Lavinia sniffed, wiping her swollen eyes with the back of her hand. “Go away, Gillian. You’ll miss the hunt. It must be starting soon.”
She heard a rustling noise on the other side of the door, which was probably Gillian sinking down into a sitting position, right out in the hall.
“I don’t want to go hunting. Mama and Papa weren’t going, and you know how I hate to hunt. Please, tell me what’s wrong.”
“I can’t. It’s too humiliating.”
“I am your sister, Lavinia. What is so terrible that you can’t tell me? The Duke came to ask for you, you know. Mama made up some excuse, but it’s clear that something is amiss. Why won’t youtalkto me?”
Lavinia drew in a deep breath, squeezing her eyes closed.
“I’ve been a simpleton, Gillian. I’ve been such a simpleton.”
There was a long silence on the other side of the door. Then Gillian let out a long, tired sigh.
“Let me in, Lavinia. Please.”
After another lengthy pause, Lavinia shuffled to one side, reaching up to unlock the bedroom door. Gillian came crawling in, closing the door after her.
For a while, the two sisters sat side by side in silence.
Lavinia spoke first.
She started right at the beginning, with the night she met William, Duke of Dunleigh, for the first time, discovering later that her precious necklace was gone. Gillian’s face tightened at the mention of Hugh, but she said nothing, letting Lavinia continue.
Lavinia talked about her hopes and dreams, the feelings that had gradually grown up inside her when she was around the duke. She talked about the things Miss Bainbridge had said, the threats she had made, and Gillian did not look particularly surprised to hear this.
Her sister’s face turned dark and angry when she talked about what she had heard at the stables.
“He is betrothed?Since our arrival at the house? Oh, Lavinia, I am so terribly sorry, my darling girl. He hired a man toinvestigateyou?” she gasped. “Oh, that is foolish of him, Lavinia. There was still time for him to return the locket to the hostess. You went back to ask about it, didn’t you? And… and I do not understand why he kept the locket for such a long time. It makes no sense to me.”
“Nor to me,” Lavinia admitted, wiping her eyes. Gillian fumbled in her pocket, coming up with a delicate lace-edged handkerchief with aGembroidered in the corner. Lavinia took it and blew her nose noisily.
“Would you like me to speak to him? I could ask for your locket back.”
“No,” Lavinia said, more loudly than she had intended. “No, Gillian. Let it be. I suppose it serves me right for eavesdropping. Oh, Gilly, I assure you, this must be some grand jest, a scheme devised by Miss Bainbridge and him together. Do you believe I am losing my senses?”
Gillian was quiet for a long moment.
“No,” she said at long last. “I don’t think it’s anything so complicated. Perhaps he simply did not take the locket as anything valuable. Perhaps he was bored and entertained himself by finding the owner. Perhaps he simply kept forgetting to return it.”
She sniffled. “Perhaps. I have overstated my importance to him, then, haven’t I?”
Gillian bit her lip and said nothing. There was nothingtosay, after all.
“Was there ever a more naive young woman than me, eh?” Lavinia managed at last, smiling weakly. “Oh, Gillian, I wish I was home. I wish it with all of my heart.”
“You can go home. We should tell Mama and Papa, and…”
Lavinia shook her head. “No, Gilly. They’d never agree, and I wouldn’t ask it of them. Mama is having a good time for the first time in quite a while. She and the dowager are becoming firm friends. Papa is comfortable here, and I do think he’s enjoying himself. And you… well, you have Lord Langley, don’t you?”
Gillian blushed. “That’s hardly relevant.”
“It is relevant. We came here to make connections, did we not? Mama wants you married.Youwant to get married. What sort of sister would I be if I ruined it for us all because of some silly heartbreak of my own? I’m strong enough to manage.”
“Yes, but you shouldn’t have to,” Gillian insisted. “What sort of sister wouldIbe, if I could enjoy myself at a house party where you were so miserable?”
Reaching out, Gillian took her sister’s hand, lacing their fingers together. Despite herself, Lavinia leaned sideways, sagging until she could rest her head on her sister’s shoulder. Closing her eyes, she tried to think of nothing. Not of Miss Bainbridge, or Hugh, or the locket, or the mysterious, faceless private investigator that had been following her for goodness only knew how long.
