“Did he?”
“He denied it, but he was strangely fidgety. I have known Mr. Dawes all my life, and I’d swear he was lying to me."
"But to what purpose?”
“That I cannot say.” She worried her bottom lip between her teeth.
“Oh, look, Catherine!” Susannah cried, grabbing her arm, “Captain Chilberlain and Earl of Soothcoor have arrived!”
Catherine looked up dutifully, and though she saw the two gentlemen, she also saw Kirkson standing by the entrance greeting two of Almack’s formidable patronesses. She doubtedhe’d seen her yet, but with the Captain sure to capture Susannah’s attention, she had to think of a way to stay clear of the gentleman.
She rose from her chair, pulling Susannah along with her. The Earl of Soothcoor didn’t know it yet, she thought grimly, but he was about to become her dress’s savior.
“You watch the chit avidly.I swear I do not see what you gentlemen find of interest in her. She is such a tiny brown wren, and just as common,” Lady Welville said languidly, yawning delicately behind her fan.
Sir Philip Kirkson looked down at her and sneered. “And I fail to understand how you could possess a voucher to this hallowed hall of respectability.”
Panthea laughed lightly, not in the least offended. “You would be amazed at the skeletons that reside in the closets of some of our vaunted patronesses.”
“Blackmail, hmm?”
She waved her fan back and forth, smiling. “Frankly, I don’t know why you bother. It is such an insipid place.”
“I don’t often attend. Just enough to show I can if I choose to,” she admitted. She tucked her arm through his. “Walk with me to the refreshment table so I may pretend to enjoy lemonade, and tell me about Miss Shreveton.”
“Why the interest?”
“Because Stefton displays interest.”
“Gave you the go-bye, did he?”
“Only temporarily. See,” she said, pointing to the diamond and sapphire necklace she wore, “he gave me this.”
“It looks like a parting gift to me,” Kirkson said drily.
“Nonsense,” she denied haughtily. “We have an understanding. He is merely drawing Society’s attention away from our affair. To save my reputation. Why else divert his attention to our little brown wren?”
“Possibly,” drawled Kirkson, “because our little brown wren is the heiress of Sir Eugene Burke.”
“Burke?”
“Of Burke horses, my dear. He is the best and most famous horse breeder in England.”
“I know that,” she said waspishly, “but why should that be of any interest to Stefton? He has more money than he can count. He scarcely needs to marry money.”
“Because, my silly widgeon, Stefton has begun a breeding program of his own. I’ll grant you he is more interested in racehorses than the carriage and riding stock of Burke’s, but if he were to marry our little brown wren, as you call her, he would have strong ties to Burke. With that connection and with virtually unlimited access to some of the best breeding stock in the country, he will be able to raise the finest racehorses around. He will dominate Newmarket.”
Panthea frowned. What Kirkson said made sense, damn his eyes! “Why isn’t her relationship to Sir Eugene more commonly known? This is the first I’ve heard of it, and I would swear that would make juicy telling and have the fortune hunters dancing attendance upon her night and day."
"From what I have been able to discover from the people at Burke’s establishment, Miss Shreveton has decided she doesn’t wish to marry.”
“How odd.”
“To you, perhaps, but remember, she is endowed with an ample fortune. Miss Shreveton’s family, however, does wish her to wed, and it is they who insisted she come to London. This deception of hers is a rebellion against them.”
“She does not look like the type to have enough gumption for rebellion.”
He watched Catherine laugh at something the Earl of Soothcoor said as they led down through a set in a lively contredanse. “There is more spirit in her than you suppose,” he drawled, remembering how she fought him at the inn.
