Page 23

“Mrs. Parkem,” said Captain Colter.

Moira cocked her head to the side. “Is that right?”

“The target seems to have a fondness for her,” said Miss Gibson. “A Mr. Wark.”

Calling it a “fondness” was being kind. She’d seen the way Wark circled Lavinia like a shark.

“And she said no,” said Moira.

“Miss Gibson believes she could be persuaded,” said Captain Colter.

“And what do you think, sir?” she asked.

“That Mrs. Parkem wants nothing to do with the idea. She told me so yesterday.”

“Well.” Moira rang the little bell on the side table next to her sofa, “What better time than now to find out who is right?”

Lavinia wiped her damp palms on her skirts as she followed Moira’s stoic butler, wishing she could calm her nerves. She was a proud woman, and coming to her friend for help was a blow to her pride.

It’s not help for you. It’s help for Caleb.

The thought did little to calm her. The matchmaker had been her client since Lavinia’s first year in business. At some point, they’d transitioned into a pleasant friendship, but Lavinia was always aware that the lady had been her customer first. Despite what she’d told Caleb just the day before, she knew very well the difference in social class between the pair of them.

Fergus opened the drawing room door, but before Lavinia could cross the threshold, she froze. Andrew was there.

She balled up her fists, her short, blunt nails cutting painfully into her palms. The universe was cruel, playing a trick on her in retribution for what she’d done to him. There could be no other explanation for why the man was still here, standing in her friends’ home on the very day she’d learned her brother was in trouble.

She swallowed. “What is he doing here?”

“Lavinia,” said Moira in the sort of voice one might use when placating a frightened horse, “I’m glad you’re here.”

“And who is she?” Lavinia asked, giving up all pretense at manners and jutting her chin out in the direction of a small woman who was wearing an appalling shade of puce, made even more offensive by the three tiers of swag that climbed up her skirt.

“Captain Colter and Miss Gibson have come to me for help,” said Moira, her deep-brown eyes softening with sympathy. “They’d like to put forward the proposal that Captain Colter tried to speak to you about yesterday once again.”

Lavinia’s gaze darted from her friend to Andrew, to Miss Gibson, and back to Moira. “No.”

And without another word, she turned on her heel and walked out of the room as fast as she could.

“Lavinia!” Andrew shouted after her.

Hearing her name on his lips was a shot to her soul. Why couldn’t he understand that she didn’t want to see him? She didn’t want to hear his voice. She didn’t want to think about him any more than she wanted to desire him with the low, keening pull of remembered attraction in her belly every time she set eyes on him. She could make it through this life she’d chosen, but only if he wasn’t in it.

She was at the top of the stairs when Moira’s soft voice stopped her. “Lavinia, there’s no need to run.”

Her feet stopped moving and her arms went limp at her sides as she stared at the blooming-rose-and-vine pattern in Moira’s William Morris carpet.

“If I had known how seeing Captain Colter would disturb you, I would never have welcomed him into my home,” her friend continued, rounding her and placing a hand on her arm.

Instinctively, Lavinia leaned into Moira to soak up some of her comfort. “We were engaged to be married once,” she said softly.

Moira’s brows jumped. “Before Parkem?”

That, at least, was a small victory. It took a great deal to surprise the matchmaker, who always seemed to know everything about everyone.

“Long before. My parents didn’t approve of the match, but I couldn’t imagine myself with any other man. Then Andrew’s ship was reported lost at sea. We thought he was dead. For months my mother pushed me at Parkem. My father was sick at the time and made it clear that there wasn’t much to leave Caleb, let alone an annuity for Mamma and me.”

It wasn’t the entire truth, but she didn’t think she could stand to describe all of that now. Not while he was standing in the next room.