“I didn’t choose it,” she said. “My father orders things for me.”
“He wishes you to look as if you’re at death’s door?”
She laughed. “I think he simply hasn’t much of an eye for color. Neither have I, for that matter. It never occurred to me that this gown might make me look as dreadful as you describe.”
“It speaks well of you that you’re not offended by my saying so.”
“I may not know what colors are becoming, but I do know a joke when I hear one,” she said. Then she sighed. “It’s whenItry to tell them that everything seems to go wrong.”
“Is that so?”
“I have no trouble understanding other people, but other people never seem to understand me,” she said.
Seth nodded. He made no comment, but his thoughts were racing. Perhaps he could do something more for her than to simply help her choose the right clothes. Perhaps he could help her improve her ability to communicate with people. He thought of the way he had misunderstood her intentions on the garden path when she had only intended to help him. If she had known how to communicate more clearly, less awkwardly, perhaps that wouldn’t have happened.
But first, there was the matter of clothing to attend to. “Meet me in the foyer in an hour,” he said.
“Why?”
“We’re going into town.
“We are? I hadn’t heard anything about an outing today.”
“That’s because it hasn’t been arranged yet,” Seth said. “But I’ll make the arrangements over the next hour. All you have to do is present yourself here in that time. I assume I can count on you to do that, after all the effort I’ve put into helping you.”
“Of course,” she said quickly.
Seth turned away and walked out of the library in search of Allan.
“Why do you wish to go into town?” Allan asked, frowning.
“I thought it might be enjoyable, that’s all,” Seth said.
“Well, go if that’s what you want to do,” Allan said. “I certainly won’t try to keep you from a pastime you enjoy. But I don’t think I can recommend that any of my guests join you. I don’t think it would make a good activity for my party. It’s far too cold.”
Seth considered. “You don’t need to come, of course,” he told his friend. “But Iwouldlike to make the suggestion to the other guests, at the very least. They can take responsibility for themselves—don’t you think so? If they don’t wish to join the outing, they won’t. But there may be those who will. I don’t wish to go against what you want for your party, but allow me to ask them.”
“Why are you so determined?” Allan asked.
Seth hesitated. He didn’t want to tell his friend the truth—that this was all about creating an opportunity to take Lady Lavinia shopping without making it look as if he was overly interested in her. “It seems like an interesting way to pass an afternoon, that’s all,” he said. “Let me see if any of the others are interested, and if they aren’t—well, that will be that, and we’ll say no more about it.”
“Well, you know how grateful I am that you came out to my party,” Allan said. “I know this isn’t the sort of thing you usually enjoy, and if there’s anything I can do to make it a better experience for you, of course I’m going to do it. Go ahead and put the word out. I don’t have any plans for this morning that can’t be amended if people choose to be out of the house for a while.”
“Thank you,” Seth said. “I truly appreciate your willingness to go along with this idea, Allan.”
“I admit I still don’t see why this is so important to you,” Allan said. “But I hope you get what you want out of it, Seth.”
Seth nodded. “And you’re sure I can’t persuade you to join in?” After all, if Allan was coming along, it would be that much easier to convince other guests to join in. Allan was very popular, very well liked—everyone who had come to this party had done so in part because they enjoyed Allan’s company.
If Allan came into town with them today, it would legitimize the outing. And Seth knew it was to his benefit if a whole crowdof people came along. That way, no one would take any special notice of the fact that he was spending time with Lady Lavinia. If his plan to pay her back for her service to him by helping her find herself a match was going to work, it would have to be done without any of the other gentlemen at this party catching wind of his involvement.
“I suppose I’ll come,” Allan agreed. “It’s awfully cold—but at the same time, it will be nice to get warm beside the fire after returning from a day out.” He smiled. “Perhaps you’re right. Perhaps thisisa good idea and we’ll all have a wonderful time. You know, I ought to listen to you more often, Seth. You can be antisocial, but in spite of that, you do come up with some clever plans from time to time.”
“Well, I do my best,” Seth said, impressed with his own ability to bring this plan to fruition. He only hoped there would be no hiccups in it—that Lady Lavinia would decide to meet him, as she’d said she would, and that her father would see no problem with the idea.
Sometime in the last twenty-four hours the idea of helping her had become more than a simple obligation to return a favor. He truly wanted to do all he could for her now.
CHAPTER 8
