He chuckled. “I don’t doubt you would. So whom would you like to add?”
Rose set her chin upon her knuckles. “Lady Mabry said the Stockton ball was her last event this season, as she is moving into the dowager house on the grounds of the school. Lady Eleanor’s mother has them visiting her sister this month, and I know Lady Sophie won’t attend anything without the others.”
He wanted to suggest Lady Dorothea, but Rose needed to think of her first. “Are those the only students you know?”
She stared down at the table as if the pattern in the platter that had held the scones could help her. “I’ve only just met Lady Georgina and Lady Dorothea, so I’m not sure if they would attend.”
“The only way to discover if they are interested is to send them an invitation.”
She moved her hand from beneath her chin and took his. “You are correct. Thank you for helping me. I don’t care what the ladies say about you. They don’t know you as I do.” She let go and grinned like a cat who had just swallowed a mouse.
“What do they say about me?” Not that he cared, but he could see she was quite excited to tell him.
She rose, still grinning. “Only that you are far too serious and if you tried to smile, you would shatter into myriad pieces like a broken mirror.”
He stifled a chuckle, not wishing her to know how much he enjoyed having such a reputation. “Myriad pieces? Not a hundred, or perhaps triangular pieces?”
Evidently put out that her attempt to deflate him had missed its mark, she pouted prettily. “Yes, myriad. Truly, you are quite lucky I am your sister.”
When he simply raised his brows in question, she gave a heartfelt sigh and rose.
“Because, my dear brother, no other woman would have the patience for you.” Then as quick as a sparrow, she threw half a brioche bun she must have been hiding in her skirts, hitting him square on his left cheek. As she raced for the door, she laughed. “Don’t forget our shopping trip.”
And with that, the little urchin disappeared.
Wiping the crumbs from his face, he tried to remember a time when she hadn’t thrown food at him. Though it was not a regular occurrence, it was a longstanding one. If he didn’t miss his guess, it began while she’d still been in napkins. He’d think a woman in her twenties would have grown out of such a deplorable habit, but he recognized it for what it was. It was her only defense against his superior intellect.
He set the dirty napkin on the table and rose. That did beg the question as to whether the Belinda School could indeed help stimulate her mind. Though Rose was sweeter than honey,her observational capabilities into human behavior were sorely lacking, as had been made painfully obvious last year when she’d brought home the widow Lady Garmoyle for the holidays.
He shivered at the memory. How could a woman like that engender a proposal and his own sweet sister not. He’d always felt protective of Rose, but now with his mother’s and father’s agendas for her in conflict, he needed to fully focus on what was best for her. Her wish was to go to the damn school, and as much as he didn’t care for that idea, it could, possibly, aid her, especially if he could find a way to make those ladies popular.
He strolled through the archway to the parlor before slowing to glance toward the ceiling. “My dear Belinda. By opening my heart, you have set me on a course I have no inkling how to navigate.”
Chapter Four
Dory looked outthe window of the carriage as if the scenery was riveting, but she didn’t even see it. Her thoughts were like the sea in a storm, and she rode it in a dingy. After the Stocktons’ ball, the last thing she’d expected was to be journeying to Sunnydale Manor, home of the Marquess and Marchioness of Enderly at the invitation of their daughter, Rose, whom she’d spoken to for the first time barely a fortnight past, though they had met last season.
To make her travels even more unbelievable, she rode there being chaperoned by none other than Lord Sommerset and his wife, friends of Lord Harewood. Though at first her mother had said it was impossible for her to attend. As it happened, her mother had other engagements already planned. Elsbeth, who had been calling and understood what a wonderful opportunity it could be, had suggested that one of her relatives could serve as chaperone. Dory had expected that person to be the Duchess of Northwick, who owned the school she attended. Her mother must have expected that as well and quickly agreed.
The note they received from Lady Elsbeth the following day simply stated the day to be ready for the journey. It wasn’t until the carriage had arrived at their doorstep yesterday that she’d discovered her chaperones would be Lord and Lady Sommerset. Not that she was ungrateful. Much the opposite. Lady Sommerset was very amusing and seemed to understand herbetter than the duchess—at least that was how it appeared when they had all been to her house just outside Town for lessons on art forgeries. She’d never thought about paintings, except the one in the school of Lady Belinda, so it hadn’t occurred to her that as a wife, she might be expected to purchase some. Just when she thought she knew all she needed to fulfill her role as a future wife, she was surprised by yet another skill that needed to be mastered. Not that she had yet to truly master any, but she was adequate. While she agreed that learning enhanced one’s experiences, she sometimes wished she could simply enjoy the small pleasures of a newly bloomed rose or the sound of the rain hitting the window.
She glanced toward the sky. It didn’t appear there would be rain before they arrived at the manor. A bubble of excitement started in her belly. She’d never been to a house party. Her father did not allow her mother to go away for that length of time, but he was happy to let his daughter go. She knew it was because he couldn’t stand her prattle, as he called it. He said she talked in circles. She smirked. She preferred to think of it as squiggly lines. When she saw Lord Harewood again, she would tell him that was her imagery for her thoughts. He would appreciate that.
Thankfully, she had apologized for thinking his remark about her imagery was him having fun with her. That had been a terrible assumption on her part. Unfortunately, her own self-awareness made it obvious that she apologized far too frequently. She’d only been in Lord and Lady Sommerset’s carriage a few hours since they left the quaint inn where they stayed the night, and she was quite sure she’d apologized at least three times. Elsbeth said it was not necessary, but that apologizing was an endearing trait nonetheless. However, Elsbeth was her dearest friend and might have simply been kind for that reason.
But a very good friend would tell her the truth, wouldn’t she?Wasapologizing endearing? She wished Lissette had agreed to come with her, but she’d said her grandmother wasn’t feeling well and she needed to stay with her. Lissette might tell her the truth about apologizing. Then again, she didn’t wish to point out her own faults to the one person who seemed genuinely interested in all her wisdom, such as it was.
Who would she talk to for a whole fortnight? She sincerely hoped Lady Rose was as nice as she seemed. They had both come out in the same year but had not been at many events together. She might be able to speak to Lord Harewood, but it wouldn’t do to be seen with him too much. She did have her chaperones. She glanced at them. Lord Sommerset was far too handsome to look at with his golden hair and tawny eyes. Luckily, he found the scenery interesting as his wife slept with her head on his shoulder.
The carriage started to slow and turned a corner. She focused outside just in time to see the stately four-floor mansion before it disappeared from her vision since she sat with her back toward their forward progress. Still, she watched as the rolling lawns spread out from the main drive into the distant forest. There must be plenty of lawn for pall-mall, but if there was a hunt planned and the ladies were invited to watch, she would refrain. She could sit a horse well enough, but not for a jaunt over the countryside.
“It’s time to wake.” Lord Sommerset’s voice brought her attention back to the inside of the carriage.
As he nudged his wife’s chin, her eyes fluttered open and she lifted her head, yawning. She quickly covered her mouth when she saw they were not alone. “Oh, dear. I do apologize, Lady Dorothea. That’s two days in a row I have been a poor hostess.”
“Please do not apologize. I was quite content watching the scenery. I have never been to Bedford. Is it true your family is neighbors of Lord and Lady Enderly?”
Lady Sommerset smoothed out her Persian green dress skirts as she sat straighter next to her husband. “They are, indeed.” She glanced at her husband. “And very glad am I that they are. It was they who hosted Lord Sommerset last year, and we were better able to deepen our acquaintance.” The woman gave her a sly look. “Are you hoping to deepen an acquaintance of yours?”
