* * *
Hannah didn’t think she’d ever been happier to see another person in her life.
“Annabelle.” The name escaped her lips as little more than a sigh of relief.
“Oh goodness, I thought you’d been locked in the tower,” the other girl said with a questioning laugh. “Della told me that Jane told her that your mother wasn’t letting you out.”
Though Hannah had only known Annabelle Danby in passing before her arrival in London, they’d become fast friends. The Danby sisters had an almost heroic air to them. They seemed to do whatever they pleased, but their quick wit and warm manner made them welcome at every gathering. Hannah couldn’t understand how they managed to get away with it all. She sometimes dreamed that if she could only get to know them a little better, she might learn their secret and become nearly as daring.
Or at least, shehadthought that way. Until she’d learned what Della was up to.
“Um…how is your sister? I hope she’s feeling well. Has she… Is she here with you?”
Hannah didn’t look forward to their next meeting, after how they’d left things that night at the club.
“No. She had some sort of business to attend to.” Annabelle’s answer brought a wave of relief. And shortly after that, guilt.
“I hope you might tell her…” Hannah hesitated, struggling for the right words. “Please tell her I’m sorry for the trouble I caused before.”
There. She might not be quite willing to forget that Della was involved with a married man, but Hannahwassorry for causing a fuss and upsetting everyone. In her haste to escape her mother, she’d failed to think about how much trouble her plans might cause.
“What happened?” Annabelle asked in a low tone. “Here, come over behind this elephant where no one will hear us.”
“I think that’s supposed to be a giraffe.” Hannah studied thehedge for a moment. Its carver hadn’t been as skilled as one might have liked.
“Never mind what it is. I want to hear your story.”
I may as well start at the most important part.“I’m engaged.”
“No, you aren’t.”
“Yes, Iam.”
“Really?” Annabelle’s dismay was plain. “But I thought you refused to be married. You promised to be an old maid with me.”
Though she was only nineteen, Miss Annabelle had made no secret of the fact that she intended never to marry, yet no one in her family seemed to mind—another curiosity Hannah couldn’t explain. Their lives really were so different.
“You haven’t even asked who my future husband shall be,” Hannah scolded her friend. “It’s Mr. Corbyn, the same fellow I kissed at Bishop’s. So you can tell everyone we’ve been secretly engaged for months and they should all calm down a bit about what they saw.”
Hopefully that would help smooth over the scandal and make amends to Della and Jane.
“Haveyou been engaged for months?” Annabelle had a narrow face, which always made her look more serious. To that image she now added a very judgmental tone. “I thought he’d only just arrived in town when you kissed him. Della said he’d been at sea before then.”
“Must we debate the details? He was in London before his first night at Bishop’s. I met him when he came to call on my brother. It was love at first sight. Anyway, the important thing is that we were engagedbeforewe kissed.”
Annabelle didn’t seem to care about this critical piece of information in the least. Didn’t she realize that it made all the difference if they wanted to counter the gossip for the sake of the club?
“I can’t believe you would chain yourself to someman.” Annabelle wrinkled her nose in disdain. “What if he’s horrid?”
“He’s not horrid at all. He’s very kind. Have you met him?” Hannah slipped her gloved hand into that of her friend and tugged her gently out from behind the giraffe-elephant to observe Mr. Corbyn. He was still trapped with her mother, poor fellow. He looked so handsome today, the bright-blue morning coat bringing out the color of his eyes just as she’d known it would.
Would Annabelle believe that such a man could want to marry her? Hannah had been so excited to see him dressed up, but now she wondered if their pairing might look far-fetched by the light of day. The best she’d ever managed to attract in the past were the likes of Mr. Horvath or Sir Richard. Underwhelming, unwanted bachelors who’d only turned their sights to Hannah when no one prettier or richer would have them.
“He’s over there, the one with blond hair.”
Hannah studied Annabelle’s face for the awe and wonder which would surely follow, but she took in Mr. Corbyn’s good looks with no outward sign that they’d moved her. “How predictable,” Annabelle finally said. “Are you going to move to the country and have babies now? I’mverydisappointed in you.”
“I doubt I’ll move to the country,” Hannah assured her. “He doesn’t have any money. Mama wants him to buy a commission in the army.”
