“Oh?” Felicity and the shopkeeper’s wife had enjoyed many a chat about recipes, and had even gone so far as to create new and innovative treats together in the shop’s kitchen. “Grave concern, you say? For whom?”
Lips pursed as if the news was fighting to burst free of her, the woman clasped a hand to her generous bosom and glanced around the shop again. “You, Lady Felicity. It pains me to report that the matter concerns you.”
“Do go on, then.” Felicity braced herself. One never knew quite what to expect from the tattle-tongued Mrs. Caruthers. What could the woman possibly have heard?
Flattening both hands on the table in front of her, the matron leaned in even closer, like an oversized cat about to pounce. “It is my understanding that you are courting the Earl of Wakefield. Is that understanding correct, my lady?”
“Yes.” An ominous dread settled like a rock in the pit of Felicity’s stomach. “Lord Wakefield and I are courting. How might that be a grave matter?”
“The poor man, while kind and as good-hearted as can be, inherited nothing with his title but destitution and debt. Why, Mrs. Beatrice told me he even brought in the silver service from his parents’ wedding and used it to pay down the credit they had extended to his uncle. It is said he has sold everything except his parents’ land. Even the entailed properties are gone. His uncle gambled those away after convincing the current earl to go through a common recovery to do away with the entailments. If not for the housekeeper’s brother, they could ill afford something as simple as a sack of flour.” The matron clucked her tongue, sounding like a frustrated hen. “He must surely be a dowry hunter, my lady. Pure and simple. Gentle creature that you are, you must find a way to steel yourself against him and his ways.”
Teeth clenched, Felicity fisted her hands in her lap, struggling to tamp down her embarrassment and shame for poor Drake. How terrible it must have been for him to part with mementos of his parents. “It is not unheard of for a gentleman to consider a lady’s dowry when he begins his search for a wife.” She cleared her throat and sat taller. “In fact, it is quite common.”
Mrs. Caruthers sat back in her chair. “But it becomes a serious matter when that search endangers a lady whom I consider a dearest friend.” She sadly shook her head and resumed her infernal tongue clucking. “None in Binnocksbourne will extend him any additionalcredit. We will do business with the man only if he is able to pay up front.” She perked up like a hound on the scent as the bell on the shop door jangled. “There is Mrs. Beatrice. She will tell you the same.” She waved a hand, flagging down the half-owner of the village’s mercantile. “Mrs. Beatrice! Do join us!”
Felicity suppressed a groan and looked to Merry for help. Merry’s pained expression said it all. She had no idea how to escape this either.
As soon as the portly Mrs. Beatrice settled into a chair, Mrs. Caruthers caught hold of her arm and leaned her closer. “I was just informing our dear Lady Felicity that she must steel herself against the wiles of the Earl of Wakefield.”
“Oh yes, do,” Mrs. Beatrice agreed, her adamancy unmistakable. She patted the tabletop in time with her words. “The poor man has nothing, Lady Felicity, absolutely nothing. I know he might seem ardent enough, but I fear it’s all an act to win you over and gain your dowry. Mr. Herbert and I would have warned you the other day, but we did not realize the situation had become so dire. Courting the man?” The matron of the mercantile shook her head so hard her bonnet nearly went askew. “You must break it off, Lady Felicity. Guard the tenderness of your dear heart with everything possible and send that dowry-hunting earl on his merry way.”
“While I appreciate the warning,” Felicity said, “I truly believe—”
“There!” Mrs. Caruthers interrupted. “Lady Nedia! Do come over and join us, my dear. Our beloved Lady Felicity so needs to hear the sordid tale you shared with me just the other day.”
Again, Felicity stifled a groan and nudged Merry under the table. They needed to escape this well-meaning attack of Mrs. Caruthers and Mrs. Beatrice, especially before the loathsome Nedia joined them. That vain little chit prided herself on being the cruelest debutante of theton, even though her debut was two Seasons ago. She was a spiteful, backbiting liar, and none of the Broadmere sisters liked her.
The ostentatious young woman swept toward them after pointingfor her maid to wait outside the shop. “Lady Felicity. Lady Merry.” She suffered a bored nod their way, then turned to Mrs. Caruthers and Mrs. Beatrice. “Sitting with your patrons now? How quaint, but I believe I shall refrain from joining you.”
Mrs. Caruthers rose from her seat and offered it to the haughty girl. “It is about Lady Felicity courting Lord Wakefield. We felt she needed to be warned, and providence sent you in here at the exact moment we were speaking with her.”
Felicity started to rise but found her escape blocked by the oversized bows and puffy sleeves of Nedia’s pretentious gown. She glared at Merry, willing her usually quite forward sister to come up with a means of escape.
Merry jerked a slight nod at the portly Mrs. Beatrice, who had boxed her into the corner beside the window.
“So the rumors are true?” Nedia said to Felicity, sounding entirely too pleased by the news. “Lord Wakefield finally worked his way down to you, did he?”
“Dare I remind you our brother is a duke while your father is but a viscount?” Merry replied with such cutting bluntness that Felicity wanted to cheer. “I daresay Lord Wakefield has notworked his way downto my sister.”
Nedia snickered, hissing like a snake in the grass. “Oh, that is not what I meant at all, Lady Merry.” She flounced down into Mrs. Caruthers’s vacated seat and coyly drummed her fingers on the table. Her smile chilled Felicity to the bone. “What I meant,” she said, “is that he has already exhausted his field of possible heiresses and dowries. One by one, he has gone down through the line and summarily asked each of us to marry him.” She flicked a hand in the air and laughed, revealing a mouth crowded with entirely too many teeth. “Of course, we refused him. A husband who brings nothing to the marriage but a title? Ridiculous!” She hissed her insulting snicker again. “I feel certain you were the last on his list because after all…” She laughed. “You are… For lack of a better way of saying it, you areyou.” She shrugged and offered a simpering grin. “Of course, with the Broadmere money, one would have expected him to choose you first. Odd, is it not?”
Felicity swallowed hard, determined to remain stoic and not give Nedia the satisfaction of a reaction. “What I find odd, Nedia, is that even though he has not been the Earl of Wakefield for all that long, you say he has proposed to every eligible young lady of theton? That hardly seems possible or realistic.”
“Well.” Lady Nedia wet her thin lips as if preparing to bite someone. “Perhaps notallavailable ladies, but, including myself, I know of at least a half dozen or more.” She haughtily patted at the blonde curls framing her face. “Six or more proposals of marriage, and all refused for the same reason.” She reached over and patted Felicity’s arm. “Of course, he is handsome, dearest, and quite eloquent, but unless you wish to live off your brother’s generosity, I heartily recommend you spurn him and run. Surely, spinsterhood would be a much happier choice.” She swept a sneering gaze up and down Felicity’s form. “What did he tell you, dearest? That your loveliness mesmerized him, and he wanted you for you and not your money? Do you not realize he said the same to us all?”
Felicity rose, unceremoniously bumping Mrs. Caruthers back a step. “This conversation has reached the end of my patience. Good day, Lady Nedia, Mrs. Caruthers, Mrs. Beatrice.” As she charged toward the door, she clenched her teeth against the loud whispers ofpoor thingfilling the shop behind her.
Merry hurried to catch up, not taking hold of her arm until they were well out of sight of the treat shop. “You know how Nedia lies. She finds it more natural than breathing.”
“That is not the point, and you know it.” Felicity rapidly blinked, refusing to cry until safely tucked away in her room. “Everyone in Binnocksbourne believes her, and I am quite certain that evil cow willhappily spread the gossip even farther during her next visit to Town.”
“If he had proposed to that many women, do you not think we would have heard about it before now?”
Felicity trudged along faster. She couldn’t quit the confines of the village fast enough.
“Should we not go to the green?” Merry asked. “We promised to meet Lord Wakefield there.”
“I am going home.”
