They walked the rest of the way to Dickie, Caroline, and Daniel in a peaceable silence. As they did, Anna realized it was the longest they had gone without sniping at one another, and it was the most comfortable she had ever felt in his company.
“Did you make up that business about the moles,” she asked, just before they neared the others.
Percival glanced down at her. “No.”
“Do you believe it?”
He returned his gaze to what lay ahead. “That you are lucky to be around? There are many who would believe it.”
“But doyou?” Anna hated having to repeat herself.
He covered her hand with his, his eyes softer than she had expected. “I suppose we shall see soon enough.”
CHAPTEREIGHT
In his bygone studies and recent business endeavors, Percy always found that he worked best in absolute silence and solitude, and figured he ought to give Anna the same grace after the events in the park.
As such, he had kept to himself over the past few days, avoiding her wherever possible. Although, where he couldnotavoid her—at dinner and breakfast, primarily—a new civility had appeared between them. He did not feel compelled to join her brothers in teasing her, she did not need to retort coldly, and though they barely said more than a few words to each other, it was a pleasanter state of affairs.
However, as the afternoon of the Countess of Grayling’s house party came around, there could be no avoiding Anna, for Max had decided that they should all travel there together.
“Could we not have taken two carriages?” Anna complained, squished into the corner of the squabs opposite Percy. “The three of you are enormous individually, but together, in such a tiny space, you are smothering. I shall be soaked through with perspiration by the time we arrive, and this is a borrowed gown!”
Dickie lounged across his portion of the squabs. “Perhaps, if you were not wearing that cloak over it, you would not be sweating so profusely. What is the matter, dear sister—are you ashamed of it?”
Percy had also thought it rather strange when Anna had come down to the entrance hall in a floor-length cloak, considering it was feverishly hot outside, and they were about to journey for two hours in the carriage. But what could be so special about it that she had to cover it up? He could not deny that he was intrigued.
“Not at all.” Anna drew the cloak tighter around herself, offering no glimpse of the gown beneath. “I want it to be a surprise, that is all.”
Max arched a worried eyebrow. “Not the sort of surprise that will have us all crammed back in this carriage within five minutes of arriving, I hope?”
“Ido not think so, and the countess has asked me to wear it, so wear it I shall,” Anna replied, her cheeks bright red.
Max’s other eyebrow rose to join the first, his worry deepening. “The gown belongs to the Silver Widow?”
“Yes, and do not call her that.” Anna folded her arms across her chest. “All I shall say is, it is not my usual sort of attire. And when I shed this cloak, if none of you can say anything nice, please just do not say anything at all. That means you will have to restrain your eyebrows, Max.”
She did not mention Percy by name, but he heard the warning anyway.
“I will say only lovely things, I promise,” he said, before he could stop himself.
She frowned at that but made no further remark. Perhaps, after the business in the park, she would be more inclined to treat him the same way she treated the other two.
Dickie laughed. “Personally, I cannot wait to see this surprise revealed. Is this your last attempt to snare a husband? Are you and the countess conspiring?” He paused. “Actually, if anyone can find you a husband, I imagine it would be her. She would simply have to demand it and it would be done; every gentleman I know is terrified of her.”
Is she the one who inspired you to become the Matchmaker?Percy mused. He knew of the countess only by reputation, though he did not believe she could be anything like what he had heard.
“It has nothing to do with finding a husband,” Anna insisted. “I am wearing it for me… and for the countess.”
Max smiled fondly at his sister. “You used to disapprove of her, and now you are as close to her as you are to your Spinsters’ Club.”
“I judged her, and that was wrong of me.” Anna’s cheeks were turning redder by the second. “I thought she stood against the very idea of marriage, but that could not be further from the truth. She champions marriage, but only of the proper sort.”
Percy could not resist. “What, pray tell, is the ‘proper’ sort of marriage?”
“Ah, well,” Dickie interjected, “it is where the prince and princess are married and crowned in front of the entire kingdom, and their love is written upon slabs of marble for all the world to remember.”
Anna cast her brother a disapproving look. “You ought to read from my library if you think fairytales are what I favor.”
