Jasper sat in the backward-facing seat this morning, and she wondered if it had anything to do with what had happened yesterday. He’d told her she was different from other women, and she’d taken it as a compliment, but she might have been wrong.
So instead, she decided to pursue other, less personal and problematic topics of conversation.
“This carriage is surprising,” she declared. Because although they still felt the rocking and bouncing, the ride wasn’t nearly as jarring as journeys she’d made in any of her father’s carriages.
“Malum settles for nothing but the best.”
“He’s not a typical duke at all, is he? How did you meet him? Did you attend school together?”
Jasper didn’t answer immediately, although he shook his head. “He was years ahead of me.” And then, of course, he did not elaborate.
“How old are you?” Such a simple question, with everything they’d been through together, she’d have thought she would know that about him.
“Eight and twenty,” he said. “And you are twenty.” At her surprised look, he added, “They mentioned it in the papers.”
“Dewberry enjoyed the publicity,” Nia said, and then shook her head. “I can’t imagine he appreciated what was written when the wedding didn’t go ahead as planned.”
“You mean when you left him standing there looking like a fool?” Jasper smiled as he described that morning more accurately. “Twice,” he added.
“Can you imagine the headlines? Dewberry thwarted by Duke’s Defiant Daughter,” Nia suggested with a grin.
“Do-berry’s Bride… Does Not,” Jasper proposed.
“Alone at the Altar.” Nia would never have expected that she could joke about this.
“A Duke Disgraced.” Jasper’s eyes twinkled.
Nia leaned back in her seat, still chuckling. “I wouldn’t put it past him to pay the Gazette not to run it.”
“Wouldn’t make any difference. Helton runs whatever he wants.”
“Helton?” Nia frowned.
“Maxwell Black, the Earl of Helton, purchased the Gazette about six months ago.”
“The publisher of the London Gazette is a friend of yours?” Jasper’s acquaintances were becoming curiouser and curiouser.
“I like to keep things interesting,” he answered.
“How did the two of you meet?” She’d take full advantage of his unexpected candor this morning.
“Through Malum.”
“The owner of the Domus Emporium,” she offered. “Do all gentlemen run in such diverse circles? Or just a select few?” Because her own social circle had been vetted, and consequently, extremely limited.
Jasper studied her before deciding on an answer. “There’s a small group of us.”
“Like a club?”
“We ride early in the mornings on Rotten Row, but we also… help one another out when we can.”
“By providing carriages to Gretna Green?” Nia stared at him thoughtfully. “In exchange for…?”
He waved a hand. “Nothing you’d be interested in. What of you? Are there any bosom friends who’ll be missing your company this summer?”
She wanted to know more, but decided not to push. “Goldie,” she answered. “And other debutantes, of course. A group of us seem to always turn up at the same social functions.” She frowned as she imagined various conversations between herself and those other ladies. They’d consisted mostly of discussions of fashion, hairstyles, and… the weather. But she hadn’t really come to know any of them. And she doubted any of them would be missing her. They would gossip about her, of course. But that wasn’t the same. She remembered one lady she’d met at the house party last summer to celebrate her betrothal to Lord Rupert. “I liked Miss Rutherford, your friend’s sister. Lady Caroline now, though. I had looked forward to knowing her better.”
“Lady Caroline is almost family to you now.”
