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Felix raised his eyebrows. “A man like me?”

She snapped her mouth closed before opening it again. “Perhaps you are not seeking a wife, but only amusement, in which case, Miss Bowles is a perfect choice.”

A surge of defensiveness rose up in his chest, but he kept his voice calm. “I am seeking a wife. It was my late mother’s wish, and I am here to fulfill it.”

Perhaps it wasn’t wise to disclose his goal to Miss Sterling, but how could he not rise to his own defense when she was masking accusations about him being a rake of some sort? Not only that, but she had accused him of injuring her maid intentionally as well.

He had never felt so misjudged in all his life.

“You cannot tell me you don’t have a similar goal,” Felix continued in a quiet voice. “A house party full of eligible bachelors and three weeks to secure one…how could you not embark on such a challenge? I’d wager your first choice is Mr. Woodward?”

Miss Sterling’s brow twitched in irritation. “And I have you to blame for driving him away.” She blinked in Mr. Woodward’s direction, where he now stood conversing with a young lady in an ivory dress.

“It was not intentional,” Felix said.

She scoffed. “I find that difficult to believe.”

Did she truly think he cared about her endeavors? He hardly knew Mr. Woodward. She had turned Felix into a villain in her own mind, and if he wasn’t careful, she could turn him into one to the entire female population of Bellthorne Hall.

He took a deep breath before declining his head in a bow. “Believe what you may, Miss Sterling. But I hope you will accept my apology and well wishes for your maid. I wish you the best of luck in your search for a husband.” He could have stopped there—and he most certainly should have—but his tongue got the better of him. “May he be a very patient and tolerant man.”

Miss Sterling’s shoulders stiffened, but before she could breathe another word, Felix skirted away from her side.

He exhaled slowly, forcing his face into a calm expression.

He had only a few seconds to relax before Lady Dalmeer called all the guests to the dining room.

Six

It had been a long while since Leah had felt so angry.

So furious.

Her heart pounded hard, heating her face as she took her place at the long dining table. To her dismay, Mr. Hawthorne took his assigned seat directly across from her.

What horrible, rotten luck.

She had hoped not to have to look at him for the rest of the evening, but now she would have no choice. Were these to be their seats every single day? Her heart sank with dread.

How dare Mr. Hawthorne make such an implication that her husband would have to be patient and tolerant? This was not the first time he had made swift judgments about her. The anger coursing through her veins intensified as she caught his gaze. She didn’t truly believe that he had intentionally injured Grace, but she did believe that he had meant to interrupt Mr. Woodward. He likely thought to spare him an attachment to Leah just as he had spared Mr. Davies.

If Mr. Hawthorne thought her so intolerable, then perhaps she should prove him right.

Leah glanced at the young woman who had just taken her seat beside him. Leah was still struggling to remember all the names of the new people she had met over the course of the day. The dining chair looked quite large behind the woman’s petite figure, and her dark blonde hair was piled in perfect curls at the crown of her head. Her eyes were a piercing hazel, framed in long, curled lashes.

“Miss Benson,” Mr. Hawthorne said, his attention immediately captured. “How are you this evening?”

She gave a demure smile. “I am well, thank you. I’m afraid you must remind me of your name.”

“Mr. Hawthorne.”

Leah stopped herself from eavesdropping. Despite the anger she felt toward him, she shouldn’t have been wasting the evening away allowing him to vex her. She needed to be having conversations of her own.

She glanced to her left to find an empty chair, and her lips fell into a frown.

Well, that was not promising.

She caught Katherine’s gaze across the long table. Why must she have been seated so far away? Her cousin gave her an encouraging nod.