“About everything.”
“What if I scare her away with all that?”
Ralph shook his head a look of disgust crinkling his features.“At least you’ll know.”
He would know.And he had to trust Priscilla.She’d known real suffering with all she’d been through.Would she understand if he told her about his past and the rejection he’d faced?Or would he only push her further away?
CHAPTERNINE
Priscilla lightly strokedthe keys to the pianoforte as music flowed from the instrument with an ease she didn’t share internally.“When are we to meet Viscount Ware?”she whispered as her mother turned the pages of the book as Priscilla played.
Across the room, Eugene lounged on a settee, reading the paper.
“Four,” her mother whispered back.
Priscilla continued to play as she looked at the clock, noting that the meeting was in less than a half hour.Giddy excitement flitted through her chest.
Something had shifted last night.Feelings she hadn’t meant to allow to the surface bubbled inside her.
Priscilla pushed them aside, or at least she tried.He was the right man for her goals.For the promises she’d made herself when her father had passed.For the unspoken promises between her and her father.
The piece ended and she turned the pages of her music book, attempting to choose another.
With any luck, Eugene would fall asleep in that very chair.He often did in the afternoons.Perhaps she’d play something soothing.Selecting her piece, her fingers perched over the keys, ready to begin, when the butler entered the room.
“Lady Priscilla, the Countess of Westmoreland is here to see you.”
Priscilla rose at the exact same moment as Eugene.So much for that repose.
“Again?”he huffed, tugging at his stiff collar.“This is the third time this week.”
She didn’t answer as she looked at the butler.“Show her to the morning room, please.”
Eugene made another grumble of dissent as she sailed past him.Or she tried.
He reached out, hooking her arm and stopping her progress.“Why are your friends suddenly sniffing about?What is it they want?”
Eugene might be odious but he wasn’t a complete fool.“We’ve been discussing how I might proceed,” she offered, hoping he’d mistakenly think she meant him once again.He loosened the hand on her arm but his gaze continued to be dark with suspicion.She hurried for the door, not wanting to tempt further questioning as she made her way out of the music room and down the stairs to join Charlotte.
As she closed the door of the morning room behind her, she breathed a sigh of relief.Eugene’s temper was a powder keg always at the ready.
“What’s wrong?”Charlotte asked as she rose, her face flushing with concern.
Priscilla waved her hand.“It’s nothing.Eugene as always.He’s growing more suspicious about my plans for the future and I’m trying to hold his anger at bay while I get the pieces in place.”
Charlotte’s gaze flitted to the door as though Eugene might burst through at any moment.“I’ll be quick then.”Charlotte gestured for Priscilla to sit.
A nervous flutter rose in her stomach.“I should have asked you first.What’s wrong that you’ve come?Why do you look so concerned?”
Charlotte winced as she sunk down in the chair opposite.“It’s about Viscount Ware.”
Priscilla’s hands gripped the arms of the chair tighter as her mind reeled with the possibilities.“What about him?”
Charlotte leaned forward, wincing.“I…after we had tea the other day…I…”
“Charlotte?”she asked, her fingers so tight on the arms of her chair that they’d turned white.“Tell me.What’s happened?”
Charlotte swallowed.“You know I’m an amateur sleuth.”Her hands pressed together.“I followed him, Priscilla.Last night and the night before.”
