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He would much rather think about that than when Northumberland would officially ask Lady Isabella for her hand, and what her answer might be.

30

Mei

Supper was a rather tense affair, despite Mei being seated between the Duke of St. Albans and the Duke of Montagu, both of whom were very charming companions. In fact, Montagu seemed to be going out of his way to be charming, and she rather imagined it had something to do with Rose sitting directly across from them. Every time he made Mei smile or laugh, he would glance across the table, as if to assess how Rose reacted to his charm being appreciated.

Which only made Mei laugh harder, though she tried to suppress it rather than get caught up in whatever game those two were playing.

If it wasn’t for Rose’s obvious antipathy toward marrying into the ton, she would have matched the pair of them up in a second. They would balance each other out rather nicely, with Montagu’s light charm and easygoing ways playing a foil to Rose’s more serious demeanor. He needed someone to ground him, and she needed someone to show her the joys in life.

Mei hoped that Rose managed to find that with a gentleman she would actually accept it from.

The Duke of Bolton was seated farther down the table, between Lady Juliette, who had Lord Hayworth on her other side, and Miss Fenley, whose other dining companion was Lady Darcy’s brother. Lord Owen appeared to be paying more and more attention to the young miss, which was a balm to Mei’s guilt over the current situation between her and Bolton.

Perhaps matching Lady Darcy and Lady MarcyAnne once she was back in London would help assuage the rest of it. Not that she thought either of them truly needed her assistance, but she might feel better about things if she at least looked into securing their futures with matches they would be happy with.

All throughout, Mei was aware of Bolton’s gaze drifting down the table to her. It felt as if everyone in the room must be aware of it, though she knew they were not. She did catch Kalina’s gaze at one point, and the other woman looked at her with one raised brow.

Her friends had caught on. And Mei fully expected to be interrogated once they could get her alone.

Thankfully, after supper this evening, Tiffany had already planned for a musical interlude, which meant everyone left the dining room at the same time. There was no chance for Mei to be cornered by her friends.

And it was a wonderful evening.

Tiffany and Kalina took turns playing the piano for any of the young ladies who wished to sing—which was all the unmarried ladies. Astrid’s begrudging contralto was especially entertaining, as she clearly had no patience for this sort of thing but felt as though she should participate, anyway. Thankfully, as Mei was not a debutante, she did not have to take part and was able to enjoy being part of the audience.

The evening ended with a particularly lovely harp piece performed by Tiffany, which left the entire audience breathless at the end. There was a moment of silence, then thunderous applause as they all spontaneously got to their feet, clapping their hands together vigorously.

Cheeks pink, Tiffany got to her feet and curtsied, her smile growing as her husband swept up onstage to join her. The glow in his eyes as he looked at her… well, Mei had seen such a glow before. In Bolton’s eyes. This afternoon.

She peeked over at him and felt her heart flutter as she took in his handsome profile while he applauded his sister.

Then she forced herself to look away. Despite Kalina pointing out that Bolton and Mei had been paying particular attention to each other, no one seemed to think too much of it. Especially, perhaps, because the Duke of Montagu had been so visibly making a cake out of himself over Rose. By comparison, Bolton and Mei were being much more discreet.

She was fairly certain only Tiffany suspected there might be something more than looks being exchanged between them, and she meant to keep it that way. And the easiest way to do that was to avoid any scenario in which she had to answer questions while she and the duke were lovers.

Surely, once their liaison was over and they were back in London, it would be easier to keep a straight face without blushes to give her away.

Women did it all the time.

She managed to return to her bedroom without being waylaid by any of her friends. Jocelyn was there, waiting for her, bright-eyed over having been able to listen to the duchess perform on the harp. According to her, all the staff were huge fans of Tiffany’s talent, which was no surprise.

Jocelyn helped Mei get undressed, and it was almost a wonder that she did not seem to notice anything different about Mei. It felt like her body was buzzing, humming with anticipation, and that surely, somehow, Jocelyn would see it… but the lady’s maid got her ready for bed without indicating she saw anything unusual.

“Is there anything else you need, miss?” Jocelyn asked as she draped Mei’s dress over her arm, smoothing the fabric with one hand, to be taken away and washed. Mei hovered next to the bed as if she was about to get into it.

“No, thank you, Jocelyn. I will not need you ‘til the morning.”

“Very good, miss.” Bobbing a curtsy, Jocelyn left, humming the song Tiffany had played as she went.

The door closed behind her.

Mei stood, frozen in place, holding her breath, listening. She could hear Jocelyn’s footsteps moving away from the door. Hear the quiet in the rest of the hallway. The sound of another door opening and closing. Footsteps moving away. Likely another lady’s maid, done with her duties for the day.

Her lungs were starting to burn, so she let herself breathe again as quietly as possible. One hand hovered above the bed, the tips of her fingers barely touching it, so she could throw herself within it if needed. Not because she truly believed anyone was going to walk into her room.

No one knew what her plan was for the evening, other than Bolton, and he was hardly going to tell anyone. Still. She could be caught out by accident.