Something broke up that friendship. The Duke of Torrance’s commitment to us, the women our brother-in-law left behind, seemed strong. “How could the two men have been close friends? We knew nothing of the duke until Tavis was dying.”
“I can’t believe the duke ruined their association. He seems too serious and the man has science meetings. He can’t be bad.” Scarlett put her hands to my face. “Maybe as we help with this public courtship, we can discover something to help Katherine see the Duke of Torrance is not a horrid man.”
It would take a great deal of work to change our eldest sister’s mind.
As Scarlett walked in circles, then a figure eight about the chairs, I listened to Katherine’s voice telling Lydia she’d have a bath in the morning. “She’ll probably gentle her to sleep.”
“Katherine does that in Mama’s old rocking chair.” Scarlett stopped pacing and went to the pianoforte that sat in the corner. “She’ll hold her forever.”
Scarlett began to play. We kept the simple instrument tuned. I was glad Katherine never sold it.
The notes meshed together and offered a very slow rendition of “Robin Adair.” “The engagement, was it the duke’s suggestion?”
I lifted from the sturdy Chippendale chair. “Yes. How did you know?”
My sister started to chuckle. “Anything that would draw attention to you would never be a suggestion from Katherine.”
“Wait. No. What are you saying? Katherine doesn’t want me to have attention? You make her sound narcissistic.”
“No. No. No, Katherine is the most humble woman in our acquaintance. But something’s happened to her, probably more than we know. She doesn’t want any of us to have attention. It’s as if the shame she felt long ago stays with her, with all of us.”
“How do we hide in London when we’re so different from most? We cross over the river, we stand out.”
“We stand out everywhere. We were once well-to-do. A cultured, loving family with two parents who built a fine house. We inherited our father’s successful businesses. Women were running them just fine. Now it’s all a memory.”
The music changed. The tune was slower. It made the keys mourn.
“Katherine’s unrecognizable now from the sister we had growing up,” I said. “We have to help her. She’s become a bitter widow. She’s bitter and hurt, but she talked to me, just a little bit, before we came in.”
“Perhaps we should say something to the duke. He might be able to do something.”
“Katherine will hate us if we involve him. We’ll have to figure things out.” I leaned over and kissed Scarlett’s brow. “I trust you and we’re smart. Like Papa said, we can build anything.”
“In science, the seed is destroyed to germinate a plant. Things have to be broken down to make something new. Can we truly survive Katherine, or any of us, being destroyed?”
I stood near the pianoforte. “Let’s try. Scarlett, I didn’t like the way the duke looked today. He’s young, in his thirties. As long as nothing is seriously wrong, Lydia’s nonsensical plan of marrying him in twenty years might work.”
This was London. Old, wealthy men married young women all the time. I just hoped someone would get really smart and make the duke fall in love, truly in love.
“He’s a good-hearted man,” Scarlett said and made a run along the keys. “He’s very kind to Lydia. Men typically don’t have time for children.”
Bumping her with my hip, I sat beside her. “Duet time. Come, let’s speed up this tune.”
We played “Robin Adair” faster and faster, until we were both laughing hard. Smoke should have been coming out of the pianoforte for all the pounding of the keys.
With a dramatic flourish, Scarlett finished our piece. “Well, if your fiancé ever heard you play, he’d truly love you.”
“Why?”
“Georgie, he’s a musician. They adore music and you might’ve missed how he paid attention to you from the moment you walked into the garden.”
“You saw?”
“Yes, I might’ve come down and gone exploring. And then there are a few academic papers I borrowed. Men are so untidy. They left them after the meeting let out.”
Oh, no. We were liars and thieves. “Just be careful with whatever you have. We’ll put it back with my first lesson. Monday.”
“Good, I have two days to read them all.”
