Page 28 of A Bachelor’s Lessons in Love

“Mmm.” Mrs. Yates took a slow sip of her wine, her eyes glinting with the sort of satisfaction one gets from knowing something others do not. Felicity knew it well. “It is all rather old gossip, you understand,” she continued with a wave of her hand, as if it were nothing. “And I confess I do not recall the particulars. But I do seem to remember there was a young lady involved, and of a rather important family. The names elude me now—so much time has passed. I recall most thought it a rather unfortunate incident. His family, I believe, sent him to war as punishment. Though, of course, such things are hardly spoken of now.”

“How mysterious.” Felicity’s breath hitched so slightly, so imperceptibly, that she hoped the gossipy woman did not notice. People who spoke so lightly of others’ reputations were always looking for a reaction. She would not give Mrs. Yates the satisfaction, if she could help it. “You do not remember the particulars?” she asked, keeping her tone carefully neutral.

“No, no,” Mrs. Yates said, sighing in disappointment. “Only that it was a rather delicate situation. A shame, really. I recall he was quite the promising young man when they sent him away. But war made him into something greater, did it not?”

Felicity’s stomach twisted. She should brush it off. Dismiss it. And so she did. “Tales that grow so hazy with time are hardly worth ruminating over now, are they? When the details are lost, such things hardly bare repeating,” she said smoothly, offering a thin, polite smile. “I prefer to judge a man on the actions of his present, rather than whispers of his past.”

Mrs. Yates laughed lightly, tilting her head as if amused by Felicity’s response. “A commendable philosophy, Miss Price. A rare one, too.” She sipped once more at her glass, then said, “But I wonder how you can afford to think in such a way, with your niece’s future in the Colonel’s hands?” With that she took her leave, her skirts sweeping the floor as she moved on to some other conversation, some other reputation to weigh and measure.

Felicity exhaled slowly.

She would not let this bother her. Colonel Edward Halstead was a man of good character; she had seen it with her own eyes, but the words curled at the edges of her mind, refusing to be banished.

A young lady. A punishment.

The idea bothered her, yet why should it? He had told her he went to war young, only eighteen. Many a person made youthful mistakes, said or did things their parents did not approve of, at that age. She had given her own parents fits when she refused to have a proper coming out when she turned eighteen. She hadn’t wanted to put herself on display. They had kept her home, in the country, for two more years. When she had entered Society for herself, she did it quietly. Not at all like all her friends.

Not at all the way Daphne would take her first steps into the public eye.

Her niece was beautiful. Intelligent. Kind-spirited. She had lived her life protected and loved. She deserved all the beautiful things a true Season brought, Felicity knew, whether this first one ended with a good match or not. London’s richness would be Daphne’s to enjoy and indulge in. Felicity would see to that.

And Halstead had promised to do what was right and best for Daphne. Thus far, his honorable behavior, beneficence, and kindness had done nothing to warrant Felicity’s concern. Though Mrs. Yates had tried to plant a seed of doubt, Felicity need not nurture it by letting her thoughts dwell upon such idle speculation.

That decided, she gave herself a firm nod and then nearly jumped out of her skin when a gentle hand touched her forearm.

“Aunt Felicity? Lady Louisa, Miss Clark, and her brother Mr. Paul Clark have invited me to walk through the portrait gallery with them. The door is over there.” Daphne innocently pointed to double doors already open to allow guests the opportunity to walk through and stretch their legs. “Is it all right if I accompany them?”

Felicity cast her gaze to the trio standing a few paces away, all waiting for her decree before they left the confines of the card room. She gave them an approving smile. Daphne needed friends, and what she knew of the Clarks made up for her concerns over Lady Louisa, daughter of Lady Kendal. “Of course, darling.”

Moving about would also help Daphne stay awake and bright, as the girl was still unused to the late hours of London Society.

“Thank you, Aunt.” Daphne rejoined her friends and the four of them walked to the gallery doors. Lady Louisa on the young man’s arm, and Daphne arm-in-arm with Miss Clark, all of them already speaking with animation, as young people did when finding themselves in amiable company.

After they had stepped through the room, Felicity wandered to that side of the room, unhurried, placing herself where she could periodically glance through the gallery doors to be certain Daphne stayed in sight.

She had just gained the best position when she sensed the approach of someone taller, larger than herself. A smile twitched at her lips as she turned to greet the Colonel. “Colonel Halstead. How did you do at billiards?”

His brow was furrowed as he joined her, and he glanced around the room with the air of someone displeased at what he saw.

Was he truly so very against Society and crowds?

“It must not have been a successful game, with you looking like that,” Felicity said, keeping her smile in place. If anyone looked over and saw him scowling, they would not suppose it her fault.

He barely looked at her from the corner of his eye. “The game was fine—but where is Daphne? I did not see her anywhere when I entered, and she is not with you. Have you lost her?” The accusation in his tone would have made her defensive, had she not seen the concern in his eyes.

Felicity kept her temper in check, still smiling. “Why, she has only stepped into the portrait gallery with some friends—after securing my permission, naturally. They are taking a bit of exercise after sitting at the card table overlong.”

The Colonel’s gaze flitted to the doors of the gallery, then focused again on her. “Friends?”

“The Clarks and Lady Louisa.” The amount of questions he asked at least proved he made an engaged guardian, but really, she felt as though she were under examination from her old schoolmistress. “Is there something wrong, Colonel? Have you any objection? We have spoken of Lady Louisa, the Earl of Kendal’s daughter. The Clarks are from a fine family, Mr. Paul Clark is studying the law and his sister⁠—”

He loomed over her, brows knit tightly together. This closeness wasn’t nearly as pleasant as the one outside the balcony at the theater, and when he lowered his voice, it was to a disapproving rather than an intimate tone. “You mean to tell me there is a gentleman alone with Daphne, and you are not with them?”

“The other ladies present⁠—”

“Are mere girls.” Colonel Halstead shook his head and abruptly walked away from her, directly to the gallery, through its doors and down the long corridor where Felicity could plainly see Daphne with the others. She took a step in that direction, raising a hand to—what? Stop Halstead? The man was like a brown bear, people stepping out of his way on instinct. She could no more halt him than she could a tumbling boulder.

Standing still and smiling as though all was right with the world was the best thing for her to do, especially since she could not understand his actions. Felicity had thought they were on the same side; that he trusted her.