“The part about death, probably. Why would a gossip rag talk about anything serious?” Lucien asked while taking hold of his sister. He shook her head like they were meeting one another.She slapped him away and slumped in her seat, sticking out her tongue. And she ignored the look Verity sent her. “It’s most likely a ploy to ferret out something real, even personal, I would bet.”
Verity looked to him in surprise. He’d gotten it closer to the truth than she would have expected him to.
“What do you mean?” Elowen asked with confusion plain on her face.
“I don’t know.” Lucien squished into the seat beside her. The two of them began elbowing each other. Mostly it was him, since Elowen was trying to be nicer about it. But he was clearly taunting her as he played with her hair and poked her in the arm.
After clearing her throat and sending him a pointed look, Verity motioned to her sister. “Come sit over here with me. Lucien, stop being a pest.”
“Could I be anything else?”
Octavia giggled until she snorted. “That’s all you are, unless you’re drunk.”
“Octavia, that’s hardly appropriate to say.”
But Lucien was waving a hand. “No, no, she’s right. But so am I, I bet, about the rag. You have to take those matters with a grain ofsalt. So what if all of London talks about it tonight? We’ll forget about it by tomorrow.”
“I bet––” Octavia stopped short.
Everything fell quiet. They all looked to the open doorway to find Cassian standing there looking at them. While he fixed a crease on his sleeve, he raised an eyebrow at the room.
“What is everyone talking about this fine evening?” He asked.
The others exchanged looks. As their parents had once been a topic of gossip when they were children, it wasn’t a subject typically welcomed by Cassian. He was the head of the family now, Verity considered, and yet so distant from them.
Standing, Verity worked on putting her gloves back on. “We’re talking about how we are going to be late to Almack’s. Will you be joining us?”
“I believe that is Lucien’s duty tonight.”
“Isn’t Verity set as chaperone now that she’s wed?” Elowen asked while Lucien groaned, lolling his head back in his seat.
Cassian’s gaze flitted across everyone before returning to Lucien. “It’s Almack’s.”
“But they don’t like me there.”
“Then try to drink less,” their eldest brother said and then turned to leave. “Behave, ladies. Lucien.”
Octavia bounced right up. “It’s time to go!”
The young woman took the lead on gathering everyone together and out into the carriage. Not that they fit like they used to when they were children. Verity remembered the few trips her parents dared take the five of them out of London, how many carriages were required for them and their trunks.
Elowen cried out. “Ouch, my foot!”
“Sit over there, you know I get sick if I sit on that side,” Octavia whined.
Lucian groaned and grumbled under his breath, not helping any of them into the carriage.
It was just as difficult as ever to fit the four of them inside one this evening. By the time they took to the road, Elowen wasn’t talking to Lucien, Octavia was fanning herself to keep the nausea back, and Verity felt a headache coming on.
Perhaps going to Almack’s tonight wasn’t a good idea after all.
Verity curtsied neatly to the society matrons who welcomed everyone through the doors of Almack’s. She also very neatly ignored the disgruntled look they sent Lucien; there was littledoubt his card would be revoked if he did anything more out of line.
What he had done originally, she couldn’t be certain. Her sisters and the gossip around town were usually her priority. Lucien had always been the wayward child determined to make his own path––though lately that meant trouble and more troubles. She watched him slip across the room toward the shadows and then turned back to Octavia.
“Can you––”
“Oh there is Eve! I’ll see you ladies later,” the younger girl chirped before hurrying off. She managed to elbow an elderly baron and tripped over her own hem before reaching her friend.
