When there was a natural pause in their conversation, Stephen left Lady Frederica’s side and moved toward the pianoforte. With Lady Charlotte so caught up in her playing, he felt able to talk to Dorothy in a low voice.
“Are you not dizzy?” Dorothy asked in a panic. “Sit down.”
“I am well enough.” Though he gripped the side of the pianoforte, just in case. “What happened to your favorite, Dorothy?” He nodded his head at Lord Chilmond across the room. “I thought you wanted to win our wager.”
“Wagers can wait for another day. Your health is more important than that.” She found the plate of biscuits and offered it up to him again.
Or is my health more important than him?
Stephen stunned himself by acknowledging that he longed to hear Dorothy say those words. Without knowing what to say to her, he took a biscuit and ate that instead.
What is happening between us, Dorothy?
She seemed to be thinking the same thing, biting her lip as neither of them said anything and just continued to look at one another, with Lady Charlotte’s music echoing in their ears.
CHAPTERELEVEN
“Here, try this instead.” Dorothy passed a different magazine to Lady Charlotte to read.
The two of them were hiding out in the back parlor of the house with Lady Frederica, all desiring to take a break from the other company in the house.
“You’re always reading those scandal sheets. You might find something you like in there.” Dorothy urged Lady Charlotte to open the magazine.
Lady Charlotte blushed as she read one of the articles. A magazine dedicated to women, it perhaps talked about some things that men wouldn’t necessarily approve of—not that Dorothy’s family had ever minded her reading it.
“Oh, this is fascinating,” Lady Charlotte said hurriedly and suddenly sat down on the hearth rug beside Dorothy, choosing not to bother with the chair at all.
It seemed the more Dorothy knew Lady Charlotte, the more she discovered that her appearance of perfect propriety was a façade she wore for others. When Lady Charlotte was around those she truly liked, she was more informal.
“Frederica, you should read this, too.”
“I will. Right now, I am reading this.” Lady Frederica turned the scandal sheet in her hands around for the two of them to see. She was sitting in an armchair nearby, sipping on a glass of sherry. “Did you see this?”
Dorothy’s eyes scanned the article. It talked of an elopement between the daughter of a marquess and a coach driver.
“Oh, my,” Dorothy breathed, taking the sheet. “They went to Gretna Green. Goodness, she must have been deeply in love to turn her back on her family like that. It says here that her father cut her off.”
“And yet, he has married her anyway?” Lady Charlotte murmured in wonder, peering over Dorothy’s shoulder. “Nowthatis love. I once heard a man say that he would never consider marrying a woman without a dowry.”
“What a strange custom it is, is it not?” Dorothy snorted with laughter. “A man must be bribed into marrying a woman.”
Lady Charlotte and Lady Frederica laughed, too.
“If I could find a man who would marry me without a dowry, then I think that would be the proof I am looking for that he is truly in love with me.” Lady Frederica smiled and sat back in her chair, looking rather wistfully into the fire. “Though such a man, I suppose, isn’t easy to find. Most men with titles and land are looking for women who bring the same, and men without are looking for women who can give them more money and a title.”
“What high standards they have,” Dorothy said with a laugh. “Any woman without a dowry has no chance!”
“Exactly,” Lady Charlotte seconded. “I think it’s why love is so rare in the marriages I have seen.” She sighed in great disappointment. “It is but a dream.”
“What do you reckon it is like to be in love, do you think?” Dorothy asked, not looking at either of her friends but down at the scandal sheet that spoke of the elopement to Gretna Green. “I’ve read the plays, of course, and the books, but in real life… where normal people do not speak in poetry, what do you reckon it feels like?”
“Like a pull,” Lady Charlotte murmured softly. “Someone’s company you do not want to be without, even when they infuriate you. Rather like an addiction, I suppose.”
Dorothy looked at her friend with interest. “You speak as if you have experienced love.”
“Me? No, no. It is just what I heard a friend say once.” Yet, Lady Charlotte blushed so deep a shade of red that Dorothy wasn’t so convinced.
“Are you not sure what you feel for Lord Chilmond?” Lady Frederica asked with interest.
