However, asthatdisplay in the drawing room made clear, George had just effectively declared that Miss Gertrude Wallington was far from nothing to him.It couldn’t be what Tilly wanted to see.And her face had reflected that.She had gone absolutely white.
Second, Mr.Malcolm Brown had announced that he thought Tilly the most handsome woman of the party—and she was fairly sure he had done so because she had urged him to it.It was what she had wanted, after all, and what she had hoped to wordlessly communicate to him.She couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t merely how he felt, but the way he had looked at her had suggested comprehension of her desires.
No, indeed, she was nearly sure of it.
Lost in thought, she had not spoken a word to Malcolm.He seemed aware of her preoccupation and had said little himself.
When they arrived at the place where the gig usually waited, they found it empty.
“I will go inform the footmen,” Malcolm said at once.
“Is that necessary?It’s not a long walk.”
She did not want to wait any longer to set out from the house, and the prospect of speaking to him alone was, at this moment, very tempting.They had not had a conversation alone, truly alone, since the closet.
“It is a short walk and the path is flat.I am happy to escort you if you are equal to the exertion—and if you think it is proper.”
The idea of anything beingproperwhen it came to her and Malcolm Brown struck her as ridiculous.“It probably isn’t.But I am not a girl of Tilly’s age—and I don’t know why anyone may ever know.”
Surely, the man with the gig who had been derelict in his duties would not announce his absence to anyone.And who else would know or care that they had walked back to the hunting lodge together?
He smiled.“You will hear no objection from me.”
He offered his arm.She took it, and they set out.
After they had walked a while in silence, she found the courage to speak.“Thank you,” she managed.“For choosing Tilly.”
“I won’t deny that I thought it was what you wanted me to do.”
She smiled in the dark.She had been right, then.
“I wasn’t sure if you understood.”
“I thought I did.I probably shouldn’t speak of it—but also it seems absurd to deny what we all know to be true.You are all here because George wants to select a wife.He has been set on your sister from the beginning.I thought you might feel worried for her after his—uh—attention to Miss Wallington.”
She saw no point in pretending she didn’t understand what he spoke of—not when she had already essentially admitted it to him in a message he had, evidently, very much received.
“She has been so pleased in his interest, and I believe it is no secret that she would like to become his wife.Usually, it is improper for a lady or her family to breathe a word of such things, but George and Tilly have something like—”
She thought of the kiss she’d witnessed and blanched.Perhaps, she had been a very poor chaperone indeed.
“An understanding,” he supplied.
Gratitude filled her.His assurance reminded her that she hadn’t imagined the pact between Tilly and George.
“Yes, exactly.I wondered if, perhaps, she was growing closer to Mr.Westmore, but she denied it.But then tonight, with Miss Wallington, I was surprised by George’s actions—and I am sure Tilly was too.”
“It may be that George did not want to humiliate Miss Wallington.To let Severn return the handkerchief would be an admission that he did not care.He always was a good-hearted lad.It would be in his character.”
“Perhaps,” she said, remembering the way George had snatched the little piece of silk from his brother’s hand with unmistakable violence.“But it seemed like more.”
“Yes.It did.”He said the words carefully, as if he feared hurting her with them.“And I know with Tilly’s heart at play, you must be very nervous for her.”
“I am.”
“You are a very good sister.”
A lump rose in her throat.“She is the only family I have left.I have Vera, too, of course.But she is my stepmother.Tilly is my sister—it is different.”
