“No,” she admitted. “But only to keep you safe.”
“Exactly, that’s what I mean,” Minnie said with a satisfied nod.
“You’ve never spoken much about that night,” Lily said, her brow crinkling in concern. “Are you fine with all thathappened?”
Ada took a moment to respond. No, she wasn’t fine. She often lay in bed, unable to sleep as she wondered whether she was just as bad as Blackwood himself. She’d had the ability to shoot with precision for years, but she had never intended to actually use the gun on a person.
But that wasn’t anything her friends needed to concern themselves with.
“Yes, all is fine,” she lied.
“What about romance in your own life?” Emmaline asked, one brow lifted.
Ada felt the surprise deep within her. How did Emmaline possibly know what had happened?
“Why, what did Rhys tell you?” she asked almost forcefully, causing a full, wicked grin to spread over Emmaline’s mouth.
“Not sure what Rhys would know about David Carter,” she said, “but he just might know about someone much closer to him. Someone part of the club, perhaps?”
Heat began to crawl up Ada’s cheeks as she realized her misstep.
She twisted her fingers in the skirt of her gown as she attempted humor to hide her discomfort. “There is no such thing as romance in my life. Just arrangements.”
Her friends smiled, although Ada could still read their concern. “Have you heard from David?” Minnie asked, much more tactfully.
“I actually lunched with him and his mother yesterday,” she said, deciding that in this, she could share the truth. “I asked him if he actually wanted to marry me.”
Minnie gasped, while Emmaline laughed out loud.
“And?” Lily implored. “What did he say?”
“That, of course, he did, and he would get around to it soon enough. Which, honestly, doesn’t matter to me as I have no interest in marrying him anymore, not now that I have seenthat marriage doesn’t have to be what is dictated toward a woman, thanks to all of you. I had been resigned to follow along and do as I was told instead of living the life I chose to live, but why? He is a bore and cares nothing for me. My father was the one who tied in with Blackwood, who is trying to earn his legitimacy back. I don’t need to be a pawn for him anymore.”
“I can understand that all too well,” Minnie murmured.
“So, any ideas for what I do now to get out of this?”
“You could run away and get married,” Lily said with a smile. “That worked for someone we know.”
Ada sighed. “I don’t exactly have anyone else offering for me. I suppose now I can just hope that I will have nothing to worry about, for it seems that David will never offer for me anyway.”
“It could be time for you to explore some other options,” Emmaline said with a shrug. “See if you can find a man who suits you and whowouldwant to marry you. Perhaps if you fall in love, your parents will understand.”
“Perhaps,” she said, looking off into the distance, her gaze drawn to Jonny as he walked out of the changing house. She couldn’t help but compare him with David. While David was tall and lean, Jonny was shorter but broader. She rather enjoyed the strength she had felt in Jonny’s tightly bunched muscles. He wasn’t classically handsome like David was, but there was something about him that would attract any woman – and had attracted quite a few of them, from what she had seen. He wasn’t a man of many words, but when he spoke, he did so with precision, meaning every word of it.
Emmaline followed her gaze.
“Even if you do end up marrying David, you could have some fun first, could you not?”
Her eyes twinkled, and Ada nodded slowly. Emmaline was right. She could find a man — if not Jonny, someoneelse like him — and have some fun. She could then decide whether she wanted to pursue something further or be content with their time together.
After that kiss with Jonny, she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him again, but she also didn’t think she could take any further rejection from him. He clearly wasn’t interested in forever with her, although perhaps he would be open to a brief flirtation.
He was one man she knew she would never truly fall for, knowing his past and that he hadn’t left it behind to the extent he had made it seem.
She supposed there was only one way to find out if he felt that same draw to her — even if she didn’t like the idea of putting herself out there, to risk his denial of affections.
But it was a risk she was going to have to take.
