“She ishonest—” I started to argue.
Maggie raised an impatient hand and cut me off, her attention still on Georgiana. “But I think I should very much like to be your friend. Come, sit near me.”
Dinner passed by in a blur of conversation as did the subsequent dancing where Mother forced me into the company of the most eligible women in the room.
In short, by the end of the night, I was exhausted and foul-tempered, and Georgiana had won over both of my cousins, my mother, and half theton.
“Lady Jersey is a dear friend of mine!” Maggie was saying as they walked arm in arm out of the house and toward the waiting carriage. “I shall have to introduce you. Of course, I cannot promise anything, but if we catch her on a good day . . .”
Georgiana had an eye set toward Almack’s, did she?
Gabriel helped them both into the cabin and practically jumped inside. He leaned back on his bench and closed his eyes. The night was still early for him. He’d take his own carriage to White’s and play cards well into the morning.
“I see now why our cousin befriended you,” Maggie toldher. “You aren’t at all like they paint you in the papers. And ... I am sorry for how I treated you earlier.”
Georgiana was beaming. “You don’t have to say that.”
“I mean it,” Maggie said. “I like you. No one will speak an ill word about you while we are together. I promise.”
“Did you meet anyoneyouliked in particular?” Georgiana turned to me with a little smile lifting her lips. A smile that begged for another compliment.
I had no intention of giving her the satisfaction of a real response. “Didyou?”
“So sweet that he values your opinion,” Maggie said to her, and Georgiana grinned, knowing full well I did not.
Georgiana continued, “I thought Lady Diana was beautiful. You ought to call upon her tomorrow. Then, perhaps Hyde Park next? Where we all can walk and talk together.”
Ah. Another of her outings. She wanted Hyde Park at the fashionable hour. She was finding the social success she sought, and I had no doubt, with my aid, she’d be back in theton’s good graces in a fortnight. Regrettably, she was right. Best to get both of her remaining outings over and done with as quickly as we could so I could focus on business.
“Why not skip the call and walk Hyde Park tomorrow, then?”
Georgiana leaned back in her seat and mulled it over. “A call will be brief, a walk more intimate. Reserved for if you’re feeling more confident about her. Let’s wait a few days.”
I leaned back too. Smart for Georgiana to draw the outings out. Doing so was in her own best interests, for our names would be entwined for a longer period of time.
A call or a walk, neither would make much of a differencein my decision. Tonight had been a disappointment for me. I’d met dozens of women, the most qualified among them for the dukedom clearly Lady Diana. And, yet, I could not force myself to feel enthusiastic toward any of them.
Lady Diana was pretty, but not any prettier than the rest. And she had said she was “not opposed to, though not overly fond of” pets, which in a polite lady’s terms meant that she hated them. I did not.
“Do you feel confident enough in Lady Diana to call upon her at all?” Maggie asked.
Gabriel’s eyes opened to slits under furrowed brows.
I considered ignoring her question. My feelings were none of her business, nor were they Georgiana’s or Gabriel’s. Though, I supposed, whoever I chose would become a direct part of my cousins’ lives, considering how often they visited. I raked a hand down my face. My knee started to bounce. Maggie was the closest thing I had to a sister. Would it be all that bad to have her opinion?
“In truth, my first impression of Lady Diana was not encouraging.”
“Surely you don’t mean that.” Maggie crossed her arms. “Lady Diana is beautiful and respected and amply accomplished.”
Georgiana nodded her agreement. “First impressions are dangerous things. You cannot judge her based on a single meeting. Do you not remember ours? And look at us now.”
“Were you dreadful to him?” Maggie laughed.
Georgiana’s eyes locked with mine, and my leg stilled. It was as though, together, we remembered.
“He actually came to call upon my brother.” She watchedme as she spoke. “And I had been reading in the barn like an animal. A country girl to the core. When I came into the house, I still had straw in my hair, but he greeted me all the same. I must have smelled like horse manure.”
“You did,” I told her. But the truth was, I hadn’t really noticed. I’d been so preoccupied with getting my ring back. I did remember the straw in her hair and a tint of dust on her face and her clothes. When I thought back on that meeting, what I remembered most was how angry I’d felt. How wronged I’d been by Gabriel. I’d felt exhausted.
