have found it, but it never seems to last. I believe it’s generally nothing more than lust and a sad desperation to have someone else to cling to.”
Jocelyn knew she should be shocked by his coarse language, but she found she couldn’t be upset with his message since it so closely mirrored her own views on the matter. “Exactly! I am perfectly happy with my own company. I don’t need to pretend I’m in love to give my life meaning.”
“Well,” Evelyn said with a shake of her head. “I feel sorry for both of you. Neither of you will ever find true happiness if you go through life with that attitude.”
Jocelyn laughed at her sister’s words, but her gaze held Inspector Ness’s for a long moment, feeling as though she’d finally met a kindred soul, even if their only similarity was in their goal to never be fooled into believing themselves in love.