“He’d like you,” Catherine says, glancing at Mr.Tisend. “And you as well, Lady Rosalie.”
Lady Rosalie’s smile is suddenly soft and Catherine feels heat climbing up her neck. She does think her brother would like her. He might not understand how much Catherine likes her, but still. She wants them to meet.
She passes her cucumber sandwich over to Lady Rosalie topush the strange, warm feeling out of her chest. But that just makes Lady Rosalie smile more. Catherine’s noticed she favors them, is all.
“Oh, please do join us.”
Catherine looks up to find Mr.Dean standing beside Lady Rosalie. And only Mr.Tisend noticed. Whoops.
Mr.Dean sits down on Lady Rosalie’s other side. The air at the table changes immediately. Lady Rosalie sits up a bit straighter and Catherine forces herself to sit back, so she and Lady Rosalie aren’t leaning around Mr.Tisend anymore.
It’s quiet for a minute, neither of them coming up with anything to say, even though they should both be trying to engage him in conversation.
“We were just saying we’ll need to have a rematch between Lady Rosalie and MissPine,” Mr.Tisend says. “Perhaps we could play next weekend. Lady Rosalie and I have been planning a trip to Blaise Castle. I’d be delighted to accompany you, MissPine, if Mr.Dean will accompany my sister?”
Catherine blinks down at him. His eyes are twinkling. She glances at Lady Rosalie, who doesn’t look the least bit surprised by the invitation.
“I’d be most pleased,” Mr.Dean says. “I can arrange for my aunt to join us as chaperone, if you’d like.”
“Our aunt would like to come,” Lady Rosalie says, her voice perfectly calm.
“How wonderful. I’d love to discuss art with her,” Mr.Dean says.
Catherine notices Mr.Tisend wince and has to bite her lip against a laugh.
“MissPine?” Mr.Tisend asks.
Catherine glances over her shoulder at the patio, where Mother is watching them, frowning.
“I actually got a chance to ask your father this morning at the baths, but haven’t had a moment to ask your mother,” Mr.Tisend adds.
“And my father said yes?” Catherine asks, pulling her gaze away from her mother’s clear disapproval.
“He did,” Mr.Tisend says brightly.
Catherine should interrogate why he asked her father about an outing before her. Why Lady Rosalie never mentioned anything. Why herfatherdidn’t mention anything before she and Mother left for the tea.
“It would be an overnight. Our aunt knows the current owner of Blaise Castle, who has invited us for dinner on Saturday. We’d travel early Saturday, see the castle, have dinner, and return in the afternoon on Sunday, if that suits?”
It’s exactly the kind of outing Mother doesn’t want—Lady Rosalie and Catherine “competing” directly for Mr.Dean’s attention, with only Mr.Tisend and Lady Jones there for comparison. But it would berudeto refuse the invitation. A missed opportunity to spend that much time alone with Mr.Dean. How could she possibly say no?
And on top of it, an invitation from Mr.Tisend, who has already spoken with her father? Were he anyone else, Mother would be dumping Mr.Dean for the son of an earl.
Not that either of them would truly be winning. Catherine thinks marrying Mr.Tisend would be like flaying herself alive forever, forced to marry the wrong Tisend sibling.
Not that she wants tomarryLady Rosalie.
All the heated looks in the world don’t mean that LadyRosalie wants what Catherine wants. But at least with this trip she could know for sure.
“Would you like to accompany us?”
Catherine swallows, embarrassed for getting so caught up in her head, and with such thoughts. “I’d be delighted,” she says, smiling as wide as she can.
“Excellent!” Mr.Tisend says, grinning at her, and then turning to grin at his sister.
“I wonder if the current owner might give us a tour of the woods. I’ve been meaning to organize another hunting party and it would provide a good change of scene,” Mr.Dean says, pulling Mr.Tisend into conversation around Lady Rosalie.
Lady Rosalie leans back and Catherine mirrors her without a second thought, so they can see each other around Mr.Tisend’s back. Lady Rosalie smiles and takes a bite of her sandwich.
