“I wouldn’t be here otherwise,” Roderick countered before once more turning the subject. “You ought to try to look as though you aren’t wondering what everyone else is doing here. This is a social occasion, Sean. Try to be a little social.”
“Right, right,” Sean said quickly. “I forgot for a moment. And I have every intention of being sociable. That was my intention from the beginning, don’t you know. I was full of eagerness, thinking I could find myself an heiress to wed with as well. But you were quite right in saying we’d best leave it to you. I don’t rightly know what I was thinking of.”
“Shall I introduce you to some of the other guests?”
“No, no, I should let you get back to whatever you were doing, Roddy. It’s important work,” he added. “I can manage on my own. How hard can it be?”
With that he quickly left Roderick’s side looking fidgety and nervous but quite determined. Roderick almost laughed out loud even as he glanced around hoping no one had overheard their less-than-delicate conversation. They were used to discussing any number of things without thinking to filter their words. It would be scandalous if they were to be overheard. Both for their discussion of Lucy and for referring to his list of marital prospects.
Roderick shook his head. Despite having been raised the son of an earl, he was very much adapted to the life of an absent-minded scholar. He needed to keep his wits about himself better, especially if he thought to convince an heiress to marry him at all, let alone quickly enough for him to buy the property he wanted.
But what had Lucy been doing listening to Sean as though she were actually interested in his studies? And what had made Sean think Lucy would be the right heiress for their purposes if only her dowry were bigger? Rod thought her dowry was likely more than adequate, but he had resolved himself to wedding with a quiet woman who would consider it an equal union, not a beautiful diamond who would be dampened by the arrangement. Lucy wouldn’t do at all.
And none of them could think otherwise.
Who else should he consider?
Miss Bastion had seemed promising. Or rather she had seemed like she would be willing to consider his suit. Roderick had thought there seemed to be something slightly off about her. Perhaps it was that she had an air of hardness about her. But that might have been nerves on her part. She had said she didn’t enjoy social events. That was definitely a mark in her favour. But it would also explain any awkwardness in company. He wouldn’t exclude her from consideration at this point.
Surely, though, there were other possibilities.
Roderick glanced around the room, taking note of the edges and corners. He expected that was where the shy guests might congregate. His gaze was caught by the back of a woman’s head. Not that there was anything so intriguing about the arrangement of her hair, it seemed to him to be much like every other brown-haired woman in the room, all tied up in loops and pins. But it was the very fact of being the back of her head that was visible. Because her attention was preoccupied with the books on the shelves, since the room they were currently in was the library.
Why had the earl even allowed this room to be open to his guests, Roderick thought to question even as he was walking toward the bookshelves to get a better view of which of his fellow guests was more interested in the books than the people.
“Lady Evangeline,” Roderick greeted with a grin.
The woman started and turned with a guilty expression.
“Mr. Northcott, good evening, how do you do, isn’t it a lovely party?”
Roderick’s smile was hard to contain with how the slightly mousy young widow tried to cover over her embarrassment with an abundance of words.
“It is a lovely evening, yes, thank you. And how do you do, my lady?”
“Oh, well, thank you for asking. I’m—” she paused for a moment as though she had to ponder the topic. “I suppose we could say I’m quite well.”
Roderick fought to prevent his amusement from showing and embarrassing the poor woman. She hadn’t had the most pleasant of lives, he was sure. And now, as a young widow, he wasn’t sure if that was a relief for her or another source of despair. She didn’t seem unhappy, for that he could be grateful. He brightened. Caroline hadn’t mentioned this woman as a possibility, but he was almost certain she could be considered an option. And it helped that he found her to be reasonably pleasant company.
He wasn’t a stickler. He wouldn’t discount a woman because she was a widow. In fact, he should have considered that a widow might be even better for his purposes. A widow should be in a better position to know her mind when she agreed to what he was going to propose.
“You were examining the titles, weren’t you?”
Lady Evangeline quickly looked around as though to ensure no one else could hear their conversation before she responded. “You should never accuse a lady of some such thing,” she answered in a scolding tone.
“Why would that be an accusation? I was just thinking I ought to do the same thing. It isn’t often I would have such an opportunity. I’m not on sufficiently close terms with Crossley to casually browse his shelves, and he might think it odd if I were to show up one day and ask for an audience with his books.”
A delightful giggle answered his efforts at being droll, much to his relief. He had tried for levity at other parties in the past and had received blank stares from more fashionable young women. Yes, Lady Evangeline might be just perfect for his needs.
“I won’t tell, if you don’t,” she finally whispered as she cast a glance back at the shelves.
“If we face one another and appear to be having a conversation, we just might be able to read the titles without anyone noticing what we are about.”
“But you knew what I was doing, so it might not be so easy to hide.”
“One book lover will always recognize another, for one thing, my lady.”
“Well, that’s true,” she agreed with a firm nod. “What’s the other thing?”
