“You never let me have any fun,” Jo grumbled as Kay turned away, plucked a second sherry off a nearby tray, and started across the room toward her hostess.
Noting her approach, Delia excused herself from the guests she was speaking with and met Kay halfway. “You have a steely look in your eye that tells me I’m about to be raked over the coals,” she murmured, taking Kay’s elbow and propelling her into the adjoining dining room, away from prying eyes. “But darling, I swear, I did not know Sharpe was coming.”
“I believe you, and if I’m looking grim, it’s not because of you. Still, I have to ask. What is he doing here?”
Delia gave a helpless shrug. “He and Simon are old friends. Simon saw him at the opera with Lady Pamela and her parents, and unbeknownst to me, he asked them to join us. He didn’t know I had invited you. As I told everyone, that man and I need to learn to communicate better.”
“Clearly,” Kay replied, a dry response that made Delia wince. “But enough about that. There are other things we need to discuss. How is Devlin responsible for getting me the duke’s ballroom? And what is this business deal and why did your fiancé drag mine and Devlin and the duke—of all the mad matches in the world—into it? What was Calderon hoping to achieve with this? A more peaceful world?”
Delia smiled. “Well,” she began, but Kay forestalled her.
“How did Calderon ever persuade the other three to become involved? And why did no one bother to tell me about it? And whydoes Lady Pamela not seem to care a jot? She even wants us to be friends. Friends? What a joke.”
“Heavens, with that barrage of questions, where do I begin?” Delia laughed, but her laugh ended in a little cough when Kay did not laugh with her. “As to how they all ended up in business together, it started when I got fired from the Savoy a few weeks ago and Simon resigned his position on the board. Rather at loose ends, he decided to start his own hotel venture, and he pulled in Devlin as the first investor, then Max. Simon was aware that my cousin is always looking for new investments. Any peers with sense always are, given the state of land rents nowadays. So Simon presented Max with this opportunity, and Max jumped on it.”
“Even though he knew Devlin was involved?”
“I think he decided that after fourteen years, it might be time to make peace. Simon feels much the same. They’re right, I suppose. You don’t mind, do you, darling? Surely not, not after all this time?”
She reminded herself that she had no right to mind. Who Westbourne and Calderon chose to do business with was not for her to say.
“What about Wilson?” she asked instead. “Did Calderon really have to pull in my fiancé as well? Not that I really mind, of course,” she added at once, trying to assume an air of nonchalance about it. “Business or not, we probably won’t see much of them.”
“More than you think, I’m afraid.”
Kay’s stomach lurched with sudden dismay. “Nonsense. Why should we?”
“There’s the season, for one thing.”
Kay shrugged, her sudden tension easing. “Oh, well, we can easily avoid each other there. It’s not as if anyone will be so ill-bred asto invite us to the same parties. At least not on purpose,” she added, giving Delia a meaningful glance.
Delia wrinkled up her nose in rueful fashion. “As to that, I must warn you that all of you will be invited to my wedding. Devlin Sharpe is Simon’s best friend, so he’ll no doubt be best man, and whether it’s ill-bred or not, I’d like you to be my maid of honor. Of course, if you don’t want to do it,” she added at once, “I’d understand.”
“Stuff. I will adore being your maid of honor. Devlin Sharpe and I may hate each other, but I daresay we can both manage to be civil for one afternoon.”
Delia bit her lip in apologetic fashion, telling Kay there was worse to come. “It’ll be more than one afternoon, darling, I’m afraid. They’re all in business together, you know, and these ventures always involve masses of social obligations.”
Kay’s hand tightened around her glass, bracing herself. “Such as?”
“Dinner parties, hotel openings… that sort of thing. Wilson will no doubt expect you to attend at least some of these, even before you’re married. Sharpe will expect the same of Lady Pamela. Don’t worry, darling,” she added as Kay didn’t reply. “It’s not as if the men will talk about you over the port. I daresay even Sharpe wouldn’t be caddish enough to tell your fiancé the elopement really happened.”
“You have more faith in Sharpe than I do,” Kay replied. “But he can say whatever he likes about the elopement. I already told Wilson the truth.”
“You did?”
“If you’re going to lecture me,” Kay replied with a sigh, “please don’t. You should have heard my mother when she learned I had told him. You’d have thought I was about to confess to murder. ButI felt it only right to give Wilson the true story. And now, in light of what you’ve told me, I’m especially glad I did.”
“I wouldn’t dream of lecturing you. I think you were quite right. And since Rycroft must have known about Devlin’s involvement when he bought shares in the new company, he clearly isn’t worried or jealous.”
“No,” Kay agreed, lowering her gaze to her sherry glass, staring meditatively into the amber depths. Somehow, given how he’d traveled all over the north of England last autumn in pursuit of her, she would have thought he would be jealous. It seemed odd that he wasn’t.
“Sorry, Kay,” she added, misinterpreting her silence. “Stings a bit, I suppose?”
“Not at all.” Kay lifted her head. “I am a bit surprised, that’s all. It doesn’t seem… quite in character for Wilson.”
“What do you mean?”
She thought of the things he’d said tonight as they’d left the Savoy, the implication of possessiveness in his voice. Perhaps she’d imagined it. Or perhaps he welcomed the chance to flaunt her in Devlin’s face. “Nothing,” she answered. “I’m actually relieved. Besides, when I accepted Wilson’s proposal, I knew what I was getting.”
