“Down to the stockings,” her cousin said ruefully as she lifted her skirts to reveal homely cotton hosiery with nary a shiny button or ribbon embellishment to be seen. “I know my attire is sorely out of date, but Grandmother believes that drawing unwanted attention upon oneself by one’s wardrobe is in poor taste. I should win a man’s favor with my feminine charm and wit. Never mind that I haven’t any.”
“Grandmother” sounded like a stodgy old schoolmarm with a penchant for wooden rulers.
“You needn’t dress provocatively to be noticed,” Evie allowed. “But your clothes should reflect your personality, and from what I know of you thus far, you’re much more bright and beguiling than this gown would suggest.”
Rosemary flushed. “Do you know, I believe that is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
“I’m glad to hear it, but you shouldn’t be receiving compliments fromme. You should be getting them from your suitors.”
“Suitors?” her cousin giggled. “Oh, I don’t have any of those either. Unless Sir Reginald counts.”
“He does not,” Evie said firmly. “If you’d like, I can help you achieve a more modern appearance. It wouldn’t hardly take any effort at all. We’d start by washing all of that awful bandoline out of your hair, and then making a few tiny alterations to your attire. That tan is doing nothing for your complexion.” She smiled confidently. “You’ll be turning heads in no time.”
“I couldn’t possibly ask so much of you, especially during a house party,” Rosemary protested even as her eyes lit with thinly veiled excitement. “But itwouldbe nice to feel fashionable for once. To have people look at me not out of pity, but because they actually think I am pretty.”
“Youarepretty. Beautiful, really. And to be honest, I’d prefer the distraction.” Evie smoothed a wrinkle on the coverlet and sighed. “The house party hasn’t exactly gone as I…anticipated it would.”
“But it hasn’t even started! Surely nothing too awful could have happened yet.”
“You’d be surprised,” she said wryly.
Rosemary patted her hand. “It’ll be all right, now that we’re together. I normally have to depend on the company of my books to keep me occupied at these sorts of social events. I cannot tell you have pleased I am to have you here with me, especially since I had to leave Sir Reginald behind. Idohope he’s not too cross. Squirrels, as you know, are quite finicky.”
Evie didnotknow, but since she had more or less adopted a lamb, she was hardly in a position to judge Rosemary for her unusual attachment to a rat with a furry tail.
From what she’d learned of her cousin thus far, it was apparent that Rosemary was lonely and kept mostly to herself. Which was understandable, given the ironclad way with which Lady Ellinwood yielded control over every facet of her granddaughter’s life. But that didn’t make it acceptable.
Evie and her sisters were raised from an early age to be independent, and to think for themselves. That upbringing had fostered a sense of self-reliance that had helped see them through the difficulties of the last few years, and Evie was loath to imagine what might have happened to them if they’d been forced to live trapped beneath their grandmother’s thumb.
Certainly, she and Joanna would never have had the courage to travel halfway around the world. Although, in hindsight, she didn’t know whether that decision was brave so much as it was foolhardy. Maybe shewouldhave been better served to have stayed in the parlor with a pile of books. At least then she wouldn’t have gone and fallen in love with an earl who considered her to be nothing more than a lapse in judgment.
The lout.
“Your grandmother came with you, I presume?” she asked in a deliberate attempt to steer her thoughts away from Weston.
Rosemary nodded. “She is just getting settled in. Traveling upsets her gout. Will Joanna be joining us today or tomorrow?”
“I am afraid she won’t be joining us at all, as she is currently on a very large ship headed for Boston.”
“That’s strange. She did not mention she was leaving when we had coffee yesterday.”
“You had coffee with my sister?” said Evie, startled.
“Yes, at a lovely little tea shop in Mayfair. Their cider cakes with spiced jam are positively divine, and the snowdon pudding is–”
“I’m sorry,” Evie cut in. “But just to make sure I am understanding you correctly, you spoke with Joannayesterday. As in, the day before this one.”
“Was I not meant to? I’m sorry.” Sliding off the bed, Rosemary wrung her hands together as she edged towards the door. “I have overstepped. I tend to do that. It’s why I don’t have many friends, I fear. Or any friends really, except for Sir Reginald. Who Iknowis a squirrel.” She gave a slight, self-deprecating smile. “But he never mocks me, and he listens, and occasionally he even chatters back. Which is more than I can say for anyone else in theton.”
“You did nothing wrong,” Evie assured her cousin. “I just didn’t know that Joanna had decided to stay in London.”
A letter would have been nice, she reflected with a pinch of annoyance. Which reminded her that she had letters to give out as well. Farewell notes, written by Joanna, to be distributed to Brynne, and Weston, and Rosemary. In the chaos of the last few days, she’d forgotten all about them. But if Joannawasstill in London–and she had no reason to doubt Rosemary’s account–then her sister could distribute them herself.
Joanna knew where to find her.
And Evie had an inkling of where she might find Joanna.
Her sister failing to get on that ship could only mean one thing…she and Mr. Kincaid must have reconciled their differences, and Joanna had finally found what she’d been searching for. Not the ring, or her birth father. She’d found those as well, of course, but Evie had always suspected that, deep down, her sister had come to England to look for something much more meaningful.
