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“And then he proposed.” Mei felt as though she had run a race, going through the events of the house party with her grandmother.

Well. Not all the events. At least not in detail. Though she was certain her grandmother was more than capable of reading through the lines.

“Mm. I expect I shall be hearing from him soon, then?” Her grandmother asked, lifting the cup of tea to her lips to take a sip, as though it did not matter to her. It did, though, of course. The smugness was rolling off her in waves.

Mei narrowed her eyes at her grandmother. “Soon enough, I expect. He said he would request an audience with you as soon as he could. Though no doubt he will have some things to attend to at home, especially when it comes to telling his mother.”

“That woman.” Mei’s grandmother shook her head. “You will have to watch yourself with her, Mei. She is far more dangerous than she appears.”

Raising an eyebrow, Mei studied her grandmother’s wrinkled face. They had always spoken bluntly of people’s characters. They’d had to in their line of work. But rarely did her grandmother’s voice hold that much worry, especially when she spoke of women. That kind of caution was usually reserved for the crueler men of the ton, the ones her grandmother refused to work for, no matter how much money was offered.

“She is very sharp-tongued, to be sure,” Mei replied cautiously. She’d heard what Tiffany had endured under her mother’s care. None of it was enough to draw censure from the ton, as it was a mother’s duty to raise and train her daughter, but to Mei’s eyes, none of it had been particularly motherly or loving. The Duchess of Bolton reserved her praise and love for her son while criticizing and insulting her daughter.

For some reason, she’d seemed to see Tiffany as competition, more than anything. A competitor she could not win against on a fair playing field, which had become evident the moment Tiffany had slipped through her fingers and become the Duchess of Clarence. Everyone had congratulated the Duchess of Bolton on her daughter’s stunning debut, her startling beauty now that she had come into her own, and the coup of snagging the Duke of Clarence so early in the Season. The Duchess of Bolton had hated all of it, though she’d pretended otherwise.

Mei was sure she would need to be on her guard against the duchess’ cruel comments. From what she’d seen, the duchess had a particular talent for seeing others’ weaknesses or doubts.

But dangerous?

“It is not her tongue I am worried about,” Mei’s grandmother said darkly. Then pressed her lips together in a thin line.

Unease grew in Mei’s breast, making her stomach turn over. She could not remember ever seeing her grandmother quite like this.

“What is it you are worried about?” Mei frowned. “I thought you wanted me to get married.”

“I do. And the Duke of Bolton is a good choice. I believe he is a very good match for you. But his mother…” Grandmother’s voice trailed off again. She shook her head. “It can be a very dangerous thing to make any kind of accusation against a member of the nobility. All I will say for now is to watch yourself. I do not think there is anything the current Duchess of Bolton will not do to get her way, and I sincerely doubt she is going to think you a suitable daughter-in-law.”

Mei agreed with that last part, but she could not imagine what her grandmother was referring to with the first. The duchess was snobbish, haughty, manipulative, and cruel, but dangerous? What on earth could she possibly do without harming the family’s standing? And from what Mei had seen, the duchess’ reputation and place in Society mattered to her far more than anything else.

She would not do anything publicly that would endanger that. And whatever private plans she may concoct to make Mei uncomfortable or unhappy, Mei would find some way to deal with.

Sebastian was worth it.

Sebastian

It was amazing how much caterwauling one small woman could produce when she was determined to. Upon laying his mother down on her bed, where she stirred and moaned, he’d been about to call for her lady’s maid when she’d grabbed his arm and told him that she’d had a terrible dream that he was going to marry the matchmaker. When he’d informed her that it was not a dream, and he certainly was going to be marrying Miss Hu, the crying and wailing began.

Which was when he’d run for Posy. The lady’s maid had appeared with alacrity, a cowed expression on her face. She ducked her head, bobbing a curtsy with every murmured word, never looking him in the eye. Sebastian found her entire demeanor off-putting, but he needed her assistance. Especially because his mother refused to let go of his hand.

He was beginning to wonder if she thought that if she just held onto his hand forever, he would never be able to get married.

It seemed to take forever to get her to calm down.

“Mother—”

“No.” She released his hand to hold hers up between them. “I am far too overwrought. I cannot talk with you right now. I cannot talk about anything. Posy. I need Posy.”

Posy hurried forward. “I am right here, Your Grace.”

“Very well, Mother. We will speak later.” Sebastian did his best to hide his relief that his mother did not want to take up more of his time. It was far later in the day than he’d planned for, and he still had much to do.

“Fine. Go. Abandon me.” She turned her head away from him, but he could tell she was not crying this time. If she had any tears left, he would have been surprised. Sebastian felt like the worst of sons, being impatient rather than sympathetic to his mother’s distress, but… considering the reason, he could not muster the proper empathy.

“I will return later, Mother. We have a lot to talk about.” Not just his impending marriage to Mei, but also Harleen and whatever had happened at the Grange.

Mother sniffed and turned her head farther away from him.

At one time in his life, this would have felt like rejection. He likely would have lingered, trying to make his mother feel better, trying to find a way to improve her mood and make peace between them. Right now, it felt like relief.