“Truthfully, I don’t think Freddie is very content,” Phoebe continued.
“She seemed perfectly happy to me last night,” Alex said dryly.
Phoebe shot her a frown. “Freddie alwayslooksperfectly happy in company. But I’m talking about a deeper purpose. A life’s work.”
Alex let out an impatient sigh. “You know very well that she has never shown the least bit of interest in work of any kind. You are coddling her once again, Phoebe. But she isn’t a child anymore. And she is perfectly capable of making her own choices.”
“Even if those choices go against what you and Father want?”
“I am not making Freddie marry Hank Ericson!” Alex exclaimed rather too loudly. A nearby matron examining a bust of Marcus Aurelius cast her a disapproving look and Alex mouthed an apology before turning back to Phoebe. “How could you think such a thing?” she hissed.
“I know you aren’tmakingher,” Phoebe allowed. “But you have made your preference perfectly clear.”
“Freddie doesn’t do anything unless she absolutely wants to,” Alex insisted.
“When it comes to most things, yes. I agree. But I don’t think you realize how much your approval means. Freddie might not even realize it herself,” Phoebe added.
“Oh,” Alex said flatly, though she still harbored significant doubts.
“Do you remember how we quarreled before you left for New York?” Phoebe asked after a moment.
“Given that it was only a few months ago, yes,” Alex drawled.
Phoebe had accused her of only caring about turning a profit instead of investing in social causes. It was a fair enough point, and since then Alex had taken on more charitable projects, including securing a new building for the girls’ school where Phoebe taught.
“Well, it was awful fighting with you,” Phoebe continued. “And you know you can be rather… intimidating.”
Alex pursed her lips. It was true enough. And hardly the first time someone had said that, but it hurt coming from her own sister. Phoebe was supposed to know her better. To understand her in a way others couldn’t. “I see.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me if Freddie felt the same, even though she might not show it.”
“And I suppose you want me to be the one to do something about it?”
“Well, youarethe eldest.”
That was also an all-too-familiar refrain. And yet, she could feel the resignation washing over her. “Fine. I will make more of an effort with Freddie. And make sure that she isn’t marrying an obnoxious American man purely for my benefit,” she added.
Phoebe suddenly reached out and squeezed her hand. “You are a good sister, Alex.”
She stared at their joined hands for a moment and squeezed back. “So are you.”
Phoebe flashed her a smile then looked around. “Now where did our menfolk disappear to?”
They had reached the entrance of the Egyptian Gallery. Alex followed her sister’s gaze, but she was right. Lucien and Will had vanished.
Upon entering the Anglo-Roman Gallery, Alex got caught up in a conversation with her sister. Lucien had tried to keep an eye on her, but then he came upon an old Roman tomb and was thoroughly distracted. When he finally looked up, Alex was nowhere in sight.
“We seem to have lost the ladies,” the Duke of Ellis said, suddenly by his side.
It was the first words he had uttered to Lucien directly since they arrived.
Before his unexpected ascension to the dukedom, Will Margrave had been neighbors with the Atkinsons—and a close friend of Alex. Lucien hadn’t interacted with the older boy very often, which was something of a relief given that he was nearly as intimidating as Alex. Especially when he was in a lather over something. But as the duke gave him an apprising look, Lucien might as well have been ten years old again.
“Your Grace.”
“Don’t call me that,” he clucked. “Margrave will do just fine.”
“Yes, Your—Margrave,” Lucien said weakly.
