“You look well today, Mr. Holland,” she said in a sugary sweet voice. She leaned toward him. Her gaze darted in my direction. Reading her stony features was difficult, but she did seem to perceive me as a threat. Her confidence wasn’t as high as the day before.
If I wanted Alexander’s help with deterring Lord Kirkham, I would have to play my part as well in helping to deter Octavia.
I swallowed my pride along with the bite of pear. “He always looks well,” I said, gazing up at him. Unfortunately it wasn’t a lie. I watched the sharp corner of his jaw as he ate another slice of pear.
His brow jolted with surprise. He rotated in his chair toward me, a smirk lifting one side of his mouth. Surely he knew I was acting. Perhaps he was surprised at my willingness to participate so fully in the ruse.
Octavia jabbed her fork into a piece of fruit. “I haven’t known you to speak so freely, my lady. You have hardly said a word this entire party. I wasn’t aware that you had an opinion of anything.”
Alexander bit back a laugh as he took a bite from his plate. “Lady Daventry has many opinions.”
Miss Octavia lifted her chin, which I noticed had a dent at the center of it. It made her more intimidating. “I would love to hear more of your opinions about Mr. Holland.”
Alexander sat up straight, a teasing glint in his eye that was surely meant just for me. “I would love to hear as well.” The edge of flirtation in his voice was just enough to deepen the crease between Octavia’s eyebrows.
My heart thudded when Alexander’s gaze landed on mine expectantly. I forced myself to focus on Octavia, since she was the one who had asked the question. I hardly knew what to say. My opinion of Alexander was as conflicted as it could possibly be. All the things Miles had told me about Alexander’s past were horrible, but they didn’t seem to match the man sitting beside me. Had he been reformed? Or had Miles lied to me? It didn’t make sense.
You’re an actress,I reminded myself. This wasn’t a time for perfect honesty, yet I couldn’t open my mouth. “I—I never wish to speak my opinion on a person unless it’s clear to me. I thought I knew what to think of Mr. Holland, but now I’m not certain. He’s a mystery that I’m still trying to solve.” I pressed my lips together. I needed to end with something flirtatious. “I am fond of mysteries.” I fluttered my lashes as I looked down at the table, feeling like a complete ninny.
Octavia laughed, a high-pitched sound that grated on me. “The only mystery about Mr. Holland is why he hasn’t married yet.”
Alexander smiled. “I do plan to marry when the time is right, and when I feel I can provide a woman and children with the comfortable life they deserve.” His eyes met mine. “When I do marry, it will only be for love.”
My heart beat a shallow rhythm. It would be counterproductive to our ruse to break the lock on our gazes, so I held perfectly still. His words were so genuine, I almost wondered if he meant it. Was he secretly a romantic? The contradictions in my head were far too confusing. Miles had always described him as a rake. Unfeeling, uncaring, and opposed to matrimony. Discerning which of his words were true and which were part of his act would be more difficult than I had expected.
Octavia’s voice cut into my thoughts. “Youhave been married before, my lady. Did you marry for love, or for money?”
Her blunt questions made my skin prickle with vexation. Mrs. Pike and Victoria listened in silence, making no attempt to scold her.
“I married out of obligation,” I said firmly. Alexander hadn’t yet asked me such personal questions, though he must have been curious about why I hadn’t waited for Miles the first time if I was so eager to see him now.
“How could you have been obligated to marry? Was it your parents who forced you? Were you not yet of age?”
I didn’t plan to elaborate, but Octavia was relentless. She seemed intent on digging up my worst secrets in front of Alexander. “I don’t wish to share the details, Miss Colborne, nor do I wish to speak of my late husband at all.”
“How did he die?”
“Octavia.” Mrs. Pike finally intervened, reached around Victoria to grab her niece’s wrist. “That is enough.”
Octavia sighed, popping a grape in her mouth. Her eyes slid up to Alexander’s face, a coy smirk on her lips. She didn’t seem prepared to give up yet. In fact, she hardly seemed discouraged at all.
The muscles in my neck and shoulders were tense, and I realized how tightly I had been gripping my fork. Alexander’s leg nudged mine under the table. I met his concerned gaze just as Lady Tottenham called the room to attention.
“Good morning, my dear friends. I trust you all slept well.” I barely caught the fleeting glance she threw in my direction. She had robbed me of sleep with that chess game and those twenty-three pastries, and she knew it. She was happy about it, in fact. Her hair was a mixture of braids and curls, all piled together with violet flowers to form a bouquet. “After breakfast,” she continued, “we are going to gather outside.” A slow smile curved her lips. “I trust you are all familiar with the game of cricket?”
“Is a storm coming?” Mrs. Fitzbibbon squinted up at the sky as the group walked outside to the rear of the house. I followed her gaze upward. The grey clouds slunk across the sky, headed in our direction. Lady Tottenham didn’t seem concerned at all. Despite the lack of sunlight, she still had a parasol propped against her right shoulder.
I held Alexander’s arm, keeping him close as we paraded through the other guests. The brim of my bonnet shielded him from view, but I sensed him lean close to my ear. “Are you all right?”
I tipped my head up to look at him. “Yes,” I lied. Octavia’s questions had rattled me a little, and so had all the attention. Were my nerves so obvious?
The worry in Alexander’s expression caught me off guard. He wrapped his opposite hand around my fingers at the crook of his elbow. The gesture was simple, but it sent a jolt of warmth through my chest. “You’re doing well. Keep it going.”
I nodded. I stiffened in panic when I caught Lord Kirkham’s eye. He walked quickly, weaving around Mr. Hatcher and Julia in order to be closer to me.
Alexander’s lips twisted in a sly smile. “Untie your bonnet.”
“What?”
