“Whywouldyou want to come? Why would any young lady?” Lucy made a disgusted noise. “I’ve wanted to see London for an age, but I never imagined a season would be so dreary. It’s a wonder to me how any young lady makes her way through it without becoming a nervous wreck.”
“A wreck, or a mockery,” Lady Felicia said bitterly. “I feel quite sorry for Sebastian, having to drag me through a second season.”
Lucy and Eloisa glanced at each other.
“But your brother seemed perfectly happy to act as your chaperone at Lady Ivey’s ball last night. He’s an ideal escort.” Eloisa propped her chin on her palm with a dejected air. She and Lucy, who had to make do with Eloisa’s father, weren’t quite so fortunate.
Lady Felicia looked from Lucy to Eloisa, a flush rising in her cheeks. “I’m lucky to have him. He’s very good to me, yet I daresay I’ll disappoint him again this year, just as I did the last.”
Eloisa and Lucy glanced at each other again, then back at Lady Felicia.
“Why should that be the case?” Lucy asked. “You’re lovely, and the daughter of an earl. You have every advantage. Why shouldn’t you make a triumphant match this season?”
Unless, of course, she had no money. Lucy glanced anxiously at her cousin. Eloisa didn’t have a penny to her name, and worse, she had a ridiculous, mean-spirited father. She had nothing but her pretty face to recommend her, and London was overflowing with young ladies with pretty faces and empty purses.
If beauty and manners were all that was required for an eligible match, she’d rest easy about her cousin’s prospects this season, but there could be no denying Eloisa had only a meager chance at making a decent match.
Lady Felicia looked a bit taken aback at Lucy’s blunt assessment. “I only wish it were that simple, Lady Lucinda.” She leaned closer and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Unfortunately, my idea of a triumph is to become betrothed to the man I love, and I’m no closer to it now than I was last season.”
Eloisa’s eyes widened. “What do you mean? Are you in love with someone?”
Lady Felicia caught her lower lip between her teeth, her gaze darting back and forth between Lucy and Eloisa. “Oh, dear. This is terribly humiliating, but I suppose it’ll become obvious soon enough.”
Lucy and Eloisa huddled closer.
“I thought perhaps…that is, I had hoped Lord Markham might make me an offer last season. I’ve known Edmund my whole life, and I’ve loved him for as long as I can remember.”
“You…he…you mean…” Lucy gaped at her, trying to gather her wits. She hadn’t expected such a blunt confession of love from Lady Felicia.
Lady Felicia sighed. “Dear me. I’m a shocking creature, aren’t I? I do beg your pardons.”
“No, no. It’s quite all right.” Lucy wasn’t one to pry into others’ secrets, having a great many of her own she’d rather not discuss, but there could be little doubt Lady Felicia had just invited them to pry to their heart’s content. “Does Lord Markham know you’re in love with him?”
Lady Felicia sighed again, this one bleaker than the last. “If he doesn’t, then he must be remarkably dim. I haven’t been very good at hiding it. He’d fond of me, of course, but he persists in thinking of me as Sebastian’s troublesome younger sister.”
Lucy tapped a finger against her chin, considering this. “Well, Lord Markham is here with you again this season. Surely that means there’s still hope for the two of you?”
Lady Felicia’s face was glum. “I’m afraid not. Edmund isn’t here withmeat all. He only came because Sebastian wheedled him into it. I did mention Sebastian is quite good at wheedling, did I not?”
Lucy glanced at Eloisa. “You did, yes.”
“Either Edmund’s on the hunt for a wife, which means I’ll be obliged to watch him dance and flirt with every eligible lady in London, or else he’s come to keep an eye out for Sebastian. Either way, I’m in for a grim time of it. Indeed, before I met you both, I’d half made up my mind to insist Sebastian take me back home to Lewes at once.”
Eloisa frowned. “Why should Lord Markham have to look after Lord Vale? Does he need looking after?”
Lady Felicia shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “Well, Sebastian was involved with a rather unfortunate incident last season.”
“What sort of unfortunate incident?” Eloisa pressed.
“The whole thing was rather absurd, really. Sebastian fell out with Lord Feckham over something to do with Lady Needham, who was Sebastian’schère amieat the time.”
Eloisa gasped. “Lord Vale has a mistress?”
“Not anymore, no, but he did then. Sebastian ended up calling Lord Feckham out, and he, ah…he shot him in the foot. It caused quite a scandal.”
“Lord Vale participated in aduel, over hismistress?” Eloisa looked horrified. “I don’t understand. I thought he was…he seems so…”
“He’s a terrible rake,” Lady Felicia said matter-of-factly.
