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“Fine. If you are not going to tell me, then I’m not going to hound you any longer.” His mother chuckled.
She knows.
“All right, Mother.” He said in resignation, “I will tell you.”
Better to tell her now than leave her to her imaginations, or whatever she’d found out.
“Wonderful! I suspected there was a lady involved,” his mother responded elatedly.
“Wait! You suspected?” Kenneth responded in a state of confusion.
“Of course I suspected. What happened in parliament was enough to get you down, but not enough to keep you down. That led me to only one other conclusion. A gentleman like you could only remain in such a state because a lady was involved. Now come. Tell me,” his mother said, pulling him away from the window and guiding him toward a chair.
A chuckle escaped his lips. His mother had only been fishing for information and had no idea about his correspondence with Lady Rose. Now he had taken the bait and committed himself to a conversation by admitting that a lady did, in fact, exist. Her ability to do this always amazed him.
He didn’t even know whether to laugh or be angry in response to yet another cunning act from his mother.
“So, who is she?” his mother said, when they were both seated.
An idea began to form on his insides on the perfect way to get out of this.
“Who else, Mother, if not Lady Charlotte? That lady infuriates me to no end,” he lied with gusto.
“Come now, I wasn’t born yesterday. The lady in question is most certainly not Lady Charlotte. Plus, I have been running into her and her mother at various functions. I am well aware that there is no current communication between you both.”
My goodness!
His attempt to deflect from the actual truth had failed and now his mother was going to be coming after him with the questions.
“So who is she? Lady Christie? I suspected you both were in communication for a long time. Lady Victoria? I knew you both fancied each other for a bit last season.”
As his mother continued, his mind was flipping over trying to come up with an explanation of who the lady in question was.
“Or is it Lady Rose? I saw you two dancing at her ball where you looked so enamored by her beauty,” his mother continued.
He froze for what seemed like an eternity, waiting to see if she would continue on from the truth she’d stumbled on.
“Wait! Lady Rose is already betrothed to Lord Rockgonie. It most certainly isn’t her.”
He exhaled.
“Oh, Lady Rose is betrothed? I hadn’t heard,” he responded, his voice laden with indifference.
“Yes, she is, even though it isn’t public knowledge yet,” she responded.
“Well, if it isn’t public knowledge, then how do you know?” he chuckled.
“You seem to underestimate my position in society. There isn’t anything worthy of note that I do not get to hear,” his mother bragged.
“Really?” Kenneth mocked, causing her to chuckle.
“Well, her mother told me just as Lord Somerholm told your father. Why else do you think I was uncomfortable with you dancing with her at the ball?” she finally confessed.
“Fair enough.”
“Well? Are you going to tell me who she is or not?” his mother queried, returning the conversation to where they had deviated from.
“Mother!” he laughed.
