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Chapter Three
"Have you found your family?” Constance called cheerfully, determined to ignore the strange sensations this man caused her and protect his sister from his attention. She knew full well he hadn’t seen his sister, as she had been shamelessly eavesdropping. It was one of her favorite pastimes, one she viewed as completely harmless as she never misused the information she invariably discovered. But she did love to see people’s reactions when she had more information than they expected of her.
“My mother seems to be quite enjoying herself,” he commented in lieu of a proper response. Constance found she respected his answer.
“I am still in search of my companion. Shall we stroll together?”
It was an uncharacteristically bold invitation, but Constance kept her expression as innocent as she could manage, fighting a blush. She didn’t want the handsome gentleman to think she was offering anything less savoury than a stroll in search of their quarries. While she intended to prevent him from searching for his sister it wasn’t for any morally ambiguous reasons.
Well, she hesitated even in her own thoughts, it actually was, but not for her own pursuits, she excused. Constance had become a keen observer in her years of pursuing spinsterhood. It had served her well and never failed to keep her entertained. Except this time, she was reasonably sure she might be about to aid in the ruination of a gently bred young woman. But she was tired of her own current situation, she certainly didn’t want to help another woman join her eccentric spinster status.
“Tell me about Alcott,” she urged the gentleman, taking his elbow with a smile as Mr. Alcott appeared to be struggling to keep the frown from his face. He likely thought her an imbecile.
“What would you like to know?” Now Constance could hear amusement in his voice even though she was no longer looking at him. She found she couldn’t meet his eyes and attempt to deceive him, so she ensured her gaze was kept firmly elsewhere.
“Everything,” she declared rather dramatically and just managed not to roll her eyes.
Constance was being ridiculous and couldn’t seem to stop herself. She had witnessed debutantes being equally dramatic but had never thought she had it in her to be so. At the advanced age of nearly twenty-five, she had seen far too much of the world and the people who inhabited it to feel excitable about any of it.
She had begun to long for a small cottage by the sea, perhaps in Brighton, although she had heard that was starting to become fashionable since the Prince had decided to start building a place there for himself and his friends. She brought her attention back to the matter at hand. “Actually, do you know if there are any villages around here that would be safe enough for a spinster to take up residence?”
“Oh, I would imagine all of them would be,” Mr. Alcott replied immediately. “Have you an aunt or some sort of connection who is looking to relocate?”
Constance laughed. “I was thinking of myself.”
She could feel his stare. “You speak of yourself as a spinster?” He was so surprised he sounded almost incredulous. “You can’t be that much older than my sister. Please don’t let her hear you speaking like that.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, but she already has. We had quite the conversation on the topic, to be truthful. She didn’t seem overly enamoured with the idea, so I don’t think you need to worry overmuch.”
Connie got lost in thought for a moment remembering their conversation on the topic.
“I am so envious of you, my lady,” the younger woman had nearly gushed when they were seated together on a settee after supper the night before.
“You are? That is not the usual response I gain from most wellborn ladies.”
The girl had trilled a laugh. “That is most odd. I think most just don’t want to admit they’re jealous.”
“So, you’d like to be a travelling spinster?”
“Oh no, not in the least,” she’d answered promptly, adding in a slight shudder for effect. “I am determined that I shall wed soon. But I would also like to have adventures such as you are surely having.”
Connie had been about to ask the other woman if that was why she had gone haring off by herself that afternoon, but they had been interrupted before she could do so. Besides the fact that she was unsure how to politely ask another woman if she was intentionally courting scandal.
Florent’s words brought her back to the present.
“I’m not worried she will wish to follow your lead. I’m worried she will become even more determined to find her husband this Season. A determined Daisy can be rather reckless,” he said with what appeared to be a shudder, making Constance have to bite the inside of her lip to keep herself from laughing. “There was this time when she was quite little that she found someone had thrown a bag of kittens into the lake on our property. She didn’t know how to swim, but that didn’t cross her mind when she leapt into the water to save the creatures. Of course, I had to jump in after her to save them all.”
“That was brave of you,” Constance cooed. She actually cooed. No human should coo, she reprimanded herself fiercely. That ought to be left for the pigeons and doves. She just barely managed not to roll her eyes again.
He didn’t seem to notice her foolishness, though. Perhaps women cooed over him all the time. She wouldn’t be surprised. He was handsome and eligible, being the heir to his father’s viscountcy. It was unusual that the title and the family name were the same, but she quite liked it. It made them seem all the more like family. Unlike her. There was only her and one brother with her name since her sisters had wed and her older brother, their father’s heir, had a courtesy title. It made her feel all the more isolated than she already was as a spinster travelling the world with her companion.
“Not really, anyone would have done it.”
Constance blinked having lost the thread of the conversation when she had allowed her mind to drift. She had to think for a beat to remember what he was responding to. “Perhaps not anyone. The individual who had thrown the kittens in probably wouldn’t have.”
“If he valued his employment, he would have,” Florent insisted. “But we never did find out who had been so cruel. And believe me, Daisy certainly tried.”
Constance laughed and then nodded slightly. She had been debating with herself whether or not she ought to get involved, but this gentleman had just confirmed her impression of his sister. While Constance couldn’t fully approve of clandestine meetings for young ladies, if Daisy wanted to pursue a dalliance or whatever had her traipsing about looking furtive, Constance wasn’t going to stand in her way, nor was she going to assist Daisy’s brother in interfering either.
