“I will need to think on it.”
Kitty’s smile returned. “I knew you could be persuaded. We cannot go until Friday next. I don’t know how I’ll wait so long! But we must begin thinking of our gowns now. We’ll need masks to match them, of course.”
An expense Caroline could ill afford. She set her focus on selecting a book to borrow, but the task had been soured by this conversation. What was her duty as a friend in this instance? She didn’t know what the best course of action was, but by the time she had chosen a book, noted it with the clerk, and walked outside again, both maids trailing behind them, she had decided it was incumbent upon her to saysomething.
“Kitty, wait.”
Her friend turned an open expression on her. “What is it?”
“Your Lord Bengard seems a perfectly amiable gentleman.”
“Oh, but heis. You shall see once you’ve spent more time in his company. He is forever trying to buy nice things for me, and it hardly matters that I reminded him we must be engaged before I could accept any of them. He still manages to send the most magnificent flowers to my house after every ball.”
Caroline’s smile was small. “He does sound perfect for you. It is only…I heard a report on his character that caused me some apprehension on your behalf. Are you certain you know him as well as you think you do?”
Kitty’s lips pressed together. “You must have been speaking to Angela Cartwright. She cannot accept that his affections are no longer with her.”
In truth, Caroline hadn’t any notion who had given Tristan leave to think what he did.
Kitty didn’t need confirmation, however. “He loves me now. Angela will say anything to ruin my chance at becoming a viscountess. You know how long she has despised me.”
“I know you and she are not the greatest of friends?—”
“You are understating the matter.” Kitty frowned. “Oh, I do not like this. Please put it from your mind. I am not so blind as to be utterly taken in, I promise you.”
Caroline had no choice but to accept this. “Very well.”
Kitty sighed. “That was mildly upsetting. I never like to think of Angela Cartwright if I can help it. Shall we purchase new bonnets?”
Caroline smothered her chuckle. If any of her friends could look after themselves, surely it was Kitty. Still, the mild uneasiness would not leave her, but she dutifully shoved it aside. “Yes, I think that is a lovely idea.”
James was sittingin the parlor with a folded newssheet and cup of tea when Caroline returned from shopping empty-handed, save for her borrowed novel,Cecilia.He glanced up at her, his blue eyes tracking her motion across the room.
“You’re not out with your friends?” she questioned, taking the seat across from him.
“We are meeting for dinner this evening.” He glanced at the newssheet, then set it on the sofa beside him. “Father sent a letter. He must have posted it not long after I left. It would seem he’s found a new investment opportunity.”
“You seem displeased.”
“We have nothing to invest, Caro. It cannot be a good thing.”
“If that is the case, surely he won’t be at liberty to join the investment.”
James blinked at her. “Do you not understand what this could mean for your dowry?”
Caroline grew still, uneasiness climbing her body like a slow-moving fog. “What would it mean, James? Speak plainly.”
“Father has no legal settlement organized. If he means to place any sum in this investment, he would be forced to take your dowry to do so.”
Her pulse raced. No legal settlement? That meant her dowry was not a true dowry at all, but merely a sum of money in the bank. “Surely he would not take any action without consulting Mama.”
James lifted a golden eyebrow. “I do not think he consults anyone when he makes decisions. He merely thinks of what he would like to do and hopes for the best.”
Caroline was stunned, her mouth slightly ajar but forming no words.
“I will write to him,” James said, “but you must prepareyourself for the worst. I would not rely on something that could very well disappear.”
“My dowry,” she said quietly, still unable to fully grasp what her brother was telling her.
