But Mr. Kingsley shook his head. “Whatever else may have happened, Miss Caswell, I do count you as a friend, and I don’t like to see you so…” His brows grew tight as he searched for the word. “…overwrought.”
Victoria’s nerves were strung tight like the strings of a violin, pulled to near breaking, and the slightest pressure of a bow would be their undoing.
“You acted as my confidant when I needed it most. Might I do the same for you?” he asked. “Perhaps together, we might find a solution to your troubles.”
Shoulders dropping, Victoria let out a low breath. “Not all problems have solutions, Mr. Kingsley.”
“True, but when I was on the precipice, a good friend of mine stepped forward to pull me back—regardless of how determined I was to throw myself over it. With some rather unflattering descriptions of my intelligence, if I recall correctly,” he said with a smile.
A chuckle broke through her tension at the memory of that conversation. “True.”
“And if I were to hazard a guess, your problem is in connection to the troubles you relayed to me during that conversation. Specifically, your marital goals.”
“Though we are not suited to be man and wife, I fear you have left all other prospects lacking. No matter where I look, I cannot seem to find someone with whom I wish to spend my life.” Victoria winced, placing a hand on Mr. Kingsley’s arm. “Not that you carry any of the blame for that.”
“I don’t think it has a thing to do withme.” Mr. Kingsley cast a glance to one side, his gaze landing on Elijah Dixon. Victoria’s eyes widened, her nostrils flaring.
“Is everyone aware of my feelings?” she said through gritted teeth, though a flash of light-headedness spoke of something more than anger plaguing her. “How did you guess? Does anyone else suspect it? Are we the subject of gossip—”
“Peace, Miss Caswell,” he said, cutting her frantic questions short. “There was something in your tone when we spoke of marriage that made me wonder if your heart was engaged elsewhere. With a little bit of observation, I came to suspect Mr. Dixon.”
Placing a hand to her head, Victoria struggled to hold in the groan she longed to give. “You are the second person tonight to ask me about him. It won’t be long before everyone is aware of it.”
Mr. Kingsley watched her with a pinched expression, his gaze clearly saying he thought her wits lacking. “As my suspicions grew, I spent time with Mr. Dixon—”
“You did?”
He shrugged. “How else was I to determine if he is worthy of you? We may not wish to marry, but I do care about you, Miss Caswell. You deserve happiness, and I cannot think of a better gentleman to serve as your husband. He is honorable and determined, and his goals in life align so perfectly to yours.”
“Mygoals, but not that of my family,” she whispered.
“And their goal is for each of your sisters to marry well?”
“What parent wishes otherwise?”
Mr. Kingsley bobbed his head to the side with a considering expression. “My parents would wish for Lily to marry happily. Money is of little consequence without it.”
Victoria’s expression fell. “But your parents can provide Lily with enough of a dowry to make up for a love match’s deficiencies.”
“And your parents require you to give up Mr. Dixon?”
Casting a glance to where her mother stood with several ladies, she sighed. “They do not know about him.”
There was a long silence before Victoria slanted her gaze back at Mr. Kingsley, who stood there, staring at her with disbelieving eyes.
“You had me completely fooled, Miss Caswell.”
Victoria’s brows rose. “Concerning what?”
“Your intellect,” replied Mr. Kingsley in a flat tone, though there was a spark of humor in his eyes to dull the harshness of his words. “I had thought you uncommonly intelligent, but your wits are lacking.”
Victoria gaped. “Pardon?”
“You are sacrificing yourself on the altar of familial duty, yet you haven’t spoken with your parents to determine if it is their desire. That is uncommonly foolish. For all your sage advice in the face of my romantic troubles, you seem unable to apply it to yourself.”
Mr. Kingsley huffed and continued, “You speak as though your sisters’ options are to marry either wealth or poverty, but most in their situation find a happy balance. My mother’s brothers were raised with money, yet none of them have an income to mimic that lifestyle—except Uncle Nicholas, who inherited my grandfather’s estate. But Uncle Ambrose and Uncle Graham are extraordinarily happy with their dowerless brides and living a moderate but comfortable life.”
Opening her mouth, Victoria attempted to refute that, but there was nothing with which to refute his logic.
