“Philippa, darling,” Mother sang out with delight as Philippa skidded into the sitting room. “Don’t scurry, it isn’t ladylike. Do you know what I have here?” Mother pointed to the piles of correspondence surrounding her on the sofa. “Invitations toeverything, darling. I know you don’t enjoy them, but we simply must say yes to the majority of—”
“Say yes to everything,” Philippa interrupted. “I’ll go. It’s fine. But the next ball isn’t for a week, and I was thinking—”
“A new wardrobe, of course.” Mother cast a critical eye over her. “You’ve worn the same style for longer than is fashionable. Indeed, I regret to inform you that your overabundance of lace hasneverbeen fashionable. I’ve just received the latestAckermann’sandLa Belle Assemblée—”
“I like my clothes,” said Philippa. “They’re pretty. I feel comfortable in them.”
“Clothes aren’t meant to becomfortable, darling. They’re meant to look exactly like everyone else’s, only better. Here, see this opera gown on page eighteen.”
“How about a different activity?” Philippa suggested. “What about—”
“A book,” Mother crowed. “Itoldyour father you’d choose books over gowns. He merely grunted instead of responding, but I know he feels the same way I do. Very well, Philippa. You’ve won. I shall allow one more literary acquisition.”
Splendid. The very thing she’d begged to do for months, only to discover no private collector in England possessed any of the objects Philippa wished to acquire.
“In exchange,” Mother continued, “you must review the expanded list of potential husbands I’ve made for you, so you can be sure to give them special attention. Have you been practicing fluttering your eyelashes in your mirror like I showed you? Or the flirtatious giggle?”
“No,” Philippa said.
“Darling, you really must come at this game with a bit more strategy. It’s not chess. It’s dominos.”
Philippa blinked. “Dominos has more strategy than chess?”
“It has therightstrategy,” Mother explained. “You line up the competition and knock them all out of your way until you’re the last one standing.”
“That’s…not how you play dominos,” Philippa said.
“Be the last domino,” Mother said gently. “That’s all I ask of you. A nice, ivory domino with an entire brood of pips and a husband with a title that makes hearts beat faster.”
Philippa wished she could find a man who could wake her frozen heart. In the meantime, all she thought about was Tommy. Whom she was desperate to see…in order to talk about the case. Nothing more.
“Mother,” she tried again. “I didn’t come to pester you for a new book.”
Her mother shook her head in confusion, as though she must have misheard. “You didn’t?”
Philippa took a deep breath. “I’d like Baron Vanderbean to escort me to Hyde Park again. I know only the two of us fit comfortably in his phaeton, but it would be a fine opportunity for people to see—”
Mother gasped. “Ofcoursepeople need to see you with him. But not without me! No oneelsewill have Baron Vanderbean until the Knightsborough gathering next week. We will be the most envied hostesses in the ton!”
“Hostesses?” Philippa repeated blankly. “To what?”
Mother’s eyes glittered. “A tea! Not with any of your bluestockings, darling. We must inviteimportantpeople. I know just the ladies most likely to spread the best gossip.”
17
Every time Underwood opened the door, Philippa fought the urge to dash from the sitting room to see if the new arrival was Tommy. Her anxiousness—eagerness, whatever this was—had nothing to do with the night before at the ball. Tommy wasn’t arealsuitor.
This strange restlessness under her skin was because she was keen to share her discovery with someone who could actually do something about it. Right?
Philippa was committed to helping Damaris in any way possible. Her friend wasn’t the first woman to have her ideas stolen by a man, nor would she be the last. Getting justice for her—a public confession—would feel like winning, just once, for all women everywhere.
And now there were two more names to put on the list! Agnes and Katherine deserved credit for their work, too.
“Miss York,” said Lady Newcomb, “how surprising to see you on the dance floor last night.”
“And in such an interesting gown,” said Mrs. Jarvis. “Every time I see you, you’re wrapped in even more lace than the time before.”
Philippa stared at them blankly because she knew it would vex them.
