His gaze roamed my face for a long moment. “I disagree with that rule.”
Just as I opened my mouth to deliver a retort, he took a step back. The distance silenced me. I was suddenly aware of the heat tingling on my cheeks.
“But not to worry,” he said. “I’m only rehearsing for the day ahead of us.” His smile lingered. “Lady Tottenham and her guests will be expected a nauseating display of affection at breakfast, and I intend to deliver a worthy performance.” He winked.
The lightness in his voice made my shoulders relax. I was taking everything far too seriously. It was a weakness of mine. I needed to relax. Our courtship was fake as long as I allowed it to remain that way. I was in control of my own heart and mind. His actions, and my own feelings, didn’t need to be confusing. Alexander and I were friends, that was all. If I continued to keep him at a safe distance, there would be no harm done. I could leave the house party in a few short weeks and be reunited with Miles, with nothing left to hold me back.
He isn’t the man you think he is.Alexander’s words echoed in the back of my mind.
I had disregarded his words before, but now they were rising to the surface. I was still too afraid to ask what he meant.
I was too afraid I would believe him.
Believing what Alexander had said about Miles would be just as foolish as believing Alexander’s compliments and flirtations.
“Very well.” I walked past him, sparing just one short glance as I made my way to the door. “At breakfast, you may flirt all you want.” I stopped in the doorway. “But you may wish to avoid displaying too much of that nauseating affection in front of Mrs. Pike. She does tend to have a sensitive stomach.”
I caught one quick glimpse of his smile before I hurried into the corridor.
When I returned to my room, I called Jane to come help arrange my hair more properly for breakfast. She tugged on a strand of my hair, pulling it tight toward the crown of my head. I met her gaze in the mirror. “Surely you are too young to have worked for the late Lord Tottenham?”
She nodded, adding a pin to my hair. “I never knew ‘im, my lady.”
“Do you know his Christian name?”
Jane’s eyes widened with surprise, likely at the peculiarity of my question. “Yes.”
I cast her a curious look, trying to look as innocent as possible. “What is it? His portrait only refers to him as ‘The Earl of Tottenham.’”
She took the rags out of the front half of my hair, leaving behind a set of neat curls. “‘is name was Walter. I’ve ‘eard the mistress refer to ‘im by that name many times.”
I smiled. “A lovely name.”
Jane’s brow twinged with confusion, but she said nothing more as she placed the last few pins and took her leave.
Walter.Only six letters. That couldn’t be so difficult.
I needed to keep my focus on the prize, and not just Lady Tottenham’s mysterious one. An engagement to the man I had always loved was finally possible. It was within reach. The house party would carry on with its peculiar activities, I would carry on searching for clues, and Alexander and I would carry on with our fake courtship. Before I knew it, the weeks would be over, Lady Tottenham’s prize would be claimed, and Miles would be back in London.
At the end of it, there were only two outcomes. I would win, or I would lose.
Either way, at least I would know that I never gave up.
All I had to do was keep my heart under strict watch for the rest of the house party, especially around Alexander. It had been unpredictable of late.
Even less predictable than Lady Tottenham’s dessert menu.
CHAPTER 15
ANNE
Isneaked into the drawing room, closing the door softly behind me. The darkness sent a chill over my spine, so I hurried to draw the curtains. They hadn’t yet been opened for the morning.
It had been two days since I had put in a dedicated effort to my search for the letters that spelledWalter.Before that, I had spent a week searching and thinking, and I hadn’t found a single one. Not aW, not anA. Nothing. Alexander had been helping me with my search, but he hadn’t been successful either. I would have assumed that the name was incorrect, but I hadn’t found any obvious letters around the house at all. I had checked all the engravings in the wood in the study, parlor, hexagon room, and vestibule. I had opened most of the books in the study as well, paying attention to the order of the spines and titles on the shelves.
The only room I hadn’t searched yet was the drawing room.
The early mornings were my only opportunity to search the house unnoticed, but ever since I had seen Lady Tottenham meeting with her visitor, the man with the spectacles, I had been wary of venturing to the drawing room before breakfast.
