Livingston was a man who loved to research and gossip. Would he keep the false nature of my engagement to himself for me, his dearest friend?
I thought not.
So, I’d offer him a bit of the truth. “Well, I’ve been convinced to show the woman I have an understanding with, my secret fiancée, how to exhibit with confidence. She can sing.”
I’d heard her hum. It was good. I’d learn if Miss Wilcox could truly perform tomorrow.
“Secret fiancée? I’d heard that you’d had a little fun recently, but fiancée? An engagement? Please say you are joking.”
I should’ve known he’d heard of the commotion at Torrance’s. “It’s true. You’re one of the first officially to know. My secret entanglement will be made public at the duke’s ball. Unless it’s already in the gossip columns.”
My friend’s mouth opened. “You’re serious. Have you lost your mind?”
“Yes, and I’ve committed myself to teaching my fiancée to exhibit with confidence. It will be a test for her. My life will be exhibiting. The wife of a composer should understand.”
Livingston looked distraught. He clung to the edge of his seat, his nails digging into the tufting. I suppose he waited for me to burst into chuckles and say this was a lie.
I couldn’t admit that to him. The truth would be all over London by tomorrow noon.
“My hope, sir, is that she takes to it. I want her to be happy as my bride. But I must prepare myself if she can’t and breaks with me.”
“Looking for the worst already?” Livingston shook his head. “He got to you. The duke and some woman got to you. I cannot believe this.”
“Who? Who got what?”
“Women. You can’t trust them.” His face turned beetroot red. He sputtered like he’d been shoved off a cliff. “You’ve fallen prey to a pretty vixen. And Torrance has helped. I can sense it.”
“Sir, you seem to be falling ill, perhaps we should not dine tonight.”
“Not ill. Horrified. I’m horrified for you. Don’t you know what marriage will do to you?”
Squinting at Livingston, I folded my arms, readying to raise a shield against his onslaught. “You’re visibly repulsed, and yet I’ve not told you who or how or why?”
The earl sank on the seat, pouting like an angry child. “A woman of marriageable age sunk her hooks into my friend and made him come up to scratch. All this time, I thought you were dedicated to music. You’ve been courting a woman. She’s the reason you haven’t finished your composition.”
“Calm down, Livingston. You’re coming unglued. Talk again about your research. We won’t say another word—”
“You had to have compromised someone. I know you, Sebastian. You haven’t had time for anything.”
This was true, but I had to make this course of action seem logical. “Well, when we talked about me meeting a courtesan in the garden, I had . . . I had already happened upon a woman with Torrance. We met again in his garden. Your talk of a courtesan and gardens made me relax and talk with her. I proposed before I knew it.”
“You idiot. You weren’t listening.” His fist rose up as if he’d punch through the carriage roof. “I said you’d meet Madame Zula in a few weeks in Covent Garden, not any garden. I can’t believe I’m to blame.”
If Livingston was going to take my half-told story and put the blame on himself, then so be it. Perhaps that would keep the man from gossiping about it.
My friend took a big breath. “Tell me you’re trying to find a way out.”
There was a way if the duke’s plan worked. But announcing the full truth to the earl would make it fail. My friend wasn’t the malicious sort, but him being this agitated was as good as calling up the papers and announcing the scandal in gory detail.
Having become so jaded by his own miserable marriage, Livingston couldn’t help but say or do the wrong thing in pursuit of rescuing a friend from the altar.
Like my music, I arranged the facts in my head, then stroked the key and exhibited. “I knew she was what I wanted instantly. I’ll marry this girl. My life is changed for the better.”
There. That sounded right. It possessed enough zeal and contrition and passion that Livingston seemed moved.
He nodded as if he’d analyzed every word. “You’re actually in love. You wish to marry.”
“I do. And I will unless she changes her mind. So, please don’t ruin this for me. Say nothing.”
