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“About what?” Letitia asked.
The carriage lurched forward, and they both grabbed the bench to stabilize themselves.
“Trevor called on me this morning with a gift, but I’m not sure he knows what doing something like that signifies.”
Letitia grinned. “Trust me, Sera, he knows exactly what it means.”
“Are you sure? Because the courting behaviors of society are hardly something he’s likely to have committed to memory.”
“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong.” Letitia shrugged. “Well, partly.”
Seraphina’s right eye twitched. Letitia was drawing this out on purpose. “Explain, please.”
“Trevor made a comment to me when I saw him last that you were the only woman he could countenance marrying. Since you were betrothed to The Dishonorable Phineas Beardsly at the time, I didn’t mention it to you, but when your betrothal fell through, I wrote to let him know you were unattached.”
Seraphina blinked slowly, scarcely able to believe what she was hearing. “Trevor wants to marry me?”
She’d thought her father was reaching. Seeing what he wanted to see.
“Considering he came directly to London—a place he loathes with every beat of his heart—immediately upon learning of your, er, failed wedding and then enlisted not only my help but also his mother’s in preparing himself for unfamiliar courtship rituals… yes, I’m going to say that he wants to marry you.”
“That…” She shut her mouth. She’d intended to say that it made no sense, but she supposed, in a way, it did. Trevor didn’t like change, nor did he like meeting new people. She was someone he already knew and had never seemed to mind talking to. It was logical of him to view her as a suitable wife, and Trevor was nothing if not logical.
The carriage stopped at the park entrance, and they stepped down, linked arms, and strolled along the path that followed the river.
“Is his interest in me purely practical?” she asked, uncertain what she wanted the answer to be. “Or does he… love me?”
For some reason, the thought of blunt, straightforward Trevor in love was difficult for her to get her head around. Perhaps because love wasn’t a concept that could be quantified or explained in a way he’d ever be comfortable with.
“I don’t know.” Letitia gazed into the distance. “Trevor’s mind doesn’t work the same as most people’s, but he likes you a great deal, and he’s wooing you in earnest, not out of a social misstep. He’s committed to courting you, and though I may be a little biased, I think he would be an excellent husband.”
A pair of ladies their age drew near, so Letitia and Seraphina skirted to the edge of the path to avoid an awkward pause to chat.
Seraphina’s thoughts whirled, thrown into chaos by this new information. Her heart pounded faster. Maybe this was her way out of an awful marriage. “If what you say is true, then why didn’t Trevor pursue me when I debuted?”
With their prior acquaintanceship, he would have had an advantage over other suitors, and her father wouldn’t have hesitated to accept an offer from him. The man was going to be an earl. That was exactly the sort of connection Mr. Dalton would approve of.
She spotted Mr. Emerson down a side path, chatting with two of his peers, and angled herself away from him, grateful when they passed without him noticing her.
“According to him, he didn’t realize exactly how much he’d hoped to marry you until we found out you were betrothed to someone else. You know Trevor. A bit oblivious sometimes.”
“He can be a tad distractible,” Seraphina agreed.
She found it endearing. When he was engaged with a task, he gave it his full attention, and if he wasn’t interested in something, it often didn’t register with him at all.
“What do you think?” Letitia asked.
“He might be a good match.” Seraphina thought it through. “He doesn’t look down on my intelligence. I don’t know whether that would translate to allowing me to continue my, er, perfumery.”
“I can’t see him stopping you from doing something you love. Especially not when it’s scientific. That man loves his scientific discussions.”
“He can be quite persuasive too. My father gave me permission to attend Faraday’s next demonstration at the Royal Institution with him, when he’s never allowed me to attend before.”
Letitia brightened. “Really?”
“Yes, I’m rather excited about it.”
Her friend side-eyed her. “Then I’m pleased for you. So, will you consider Trevor’s suit?”
