Page 41 of Miss Delancey’s Tragicomedy

“Tut-tut.” Now he did laugh. “Ladies do not use that word. Even gentlemen avoid it.”

“I wanted to be sure there was no room for misunderstanding.”

He stepped away while Will helped her down.

Feet on the ground, Dessie turned to him. “Please come to dinner tonight. Eight o’clock. And bring Mr. Cameron, if he’s available. It feels like ages since we’ve seen either of you.”

He knew he should refuse. “Thank you, but—”

“Lynch has something he would like to speak with you about.”

“Does he?” He knew what, and felt a quiver of shame. Lynch needed a shift in momentum. He needed votes. It was past time to promise him his. “Then we will be there at eight.”

Chapter Fifteen

Ophelia thought she shouldn’t be surprised. It seemed fated: the one time she’d found herself wrapped in the strong arms of a handsome man, they’d both been coated with…mud.

She soaked in the bath until her skin was pink and her fingertips wrinkly. Then she rose, draped herself in her dressing gown, and returned to her chamber to don clean clothes. At loose ends, she sat at her desk to write the letters she owed. After starting: Dear Aunt Grace, she slouched in her chair and stared at the page. Her mother’s closest friend had showered them with affection and maternal-type advice for years. Aunt Grace had chaperoned Ophelia during her transatlantic crossing and her first few weeks in Paris, until Dessie and Lynch came to claim her. Grace was still in Paris, enjoying herself. It would thrill her to hear about the Barringtons’ ball, to know that Ophelia had danced every dance with the cream of London society.

She needed only to omit the part where she was insulted by a duke, her new brother-in-law’s lifelong friend.

Ophelia was in the midst of heaving an enormous, stage-worthy sigh when Dessie swept into the room.

“Milly said your dress cannot be cleaned. It has all gone into the bin.”

“Good riddance. I didn’t like the thing anyway. It wasn’t peach-colored; it was orange.”

“Yes, it was hideous,” Dessie agreed amiably.

Ophelia snorted. “You might have said something before allowing me to wear it out in public.”

“But then you would have ruined something nice!”

“I don’t plan these things out in advance!” Her voice rose, more laughing than annoyed.

Dessie waved away her words. “Choose something especially pretty tonight.” She averted her gaze in a way that was not like her. “Robin and Mr. Cameron will be dining with us.”

“Nooooo,” Ophelia groaned. She was still angry with Trentham, but he hadn’t seemed to notice. Maybe he thought she had no cause to be, which made her even angrier. And he’d been pleasant and kind, rescuing them, which was infuriating.

“I invited Robin because of you,” Dessie said. “Or rather, because of what you said Lady Elizabeth asked. I thought Lynch would help, but I just spoke with him and he said absolutely not.”

That startled her. “He won’t? He can’t be for the match.”

“Of course not!” Dessie soured. “But he says Robin has gone too far to retreat. Barrington condescended to let him court his daughter—”

“For his money!” She liked this Lord Barrington less and less.

“Never mind that. If Robin doesn’t ask for her now, it will be taken as an unpardonable insult to the Barringtons. Besides which, it will make him look like a gal-sneaker.”

A terrible rogue. “But she doesn’t want to marry him.”

“Then it is her responsibility to tell him no.” Dessie huffed. “It’s all very silly, but it’s reasonable the way Lynch put it. She has every right to tell a suitor no. It makes sense she would refuse. She’s barely out of the schoolroom, while he’s old and jaded.”

“He isn’t that old. Is he?” She had no idea what his age was. “Besides, she says she can’t refuse him. Her parents want her to accept.”

“She’ll simply have to find some backbone. Rejecting him will do her reputation no harm. It might even raise her in the eyes of other possible suitors. But it would be ruinous for Robin to drop his suit.” Dessie’s voice hitched. “Once a gentleman has shown a lady such a marked preference, if he doesn’t come up to scratch, it’s a definite black mark against him. The only acceptable reason for backing out of a courtship is if he’d learned something scandalous about her.”

“Scandalous about Lady Elizabeth?” Ophelia scoffed.