“We shouldn’t be humiliated,” Louisa said. “We have done nothing wrong. No, we should court outrage with the rest of the female populace. Selena, your insight might just be a stroke of brilliance.”
“And it’s not just us,” Phaedra said. Their attention once again fixed on her. “Men have been reducingallwomen to breeding stock for centuries. This isn’t just about our outrage. We’re just the heiresses someone chose as potential brides. What about the heiresses who weren’t chosen? What about the other women in this book who remain blissfully unaware of this knavish practice of betting books? Like horses with blinders, the men keep us on track by keeping our focus onward.”
“What are you saying, Phaedra?” Theodosia asked slowly.
“I’m saying we should lift the blinders.”
“Splendid idea,” Selena said. “How do we do that?”
“We make copies of the book,” Louisa said. “Distribute it amongst theton.”
“Where’s the drama?” Theodosia teased.
“Well, I might have a plan about that,” Harriet said. “But I cannot be part of it. Leeds keeps watch over me like a hawk. I wouldn’t be able to escape him.” And then Harriet proceeded to inform them of her idea.
“Excellent!”
“I love it.”
“It will cause quite a stir.”
“Which is exactly what we want,” Phaedra said. “Let’s do it. But let us keep the plan between us.”
“What about Ophelia?” Harriet asked.
“She did steal the book,” Louisa said.
“She also handed it over to us,” Phaedra reminded. “She did that for a reason. I suspect she wants nothing more to do with it.”
“Then it’s settled,” Theodosia declared. “At the Stewart Ball, three days from now.”
Phaedra nodded and stood. They had much to plan and think about, but she had one last thing she had to do that had nothing to do with these women.
She had to find Deerhurst.
She wanted to look him in the eyes when she confronted him, and she was pretty sure she was about to become one of the criminals in the books she loved to read—she was about to lay waste to a handsome, mischievous, scoundrel.
*
Deerhurst stared atWarrick in horror. “Lady Opheliastole the betting book?”
Warrick sat back and crossed his legs. “Afraid so.”
“How the devil did she manage that?”
“Snuck into White’s dressed as a man and walked the book right out.”
Bloody hell. This was a disaster.
And it changed everything.
He could no longer keep the truth from Phaedra. She was bound to find out now that the book was in the hands of one of the heiresses. Lord, he could imagine it now. The group of females gathering with pitchforks and fires out for their blood.
Panic rose, and Deerhurst fought—and lost—the battle to calm his heart.
Everything will be fine.
Will it? Deerhurst had his doubts, but he couldn’t waver in his confidence now, so he dug his boots into the ground. He still had time. No good would come by rushing to the Sharp residence with a half-cocked explanation.
