Chapter Fourteen
Eliza and Cassandrahad just settled themselves on the bed, ready to finally discuss the afternoon’s events in private, when a light knock sounded against the door. The maid they shared with their younger sisters entered at Eliza’s call.
“Here are the clean sheets you requested.”
Cassandra and Eliza exchanged equally dubious expressions as the maid set down her load.
They hadn’t requested clean sheets.
The maid then moved the top sheet aside, revealing a letter sealed with wax in distinctive light blue. Eliza’s hair cascaded over her shoulder as she bent forward to examine the note. The wax was impressed with a scroll she remembered seeing on the Black Widow’s desk.
She slipped out of bed, padded over to the dressing table and retrieved a coin from the pin money jar. She presented the maid with a vail. The maid bobbed a curtsey and slipped out the door, but not without a longing glance at the note.
The contents, whatever they might be, were not for prying eyes.
Eliza climbed back onto the bed and tucked her feet to her side. Both sisters stared down at the paper as if expecting the document to spontaneously open.
“Well?” Cassandra prompted. “Aren’t you going to break the seal?”
“It’s from the Lyon’s Den,” Eliza replied. “I thought you disapproved.”
“Idodisapprove. But that doesn’t mean I wish to be left completely in the dark. What concerns you, concerns me.”
Eliza raised her brows. “If I let you see the contents, will you tell me why you were so eager to acquiesce to every suggestion made by the duke and his friends?”
Cassie’s eyes widened. “What possible objection could you have to the girls sharing dancing lessons with Miss D’Acre?”
Eliza grimaced. She could hardly tell Cassie the truth.
Cassie snatched the letter and held it behind her and above her head, well out of Eliza’s reach. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Eliza slapped the bed with impatience. “Give me my letter.”
“Not unless you tell me why you reacted so strangely to Harbury’s friend.”
Eliza narrowed her eyes at her sister. “Oh, very well.” She sighed, exasperated. “I ran into Lord Redver at the Lion’s Den.”
Cassie gasped.
“Don’t worry. He didn’t recognize me—how could he have? We hadn’t yet been introduced. But I…” She frowned. “I don’t want him to put two and two together and realize he saw me at the Den.”
“He regarded you with a very peculiar expression.”
Eliza’s heart thumped. “Did he?”
Cassie nodded. “Yes. But I don’t think the expression was recognition. He seemed…taken with you.”
“Say you’re joking.”
Cassie shrugged. “What do I know of these things?” She lifted a brow. “Would you like it if he were taken with you?”
Eliza felt her cheeks heat. “Just open the letter, Cass.”
If Redver had developed an interest in her, Eliza had no desire to contemplate the repercussions.
“Please open the letter.”
“If you insist.” Cassie peeled open the seal.
