Catherine looks up, surprised. Why would Mr.Dean be writing to Father?
“Why is the Tisend boy writing to her? Did you give permission for this?” Mother asks.
“I did,” Father says as he opens the seal on Mr.Dean’s letter.
Catherine hastily cracks Christopher’s, determined to read it and, if need be, dispose of the evidence. Her letters are meant to be personal, especially if Father’s given his permission for Christopher to write, but she wouldn’t put it past Mother to try to intervene.
“He’s clearly keen on the Linet girl. Playing it awfully fast to be writing to Catherine as well,” Mother says shortly.
“I hardly think a few letters from Mr.Tisend will dissuade Catherine from your quest,” Father says, glancing up at Catherine.
“Right,” Catherine agrees, smiling innocently over at Mother.
“And it must bother Lady Tisend something fierce to know her son is writing to your daughter,” Father adds.
Mother’s lips twitch and Catherine withholds a sigh.
But her smugness at least gives Catherine enough cover to slip Rosalie’s tightly folded message inside her pile of blankets and into her stays to read later. She wishes she could run upstairs and read it right now, but she’ll settle for quickly scanning Christopher’s missive.
“Mr.Tisend writes:
I hope you will accept my apologies on behalf of my sister for your untimely swim in the Avon this afternoon. It was not her intention to drag you into her frivolity, and we are both very sorry for your distress.
Please allow me to escort you on a promenade tomorrow in penance, and for the chance to see your delightful person.
With hopes and further apologies,
Mr.Tisend.
“That’s kind of him, isn’t it?” she asks Mother.
“Very kind, but you’ll have to postpone,” Father says.
Catherine looks over, surprised. She’d been counting on his encouragement.
“Mr. Dean has invited you to Sydney Gardens to hear a string quartet play tomorrow.”
“Oh, well,” Catherine starts.
“Write back and say yes,” Mother tells Father. “And you needn’t take the Tisend boy up on his offer. His sister did you a disservice. You aren’t obligated to accept his apology on her behalf.”
“What if I want to?” Catherine asks, frustrated and tired. Father’s already penning a response to Mr.Dean.
“We ought not reward that girl’s behavior,” Mother says, frowning over at Catherine.
“Would you have just let Lady Tisend drown if she’d fallen into the river when you were my age, before everything happened?”
Mother’s eyes widen. “I— It— You are not close friends with Lady Rosalie,” she says tersely.
Mother has no idea how close they’ve become, but that truly shouldn’t matter.
“You would have swum the Channel for Lady Tisend once upon a time,” Father says softly, looking up from his letter.
Mother jerks her head to meet his eyes, frowning. Her father’s talent for remaining calm and collected when tempers are high is one of his greatest strengths. Someone smiling serenely when you want to scream can been utterly maddening.
“Fine. You may allow the brother to apologize, but it needn’t be a public outing,” Mother says, her voice rough.
“But if I’m seen publicly with Mr.Tisend, especially after this...” Catherine trails off, swallowing hard. It’s just a white lie. She can do this. “Especially after Lady Rosalie’s antics, might it push Mr.Dean toward me if he’s made jealous?”
