"It wasn't relevant," Victoria said. "He made it very clear to me that jealousy had nothing to do with his reaction. He told me he's not interested in marriage—he's said that before—so there's nothing for him to feel jealous about."
"And you believed him?"
"Of course I believed him. Why should he lie?"
Cressida gave her a sympathetic smile. "You haven't thought very hard about it, have you? Or perhaps you have, but your mind doesn't want to admit the truth."
"I don't know what you mean, Cressida."
"If he is feeling jealous—if he truly does care for you—he's hardly likely to just admit it. I'd think that would be the situation in which he would bemostlikely to adamantly insist that he felt nothing at all," Cressida told her. "I'm sure he doesn't want you to know that he cares for you, and that's why he's pretending you're being foolish to think it."
"Or perhaps he really doesn't," Victoria said. "That's also very possible."
"I suppose anything is possible. But it doesn't seem likely to me," Cressida said. "I think he cares for you, Victoria. I truly do."
"But what would make you think that?" Victoria asked. "He's done nothing to give me that impression."
"Nothing? What about the night he stayed up talking to you?"
"He didn't do that on purpose. I told you what happened—he found me in the library and we got to talking, that's all."
"But he didn't have to do that. He could have gone to his study to be alone. You have to admit, at no point in your time together has he been required to befriend you, and yet he seems to have chosen to do exactly that. What about the fact that he's told you that you can choose your future husband for yourself?"
"He was being kind, that's all."
"And why would he go out of his way to be kind if he didn't care for you? I'm not saying that the duke is a particularly cruel man, but he's not a particularly gentle-spirited one either. I've crossed his path a few times, as you well know, and the only thing he's ever done has been to order me out of the house."
"Because he's selfish."
"Well, exactly!" Cressida agreed. "And you can look at the fact that he's not being selfish with you as evidence that he actually cares about you."
"I didn't come out here to spend all day talking about him," Victoria said. "I thought we were going to enjoy our picnic."
"You're the one who brought him up," Victoria pointed out. "That's the only reason we're talking about him now. I think you're surprised the conversation isn't going the way you thought it would, that's all."
"You're defending him."
"I'm not doing anything of the sort. I'm saying he's gone out of his way to show you kindness, and I'm saying you ought to see that for what it is," Cressida said. "I think if he didn't have some sort of feeling for you, he would have found you an engagement already—and he certainly wouldn't intervene when he saw you on the verge of finding one for yourself, would he? He's discovered that he has unexpected feelings for you and he doesn't know what to make of it. That's the only way I can account for his actions."
Victoria pressed her lips together.
"You don't even think I'm wrong," Cressida said. "You just want me to be wrong. This is why I'm so surprised that you asked him the question the other night—because you suspected this was the answer, and you don't want to hear it. You don't like him, so you don't want this to be true. But I think it is true."
"No," Victoria countered. "No, you're wrong about that, Cressida."
"I'm not wrong."
"I don't mean you're wrong about how he feels. I can't be sure about that, but I do think your logic makes sense. But that isn't the part I mean."
"What am I wrong about, then?"
"You're wrong about how I feel abouthim," Victoria said with a sigh. "I thought I despised him, it's true, but…well, now I'm not so sure."
"Oh, Victoria." Cressida sat forward. "You feel something for him too. That's the reason you asked him that question. You weren't afraid he would tell you he cared for you. You werehopingfor it."
"You're being ridiculous," Victoria said quickly. "Of course it isn't like that. You know that's not how I feel about him. You know I don't want him in that way."
"I know you've said for years that you have no interest in marriage or in any gentlemen," Cressida countered. "And then the duke came into your life. And now…I don't know what to think anymore, Victoria. All I can say is that everything seems to have changed. You spend so much of your time with him. You seem to agree to everything he asks of you. When you first met him, you told me that you were going to try to get out of his plan to marry you off, but lately it seems you've given up on that idea. Are you even trying to avoid marriage anymore?"
