Pippa held out her hand. “Let’s see the charm then. How many runes does it have? I think we can gauge his interest in marrying you by the complexity of the charm.”
“No, we can’t. The complexity of the charm is only a gauge of how considerate he is and how much he thinks I’m lying about being in danger.”
Pippa curled her fingers into her palm, then extended them again, wordlessly asking for the charm. Sadie sighed and gave in. Getting the charm out of her corset was as undignified as she had expected.
“Sadie, you didn’t!” Pippa exclaimed when she saw her reaching under the layers of her bodice. “Wait. I thought the baron said you refused to accept the charm?”
“I did refuse.” She glowered. “I’m not the one who dropped it down my bodice.”
Pippa gasped. “Lord Marstede shoved it down your dress?”
“It wasn’t like that. He didn’t even touch me, just dropped it into the gap.”
“So he was looking closely, then?”
“Yes, Pippa. He looked at my cleavage.” Sadie managed to snag the charm and drew it out. “That still doesn’t mean he wants to marry me. Spirits, you know better than to think attraction leads to wedding bells.”
Pippa smirked as she accepted the charm from Sadie. “So, you admit he is attracted to you.” She squinted at the amethyst, holding it close to her eyes. “This is a pretty complicated glyph, Sadie. I may not be an expert, but this is not a simple protection charm.”
Sadie snatched the stone back. She recognized a few of the runes, but they had been put together into a glyph that was beyond her understanding as well. Pippa was right; it was not a simple charm. “He said he carved it in a single morning.”
“Then he either lied, or he is a master earth-witch.”
Even ignoring the fact that the charm was an amethyst, and thus inherently more valuable than one made of any old stone, it had to be something that would sell for more than Sadie made in a week. Considering that it was a gemstone, it was probably worth more than she made in a month. Rather than making her consider the possibility of accepting it and then selling it later, though, that realization only made her want to sneak into the brewing room when Jane wasn’t around even more.
Sadie could craft potions that were just as complex. If she had even a single day a week in a brewing room, she wouldn’t have to scrape together every spare copper she could to pay her half of the rent for the rooms she shared with Pippa.
“Why would he give me something so valuable?”
Pippa rolled her eyes. “I’m telling you, it doesn’t matter that the dowager only invited you to make the other ladies look better. He likes you. He’s going to choose you.”
“He’s not going to choose anyone.” But maybe he did like Sadie. Even if he didn’t trust her. She closed her fingers over the charm. She’d have to figure out what that meant later. “I should be getting ready for supper.”
That was distraction enough for Pippa. She clapped her hands together. “I found the most wonderful gown in the dowager’s wardrobe for you tonight. Let me grab it.”
When her friend turned away, Sadie unclenched her fist, looked at the charm one more time, and dropped it back down her bodice.
Fourteen
???
Now that eachlady’d had her chance to walk with Nicholas privately, his mother decreed it time for more general, group activities. They played parlor games, walked the grounds as a group, and took turns reading aloud from a popular novel.
At first, he’d been relieved. Oh, he hated spending hours every day listening to Abigail giggle and pretending he actually enjoyed the games, but he didn’t have to be alone with any of the women. In a group, he could essentially avoid Sadie and all the temptations she represented.
But as the days dragged on, and Sadie followed his example and maintained that distance, he realized that wasn’t what he wanted at all. It reached the point where he almost asked his mother to start the evening games of chess again, though he’d been grateful for the pause when the afternoon games started. But he’d already played against Helen, Abigail, and Beatrice. Which meant that if they started again, he’d have Sadie sitting across from him within three nights at most.
He couldn’t even sit close to her in the sitting room where his mother organized their afternoon games, because she always chose the same chair, and the closest seat was a divan. If he sat on one end of that, Abigail would take the spot next to him.
On the third afternoon of parlor games, Nicholas decided to sit on the divan anyway. He angled his body toward Sadie, ignoring Abigail as she raced to sit next to him.
Sadie narrowed her eyes at him.
He smiled. Spirits, but he preferred her glares to Abigail’s simpers. “How about a friendly wager on today’s game?”
“We don’t even know what Madeleine has planned yet.”
“Afraid you’ll lose?”
