Page 56 of The Highlander Is All That

A thought occurred, one that made Elizabeth go hot, then cold.

She was a raging hypocrite.

For one thing, she was preaching one truth to her sister and another to herself.

Did love trump money and social status? Did it truly?

She knew in her heart that the answer was yes.

But there was more. She was painting Mary with the same brush Hamish had painted her. As a girl too young to know her own heart. And she’d been furious with him.

“Elizabeth?” Mary’s quiet call pulled her from her dark ruminations. “Are you going to tell Aunt Esmeralda?”

Oh, how to answer her? “I’m torn.”

Mary sighed. “I understand.”

“Just please be careful. Don’t do anything—” Rash? Silly? Foolish? None of those would work. “Permanent. Not just yet. Please?”

Her sister smiled, a glowing grin. “Don’t worry. I won’t.”

Wouldn’t she? Judging from her expression, especially when Jamison came back into the room carrying the tea tray for Henley, she already had.

She’d given away her heart.

To a footman.

It was a tragedy of epic proportions.

Chapter Twelve

Though they marched into the Smythe-Winston musicale as though to a funeral, they were greeted with gladness . . . and curiosity. Whenever a household withdrew completely from the season, it was always a matter of intense interest.

Elizabeth laughed and waved off some of the more ridiculous suppositions, as they had all agreed they would.

No. They had not succumbed to the plague.

No. Their home had not been invaded by rats.

No. There had not been a fire.

And on and on and on.

“I heard Tiverton kidnapped her,” Lady Jane Astley whispered over lemonade as they waited for the dreaded musicale to begin. Lady Jane and Elizabeth had attended Miss Welles’s School for Girls together for a time and were friendly, so Jane backed off of that tidbit when Elizabeth chuckled.

“He was rather fond of her, but no.”

“He disappeared the same time you withdrew,” Sally Albright said with a hiss to her accusation.

Elizabeth blinked. “Did he? I wouldn’t know.”

“She’s been ill,” Victoria responded. “We all had a horrible stomach bug. Haven’t left the house.”

Sally’s eyes narrowed. “I heard it was a fever.”

“That too,” Victoria said brightly.

“So where is Lady Catherine?” Sally asked.