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Chapter 24
Mabel slipped quietly into her bed and let out a long, soothing sigh.
“Thank you, Payne,” she said quietly as her maid snuck out of the room. She had escaped for the latter half of the ball after witnessing the revolting scene between Mac and Miss Sophy and hid in the library with Amelia until it was time to depart. She had contemplated sending for Gram and sneaking out early, but this had been Giulia’s special ball, and not even Mac’s idiocy could make her leave before it ended.
And besides, she’d had Amelia by her side to keep him away when he eventually found them at the end of the evening and tried to speak to her. She was no fool. She understood that Mac had not asked Miss Sophy to hang on him as though she was a trollop. Indeed, he had looked rather distressed for the duration of it.
But the fact remained that Mac had a tendency to charm women, and Miss Sophy was likely another of his witless victims.
Her leg throbbing acutely, Mabel reached under the blanket and massaged her thigh, then her calf. She had gone too far, allowed herself to continue using a leg that instead needed rest. She sank further into the mattress, recalling to mind the moment Mac had glanced up while Miss Sophy draped herself over him and caught her gaze. He’d been panicked then, of course, but there was something more, something she could not quite put her finger on.
She fell asleep to rebellious dreams of dancing with Mac, with a leg that did not bother her in the slightest.
* * *
Sitting up in her bed, propped against a multitude of pillows, Mabel was entirely at her ease. Payne had just left to fetch breakfast, and Giulia sat in the chair beside her bed, pulling a needle through a linen handkerchief.
“I expected you to put up more of a fight,” Giulia said, lifting an eyebrow as her attention remained on the handkerchief.
“I might have, but a break from our guests’ company will do me a world of good, I should think.” A break from Mac’s company, specifically. She stretched her leg beneath her blanket and a thread of pain sliced up her thigh. No, she most definitely would not be stepping foot outside of her room for the duration of the day.
“And what of the plans to visit Camden Cove?”
Mabel lifted a shoulder. “They may go without me.”
“Miss Pemberton and Mr. Wright were speaking about the outing at breakfast this morning.” Giulia lifted her eyebrows. “They seemed awfully cozy.”
“Miss Pemberton, you said? Not Miss Sophy?”
“Oh, you’re right. It was Miss—”
The door swung open, hitting the wall with a resounding bang, and Pippa skipped into the room, jumping on the end of Mabel’s bed and landing near her legs.
Sucking in a breath, Mabel put her hands down on impulse to keep her sister from jumping into her lap. Giulia stood quickly, reaching for Pippa.
“Don’t get too close, darling. Mabel’s leg is hurting today.”
Pippa turned around, widened eyes on her sister. “Again? Was it all the dancing, Mabel?”
She suppressed a laugh. “No, Pippa. Believe it or not, I did not dance at all last night.”
Her young sister’s face pulled back, disturbed. “Why would you go to a ball and not dance? Were all the gentlemen hideous?”
Mabel and Giulia shared an amused smile before Giulia tugged Pippa a little further away to sit on the end of the bed. “No, they weren’t. Just the opposite, in fact. There were plenty of handsome gentlemen who longed to dance with your sister, but she refused them all.”
Pippa’s expression grew ever more disgusted. “Then why did you not dance?”
“Because I was hurting, Pippa. My leg would not have supported it.”
“Your sister needs to rest so she might heal,” Giulia said gently.
Pippa frowned. “How long must you stay in bed?”
Mabel shrugged. “As long as I need to.” She rather hoped it was long enough so that the Pembertons might be absent when she finally escaped her bedchamber, but that was likely a longshot.
Mrs. Henderson appeared in the doorway and dipped in a curtsy. “Might I have a word when it is convenient?”
“Of course. Please, come in.”
