“No, no, of course not,” Della assured her. “I’m just focusing on the club these days. But forget about me. How are matters progressing with Mr. Bhattacharya? Have you received a proposal yet?”
Reva didn’t answer, but pursed her lips and dropped her eyes in a knowing manner.
“Reva!” Della shrieked.
“Shh, there’s nothing final yet. His family are going to call on my parents on Friday to settle the details and choose a wedding date. After that we can make an announcement.”
“I’m so happy for you!” Judging by her smile, Reva was happy too. Della swept her friend into a tight embrace. “Tell me all about him.Is he very handsome?”
“I find him handsome. He’s tall, with a kind smile. He loves poetry as much as I do, and he’s studying to become a barrister.” She was blushing as she spoke. “He’s very clever.”
Lord Ashton is clever too, Della couldn’t help but think. It was a good quality in a man. And Reva was the sort of lady to need a husband she could really talk to, not someone who would stick to his own sphere of interest and ignore her.
“I’m happy for you,” Della repeated. “I can’t wait for your wedding.”
Though her joy was quite real, she couldn’t help but wonder if this would mean that Reva would be busy with a baby of her own in a year or two, just like Jane. It seemed most of her friends had settled down now. She hadn’t noticed it happening; they just slid away one by one until before she knew it, she’d clipped out a wedding announcement for everyone except herself.
She was glad they were happy, of course—with the exception of a few who weren’t—but it made Della uneasy to see how her friends changed afterward. They retired to the countryside; they stopped coming by the club when they were in town; they started throwing dinner parties made up entirely of married couples to have a “balanced table.” By the time a baby came along, the gap between their lives and Della’s had often widened into a chasm. Even if she might follow them into matrimony one day, she would never abandon her old life that way.
Why were they all in such a hurry to stop having fun?
“You must promise you won’t be too busy for me once you’re a married woman.” Della squeezed Reva’s hands. “I shall still come and visit you, and you must do likewise. You’re staying in London, I trust?” If her future husband was to be a barrister, there was a good chance he would work in town.
“Yes,” Reva confirmed.
“Wonderful.” Della breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever else might come, at least her friend wasn’t disappearing to some forgotten corner of the countryside like so many others had. “Let’s make sure to have some fun together before you get too busy preparing for your wedding. I need to tour some attractions in London for my book soon, if you’d care to join me.”
“Oh, where are you going?”
“The shops, the botanical gardens, the theater, any place interesting we can think of, really. It’s been ages since I visited most of them, and I need to make sure my descriptions are up to date.”
Before Reva could answer, a knock at the door indicated Lord Ashton had arrived. Reva cast a questioning look at Della as she rose to her feet. “You aren’t going to rush me off before I can even see the man, are you? I need to judge if youwouldn’t suitas much as you claim.”
Della smiled at her friend’s teasing. “Very well, but you must promise not to make a fuss. I meant it when I said he wasn’t a match for me.” She was trying to look stern, but as usual, it proved beyond the abilities of her face. Reva didn’t seem mollified in the least.
The butler showed Lord Ashton in, and he halted his step midstride when he saw them. “Forgive me, I didn’t realize you had company.”
“I was just leaving,” Reva explained.
“Miss Chatterjee, please allow me to present the Viscount Ashton, who’s been kind enough to help me with my book.”
Reva curtsied gracefully. “How do you do?”
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Chatterjee,” Lord Ashton said as he bowed in return.
He looked particularly handsome today, dressed in a crisp fawn morning coat and a green silk cravat that brought out the color of his eyes. Or perhaps it was only that Della saw him in a new lightnow that they had breached the walls between them. Belatedly, she realized that she was smiling at him too warmly, her eyes lingering too long, and that Reva had probably noticed all of it.
She flushed, which did nothing to help matters.
“Miss Danby was just telling me about her plans to tour every attraction in London! I hope you aren’t keeping her too busy, my lord.”
Reva said the words with a friendly smile, but Della caught a flash of panic in Ashton’s eye. What was wrong? Oh, but he must think that she’d said something about their trip to Laurent’s Casino last night.
“The decision to see all the shops and theaters again was my own, not Lord Ashton’s,” Della cut in smoothly, hoping the words would convey her discretion. “You know I don’t like to do things in half measures.”
“True,” Reva agreed with a little laugh. “You’re nothing if not ambitious.” With another little curtsy to Lord Ashton, she said, “I won’t keep you from your work any longer. I’m sure you have lots to discuss.”
Della invited Ashton to make himself comfortable while she saw Reva to the door. Once they were in the foyer and safely out of earshot, Reva whispered excitedly, “You didn’t say he was aviscount!”
