“So serious,” she said with a teasing smile, angling her bosom just so. “Nevertheless, I am glad that you have come tonight. I know how difficult it can be to return to a town that was once your home and find it much different from when you left it. It’s important to make new connections early.”
“You are, perhaps, in need of more connections than me.” Alicia was taking no prisoners that night. Philip hoped his message was clear. “I am satisfied with my present circumstances.”
“Why wouldn’t you be?” Her smile widened, undeterred. “You have wonderful friends, a sister on whom you can depend… Yes, I suppose I underestimated the strength of your bonds. I find myself, for better or for worse, adrift in uncharted waters.” She narrowed her eyes and observed the room. “I had not yet turned twenty when I left England. Many of the women I considered friends have since married and moved on. It has been difficult to adjust.”
“You seem to be as well surrounded as one could hope to be,” Philip argued, gesturing to the small group of guests surrounding the piano, all of whom he assumed were her friends. “And if that is not the case, a woman of your repute should not have great difficulty acquiring whatever she feels is lacking from her life.”
She laughed. “Was that an attempt at flattery, Your Grace?”
It was not. But they weren’t exactly alone, and Philip didn’t want to cause a scene by saying as much to her.
“Perhaps you would think differently about my circumstances if you understood them,” Alicia went on. “It is easy enough to find a husband, even at my age—because that is what we are discussing, of course. Marriage. I imagine George has made no secret of my desire to settle down. The trouble is that many men can be charmed by a sweet look and promises of undying affection. But that is not what I desire. I want something advantageous, yes, but alsoreal.”
“The two cannot possibly coexist.” Philip shrugged, gently swirling the claret in his crystal glass.
“I knew there was a poet’s heart in you,” Alicia joked. “Like the rest of them, you think that love can only come from sacrifice.”
Philip balked at the idea. “Now you are putting words in my mouth.”
“Reading between the lines, perhaps? Not that it matters. I do not need anyone to believe that I will get what I want, becauseIbelieve it, and that’s enough. It is only a matter of time before my dreams come true. Though, naturally, one cannot wait too long for these things to manifest. The Season will come and go before we know it. A little nudge, a little push?—”
She seemed determined to say more—a nudge, a push—until her eyes flicked to something behind him. Philip turned in his seat and saw one of the footmen approaching them. He hurried over to Alicia and whispered something in her ear.
Alicia’s eyes widened. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed hard, raising a finger to excuse herself from her conversation with Philip. He was not sad to see her go, downing his drink and heading immediately in search of another.
A fresh glass in hand, he hoped to locate George and take him out for air. But like Alicia, George had disappeared.
Philip groaned quietly as the young French woman and one of her friends crossed the room with purpose, headed directly for him now that he was alone. He pretended not to see them and hurried toward the entrance hall, determined to find the balcony and exile himself there until George returned.
The small foyer was packed with bodies. What sounded like an argument escalated between them. Philip paused beneath the archway, his entrance having caused all three figures present in the room to turn and look at him.
Alicia and George were among them. That much he had expected.
But he hadnotexpected to see Lady Anna standing between them, in a dark evening dress and matching jewelry.
“Your Grace,” she said, her lips parted in surprise. Her cheeks were red with rouge, her appearance less polished than usual. He liked the look of wild abandon on her.Thatwas something real. “Good evening to you.”
Philip glanced around the foyer, confused. “No chaperone with you, Lady Anna? You have come alone?”
“That is precisely what we were discussing,” Alicia said, placing her hands on her hips. “You should not be here, Anna. You were not invited. There is no excuse, not even if you needed to speak with George. What will the earl say when?—”
“I haven’t a care in the world for my father’s opinion of me. It is low and will remain low so long as I live. That much has become clear to me tonight,” Anna replied, turning to George. “Why shouldn’t one of you be my chaperone for the moment if you’re so concerned?”
“You know that’s not the same.” George shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. “Among our ranks, we count an unmarried gentleman and a… a…”
“Awhat, exactly?” Alicia asked, testing him.
“Cousin, you don’t want me to answer that,” George said. “I’m surprised, Anna. Whatever you needed to say surely could have waited until the morning. You know better than to go behind your father’s back like this.”
Anna looked so small between her cousins, despite the fiery determination etched on her features. This latest escape made Philip wonder whether he had been right all along, and Annawasmore secretive and rebellious than the others assumed she was.
Either way, she was fighting a losing battle. Their familial pantomime had gone on long enough.
“What had you come to discuss with your cousin?” Philip asked.
She looked grateful for his support. “A matter of utmost urgency.”
“You are dressed to the nines. Surely you did not just mean to come and talk,” Alicia rebutted, waving a hand toward her.
