Cassie smiled. “A trick I learned from you.”
“Please don’t sacrifice yourself for my sake.”
“I’m not. I’m making this choice for me.” She tucked Eliza’s hair behind her ear. “But what wouldn’t I do to make sure my sisters had a chance at happiness?”
Eliza sighed. “There’s nothing you can do for me.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I may not be privy to the details of your circumstance, but no matter what your quarrel, something tells me Adrian”—she sent Eliza a significant glance—“will come around.”
Eliza shook her head. “You weren’t there. You can’t even imagine the things I said to him.” The things she’d done to him.
“No. But I’ve seen how he looks at you.”
Eliza wasn’t convinced.
Yes, he’d looked at her with love in his eyes. He’d even told the Blackbird he thought he’d fallen in love. But everything would change once he realized she and the Blackbird were one in the same.
How could he love the woman who made him beg? The woman who’d insisted he be bound?
The next morningwas the first in a very long time Adrian had awakened feeling hopeful.
First, he’d speak with Caroline, and then, later, Mr. Vane. After his family business was resolved, he’d call on Asquith ask for permission to propose to Miss Wainwright at the Harbury ball. By tonight, everything would be resolved.
When he reached D’Acre house, he found Caroline and Emily already on the front steps about to take an outing.
“Two fraternal visits in one week.” Caroline’s eyes softened with indulgence. “You’re one very lucky girl.”
“I am, aren’t I?” Emily looped one arm through Caroline’s and the other through Adrian’s, just as she had when she’d been younger. “Do come strolling with us, Adrian.”
Caroline raised a brow and shrugged. “Doesn’t look as if she’s going to leave you much of a choice, Adrian.”
The story of his life, of late. “Where were the two of you headed?”
“I had been thinking Bond Street,” Caroline replied.
“Hush, Mama! He’ll never agree to go shopping!”
“I daresay he would not. Why don’t we take a walk-through St. James’s, then?”
“Oh, yes!” Emily bounced. “A glass of warm milk would be just the thing!”
Adrian would have rather imbibed anything other than warm milk—including Almack’s tepid, tasteless lemonade—but he agreed. He had several things he wanted to discuss with Caroline and the cow herd would prove a useful distraction for Emily.
Together, they set off. Emily, as usual, chattered excitedly, the wonderful Misses Wainwright being her topic of choice.
“Is Miss Cassie not the sweetest girl you’ve ever met, Adrian? And that Millie! She’s ever so droll. I found Lenora both mischievous and quite clever, and Annette amusing as you please. What fun we all had!”
“And Miss Elizabeth?” he asked, curious to hear his sister’s opinion of the Wainwright sister who mattered most to him.
“Oh, Miss Eliza! She did not join us for the dancing, but I think her ever so stylish. Do you not agree, Adrian?”
Yes,Adrian agreed, adding the word to his own growing mental list.
Stylish. Pretty. Observant. Kind to those she deemed worthy.
He was penciling in shades of her character daily, and the clearer the picture became, the more he wanted to spend time on the details. But before he could fully commit to the work, he had a few loose ends in need of tidying.
“I never thought I’d look forward to dancing lessons,” Emily exclaimed as they passed through the gate. “Did you see Miss Lenora mimic a dandy? I’ve never laughed so hard—oh, look, the cows! Might I go on ahead?”
