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Florent was fairly certain his sister was exaggerating facts in order to pull the wool over his eyes about something, and he wondered what it could possibly be. As the oldest sibling to her youngest born, he occasionally felt ancient next to her youthful exuberance even though only about ten years separated them. But she was much craftier than he could ever be and often turned his head with her stories. He had learned long ago to watch for them. This time was no exception. He narrowed his eyes at her.
“I find several things to dispute about your statement, little sister. What are you up to? As soon as you start making fanciful statements, I become suspicious. Two gentlemen going into the woods with guns usually means to hunt, not to shoot one another. Your worry, if was even in existence, was misplaced.”
To Florent’s surprise his sister just laughed and shrugged. But then, to his further surprise, Lady Constance came up and joined them, interrupting his tirade. Her colour was high as though she were embarrassed for cutting in but doing it anyway. His eyes narrowed. She was lovely but perhaps a little too bold. He was again reminded that he wouldn’t mind befriending her but hoped his sister wouldn’t do so.
“I’m not sure why you would be suspicious of your sister, and I apologize for eavesdropping but the two of you weren’t exactly silent in your exchange. I really did see you going into the woods with Lord Bathurst and you both looked prepared for some shooting.”
The presence of the beautiful woman made strange things happen to Florent. For the briefest moment he felt all thought flee his head, and he couldn’t quite comprehend what she was saying as his heartbeat sped up and a shiver of nerves made its way through him. With a blink and a slight clearing of his throat, Florent was able to bring his mind back under his own control. With that, he frowned anew at Lady Constance. Why was she sticking her nose in his affairs?
“Thank you for the clarification, my lady,” he finally said to her, even while frowning. She was distracting him. It wasn’t really that his sister was referring to his going shooting that was the cause of his suspicions toward her, but he couldn’t very well tell the other woman that.
“Has your traipsing through the forest made you thirsty, Mr. Alcott? There are refreshments being served in the front receiving room.” She glanced down at his boots significantly, making heat climb up the back of Florent’s neck. “If you’d like to change your footwear, Miss Alcott and I could wait here for you.”
Florent’s mouth opened and closed but no words were there for him to use. A quick glance at his sister told him she was highly entertained by his predicament and perhaps almost as confused by the other woman’s interference.
Florent stared at his sister and Lady Constance for a brief moment, wondering if they were somehow in league together to confound him. He couldn’t begin to fathom why that could be the case. He turned and hurried off without a word or a backward glance, only grateful that he didn’t hear any feminine laughter following his retreating feet.
What was Daisy up to?
And why would Lady Constance interfere? Or was she interfering?Perhaps it just appeared that way due to his inordinate interest in her. Florent shook his head even as he pulled off his boots with the assistance of the boot jack by the door in the room he had been assigned. Making short work of righting his appearance, Florent wondered which would be the least cowardly action, staying in his room to avoid dealing with either woman or returning to the gathered guests and hoping it all became clear or his mother would deal with it.
It didn’t mater which was cowardly or brave. Florent wasn’t confident his mother would do anything about Daisy. Their mother used to be a formidable force but it would seem that successfully raising five children had worn her out and she no longer had the stamina for the sixth. It was possible she didn’t wish to see the last of her brood married off, but Florent suspected the spirited Daisy was merely more than their mother could handle. It was one more duty he would have to perform for his family.
Florent had no idea how to act as matchmaker for his sister, but he would have to see for himself that she wed. It was likely their hostess had some ideas about matching his sister. From the little he had heard about social events of the Season, they were all for the purpose of pairing up potential couples, so it was likely that at least a modicum of thought had been put into who might match up with Daisy. Lady Adelaide was her friend, after all. It would behoove Florent to ask the gentlemen present a few uncomfortable questions such as Lord Bathurst had asked him. Although surely, he could figure out a more subtle way to do it.
As he combed his windblown hair back into order and had a servant tug a fresh coat onto his shoulders, Florent cudgeled his mind for ways to learn about a gentleman that didn’t involve asking the actual worth of their estates. And would it be odd to ask another gentleman how he spent his spare time? Most likely. Perhaps he could begin with asking how much time they spent in Town and go from there. Surely that was the sort of thing people might discuss? Florent couldn’t be sure since the only time he talked to people was for business purposes. He was greener than a debutante, he realized, and then tugged upon his cravat as another blush rode up his neck.
Regardless of his inexperience or his discomfort, he couldn’t abdicate his responsibility toward his sister. Neither of their parents seemed to be concerning themselves, so, like everything else, it fell to him. He strode back down the grand staircase in search of the other guests.
