“She is,” Albina agreed. “Among other things.” She looked at him. “Elias Talbot sent flowers this morning as well. Did you know that?”
“I heard.”
“They are very nice flowers. Though not as nice as the green dress, I think.” She tilted her head slightly, as if she were trying to make a point. “Did you know she is wearing it tonight?”
Harper avoided the question and Albina noticed him looking at the window.
“You are jealous,” she said, without any particular drama.
“What are you even talking about?”
“You have been in this study all day,” she said. “With a broken pen and untouched papers, and you just looked at the window when I mentioned the dress.” She paused. “I am very good at reading people and have had a great deal of practice.”
Harper said nothing.
“You are running from something,” Albina said. “So is she. The two of you have been running from the same thing for weeks.”
“She arranged this ball herself,” Harper said, irked. “She invited him specifically.”
“She did,” Albina said. “Because she is frightened, not because she doesn’t feel anything.”
She stood up to leave then.
“I want you to think about what tonight is going to look like. Elias Talbot asking my daughter to marry him, and you watching it happen, and then going back to Sedgewick and spending the rest of your life thinking about a ball in April when you sat in your study all day and did nothing.”
“What would you have me do?” Harper said.
“Get dressed,” Albina said. “The rest is up to you.”
She went out and left the door open behind her, and Harper sat at his desk and looked at the empty doorway.
It was time to get dressed for the ball.
CHAPTER 24
The ball was everything she had planned it to be.
The flowers were right, the candles were right, the music was right, and the rooms were full of people who were, by all appearances, enjoying themselves. Mrs. Peel had outdone herself with the supper. The staff moved through the guests with the quiet efficiency she had come to rely on.
Everything was exactly as she had intended it to be.
Then why was it so hard to be happy?
Temperance stood near the window with a glass she had not drunk from and watched it all and felt a weight on her chest.
Charity appeared at her elbow at half past eight. “It looks wonderful,” she said.
“Thank you,” Temperance said.
“Are you all right?” Charity looked at her.
“I am perfectly fine.”
“Do you… should we talk about it?”
“Absolutely not.”
Alethea was nearby, with Oliver, and she caught Temperance’s eye across the room and held it for a moment before looking away.
