“But it is working.”
“I can see that it is working. That is not the point. You cannot simply kiss me without warning. It is not right, and you know it.”
“Clara, I do beg your pardon. I offended you. I am only doing what must be done to ensure our story is believed.”
“Well,” she said, “congratulations. It most certainly is believed now.”
She moved away from him. Across the ballroom a small crowd of gentlemen was already making their way towards Julian, hands extended, clapping him on the back. She watched it happen and felt a fresh wave of irritation that she recognized was not entirely rational and did not particularly care. They were congratulating him. Yes, it was good, it meant the plan was working, but how dare he? How dare he treat her with such distance for days on end, only to pull her against him in front of over a hundred people and kiss her as though she meant something to him?
It was not right, and it was not fair.
If only Arabella were here. She would bring the candleholder down over his head herself.
But if Arabella were here, none of this would be necessary, and that thought only made everything worse.
She turned and walked into the beverage room where she took a flute of red wine from a passing tray and dispatched it in threelarge swallows. She grimaced. She had forgotten how much she disliked red wine.
“Are you quite all right?” Helena’s voice came from behind her, and she turned. Helena and Evelyn were both coming through the door with the expressions of women who had seen everything from across the ballroom and wanted very much to discuss it.
“Did you know he was going to do that?” Evelyn asked.
“No. If I had known I would have told him not to.” She paused. “It was effective; I grant him that.”
“Effective,” Evelyn said. “I heard half the room talking. Some of the women were quite scandalized. Most of them said they wished their own husbands would look at them with half as much passion.” She stopped herself at Clara’s expression. “In any case, it worked.”
“It worked,” Clara agreed. She took a breath. “He has spent several days now acting as though being near me is some sort of penance, only for the last two days to grow more cordial again, as though he regrets having reminded me that this is nothing but an arrangement.” She stopped, realizing she was speaking rather faster than she had intended, and that neither of her friends was aware of everything that had passed between them. “Let me tell you what has occurred.”
She gave them a full account. She started at Marianne’s confession, went on to Dover, waking up with her arm acrosshim, and ended with his distance since. Her friends listened without interrupting which was itself a testament to how seriously they were taking it. When she finished, Evelyn sat back and shook her head.
“Goodness gracious. You have had a great deal happen in a very short time.”
“The man has no sense,” Helena said with considerable feeling. “None whatsoever. Someone ought to knock some into him. What are you going to do?”
“Nothing. Not tonight. Everyone must believe we are a pair most happily in love which means I shall smile and dance and say the right things. But once everyone has gone home, we shall have words.”
“Good,” Evelyn said. “He deserves it. And if you want me to speak to Nathaniel…”
“I thank you. But I do not think that will be necessary.”
“My Lady.” Marianne’s voice came from the hall, and a moment later she burst through the door, entirely out of breath and with an expression that Clara had not seen on her before.
“Marianne. What on earth has happened?”
“He is here.” Her eyes darted back and forth in a true panic.
The three of them looked at one another.
“Here?” Clara said. “How is that possible?”
“I do not know, but I saw him. He is here. Bash.”
“Point him out to me at once.”
She turned to Helena and Evelyn. “Please go to the ballroom and find Julian. Tell him what has happened.”
Both of them nodded and went. Clara followed Marianne into the hall.
“How did you see him?” she asked. “I did not think you intended to come tonight.”
