I froze with a scowl. “Are you going somewhere?”
“Yes.” Colin adjusted his sleeves. “I never thought solitude would bother me, but I could not bear being confined here another evening. I was invited to a private ball. I’m glad you returned in time. I couldn’t risk being seen in two places at once.” He laughed, but the humor escaped me. There had been an underlying tension between us since we had argued the day before, though we hadn’t addressed it. I had been glad to be out of the house all day to avoid speaking to him.
“Did you enjoy your time with Miss Sharp?” he asked. “Is she sufficiently in love with you yet?”
The question distracted me, echoing through my head. I wanted to believe that she cared for me as I cared for her, but to hope for such a thing was dangerous. She didn’t even know who I actually was. My scowl deepened, and I chose to ignore his question. “Are you not concerned that she will be at the private ball you’re attending?”
Colin shot me a confused look. “Did you not discuss your plans for this evening when you saw her today? I would be quite surprised to find a woman of her standing at this particular party. It’s on the edge of town, hosted by the Viscount Huntington.”
I nodded. I couldn’t reveal to him that I had been avoiding my debt all day and using his connections to advertise my business instead. “You’re right. I don’t believe she mentioned that.” I was shocked that Colin actually wanted to venture out of the house, but I would be glad to have the house to myself for a change. After all that had been on my mind, I wanted to write my letter to Arabella and retire early.
Colin slipped past me at the top of the stairs with a brief departing nod, leaving me alone in the flickering shadows of the candlelight.
ARABELLA
How was I to walk down that stairwell beside Newbury’s every day and not think of kissing Mr. Campbell? I knew it was Kate who awaited me in her carriage at the bottom, but I wished it was Mr. Campbell again. The stairwell was quite unsettling in the dark, so I hurried down and stepped out into the dim street. My head ached from thinking too much, and my heart ached when I looked up at the sky.
Why had he not called upon me all day?
How could he have kissed me and then disappeared? It was horribly thoughtless of him. Had the kiss meant nothing?
My thoughts had been spiraling with elation and fear, but as usual, Kate had come to my rescue. She had secured me an invitation to a ball that evening. She had even lent me a gown to wear, and Hannah had worked swiftly to alter it that day. I had never felt more beautiful. The green satin fabric was trimmed in tiny beads that looked like crystal. The sulfur water had been washed clean from my hair, yet somehow it had dried softer than usual, a deeper shine reflecting off every twist and curl of my coiffure.
I met Kate in the carriage, tucking my gloved hands together in my lap. My lips pressed together. I had been determined to keep my secret, but in the dark carriage without any risk of being overheard, the words spilled out. “Mr. Campbell kissed me.”
Kate nearly jumped, moving forward to sit on the edge of the bench. “You cannot be serious.”
I nodded, falling back against the seat with a groan. “I hardly know what to think. He has not called upon me since.”
“When did this happen? Where?” Kate’s eyes gleamed with shock in the darkness.
“Yesterday, after the Roman Baths. He followed me into the stairwell by Newbury’s.”
Kate’s jaw dropped. “I knew I should have walked with you to the door.”
I covered my face with my hands. “Is it so very bad?”
She peeled one hand from my face. I peeked at her with that eye, and was relieved to see mischief and not dread on her expression. “You are the judge of that. Was the kiss bad?”
“No! Not at all.” My face burned in the dark. How could I tell her that it was the most exhilarating thing I had ever experienced? I had thought of little else all day. Well, besides the fact that he had not called upon me.
Kate laughed under her breath before her features became serious. “I do hate to say this, but therearerakes who will kiss women beneath their station only to entertain themselves.”
I looked down, my stomach sinking. “I know.”
“But.” Kate waited until I met her gaze. “This is a very useful test, I daresay.”
Kate’s calculating expression made my heart drop. Speaking of my relationship with Mr. Campbell in such logical terms told me that she didn’t understand how involved my heart had become. I was only beginning to understand it myself, and it frightened me.
Kate had described the idea of falling in love with such distaste, and I realized that I was experiencing the very things she had explained. She had said that falling sounded out of her control, dangerous, and painful. But was there a way to stop itonce it began? It seemed I was already spinning freely through the sky, and a crash was inevitable.
“A test?” I asked weakly.
Kate nodded. “Any respectable man will propose to a lady after kissing her. You may consider his kiss a declaration of his feelings, and his honor should bind him to you. If Mr. Campbell is not sincere, then he will not propose, and then you will finally know his true intentions.”
I took in her words with a nod, but my disappointment only seemed to flourish. “How long do you suppose he would wait to offer that proposal?”
Kate sighed. “A true gentleman would have offered it today. Did you really not hear from him at all?”
