Eliza’s frustration mounted. “I did not give you leave to test his affections.”
Sophie rolled her eyes. “Well, you wouldn’t have. You would’ve been too worried his gaze would turn.”
“Precisely!”
“You’ve been anxious that he would grow tired or dissatisfied with you. I’ve confirmed that those fears are entirely unfounded. You may be cross with me now, but you’ll be thankful once the relief claims you.”
“Why must everyone in this family test him?”
“It wasn’t a test forhim. I meant to reassureyou, to show you that you can breathe again. Allow him into your heart. He cares about you. I couldn’t bear to see you hurting, Lizzie. I neededyou to know he truly sees you.” Sophie’s expression and tone were so genuine, so distressed at the turn of the conversation, that Eliza’s frustration dimmed.
“Please, Lizzie, all I wish is for you to be happy. I know we could not be more different, but I love you. I would never hurt you on purpose. If I thought, even for a second, that his interest in you would waiver, I wouldn’t have tested him. I would have spoken to you about my concerns. I know I’m flighty and reckless, and I vex you constantly, but you cannot accuse me of cruelty.”
“Sophie—”
“No,” she insisted as she wrapped her hands around Eliza’s upper arms. “Say you understand.”
“I understand you solve problems by diving in, but you must know I?—”
“That you don’t wish for me to test him again. I promise. Never again.”
Eliza sighed, ignoring Sophie’s propensity to finish other’s sentences incorrectly. “It has been… difficult this season. Watching you from the wall. I knew you would be a diamond, but I never expected it to hurt so much to be ignored. And I should not have let my resentment come between us. But to deliberately entice Benedict?—”
“I wasn’t, though. I have no interest in him, or in any of them. And I didn’t mean to abandon you at the wall. It’s only that if I decline one gentleman, then I can accept no other—which is an absurd rule, of course, but Mama insists.”
“Would you let me finish?”
Sophie winced, her lips pressing together sheepishly. “Sorry.”
Eliza spoke quickly, Sophie was only capable of silence for so long before the words broke free. “I understand why you did it.I appreciate the sentiment. Do not do it again. And I will try to keep my jealousy from separating us. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” she said, thrusting her hand out for a shake. Eliza indulged her in the masculine ritual. “Now, tell me everything aboutBenedict.”
“You must stop emphasizing his name in that manner.”
“Never!” she declared with a teasing lilt.
Eliza shook her head before indulging her sister. “Well, he told me he sent his sister to meet with me that first night in order to facilitate an introduction.”
“No!”
“He did,” Eliza declared with a pleased grin overtaking her face at her sister’s giggle.
Elizaand her sister were still all giggles as they walked arm in arm to the ballroom. The dullthunkof the cue followed by thesmackandthumpof scattering billiard balls in the quiet hall reminded them of the need for decorum as they passed the men’s room.
“What about you, Sinclair?” a male voice drifted out through the cracked door.
“What about me?” Benedict’s lyrical tenor replied. Anothercrack-thumpof balls on felt.
Sophie caught Eliza’s elbow and pressed her against the wall alongside the door with one finger over her lips. Widening her eyes, Eliza shook her head, but Sophie’s grip held fast.
“Lost your head, Lord of Sin? And over the plain one? It was quite a lark, but now you’ve danced with the striking one—Sylvie?”
“Sophie,” someone said through the cracked door. The fight went out of Eliza. The floor tilted beneath her feet, and she slumped against the wall, gaze meeting Sophie’s.
“Surely you’re not so hard up for a fortune that you’ll take the unfortunate-looking one.” Eliza could not tell if thethudechoing in her ears was from the game or her own heart.
“You’ve never seen an uncut diamond, have you, Phillips?”
