Her cheeks warmed. “Everything’s fine.”Now that I’ve sorted things out.
Her mind back on task, she trounced her brothers readily.
Amidst Will’s groans, Mama entered the room in a rustle of rose silk.
“Heavens,” she said with an exasperated smile. “Are the three of you still at it?”
“Livy keeps winning, and Will keeps demanding rematches,” Chris explained. “I am stuck in the middle.”
“William, you need your rest. Chris, consider yourself unstuck,” Mama said. “And Livy, why have you not changed for Mrs. Hunt’s charity symposium?”
Livy had forgotten about the event. Hosted by Mama’s friend, Persephone Hunt, the symposium aimed to match young ladies with charities that interested them. Mama was taking Livy and the Willflowers.
“Sorry, Mama.” Livy jumped up. “I’ll get ready now.”
“I will help you,” Mama said with a sigh.
As they headed to her bedchamber, Livy considered confiding in her mother about Hadleigh. As much as she loved her parents, she doubted that they would approve of a match with him. They would say he was too old for her, despite their own gap in age. And how many times had she overheard them discussing his rakish tendencies? Just yesterday, she’d eavesdropped on their conversation from outside the breakfast room.
“Fine fellow,”Papa had said.“But he is his own worst enemy when it comes to females. He is too old to carry on in this fashion and ought to settle down.”
“Like you did?”Mama had teased.
“I’ve found domestic bliss. No reason Hadleigh cannot do the same.”
“Hadleigh isn’t you, darling. I’m afraid he might not be capable of being reformed…”
The last thing Livy needed was additional barriers to her romance. Mama, in particular, had a tendency to be managing. As a girl who was inclined to follow her own counsel, Livy had learned early on that it was best not to solicit parental opinions, particularly if she knew they would be opposing.
Sin first and ask for forgiveness latersummed up Livy’s lifelong philosophy.
Which reminded her that she needed to put her campaign to win Hadleigh’s heart into action. Time was running out. With the Season coming to an end in a few weeks, she and her family would be leaving for Scotland. She might not see Hadleigh again for months.
After her mother and her lady’s maid helped her change into a lavender promenade dress and sat her in front of the dressing table, Livy pounced.
“Mama,” she said. “How are the plans for the supper party this Saturday coming along?”
“Fine, dear.” Mama fussed with a braided loop of Livy’s hair.
Livy tried to sound nonchalant. “Did Hadleigh send a reply?”
“Come to think of it, I do not believe he has.”
Botheration. How am I going to win his heart if he makes himself scarce?
Her frustration must have shown because Mama dismissed the maid and said, “What is the matter with you, Livy?”
She tried not to squirm beneath her mother’s tea-colored gaze. Mama was uncommonly, and at timesannoyingly, acute. Before marrying Papa, Mama had apprenticed with her brother, Livy’s Uncle Ambrose, in his private enquiry business. During Livy’s childhood, Mama had continued to take on a few cases…nothing too dangerous, of course. Papa would not allow that. Being an overprotective sort, he’d insisted on escorting Mama on all her investigations.
In recent years, Mama had taken a hiatus from her enquiry work. She had not lost her powers of observation, however. And she used them frequently on her children.
“Something has been amiss since the ball,” Mama stated. “I wish to know what it is.”
“Everything is fine,” Livy said.
In the looking glass, Mama’s gaze veered heavenward. “You take after your papa, no doubt about it. But I am your mother, Livy, and I can tell you have not been yourself.”
Knowing her mama could be like a mongrel with a bone, Livy searched for an excuse. “I am sad that the Season is coming to an end, that is all. I shall miss my friends when we return to Scotland.”
