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“It is wise for my head, at least. Besides, I am of the opinion the nausea itself came from too much dancing, and the dizziness of it all.”
“I could fetch you something myself…?”
“Thank you, but no,” said Evelina. Then, more agreeably, “But I would welcome it if you would accompany me.”
Matilda did so, albeit a little reluctantly. They gathered a small platter of savory biscuits, the salt from which might be helpful should Evelina’s nausea return, and joined the fringes of another group of young women at the edge of the room.
Diana was here, speaking animatedly with Lady Leticia Horwich. Or rather,listeninganimatedly, as Lady Leticia seemed to be in the midst of a very intense story.
“Yes, the Duke of Elvington did court me for a time at the beginning of the Season,” said Lady Leticia, which marked the first bit of her tale that Evelina was close enough to hear. Her muscles tensed at the mention of Thomas, and the way the other young ladies, save Diana,oohedandaahed. “He does seem fetching, doesn’t he? Unfortunately, his personality is rather dull. He never really seemed inclined to contribute anything to our discussions.”
One of the other young ladies raised a tentative hand. “Lady Leticia, do you think perhaps—”
Lady Leticia, however, wasn’t paying attention. With her nose in the air, she proclaimed, “The gentleman who will have me to wed must be a proper conversationalist!”
Evelina began to feel slightly faint again and found herself leaning closer to Matilda in case she found herself needing to grip her lady’s maid for balance. She had thought along almost identical lines toward the beginning of the Season, and Thomas had not disappointed where conversation withherwas concerned—but was it possible Evelina had sounded as similarly up in the clouds as Lady Leticia?
“I wish you the best, in that regard,” said Diana with a stiff smile in response to Lady Leticia, though her eyes had landed on Evelina and Matilda, there on the opposite side of the circle.
Perhaps it had been a mistake coming to join the other young ladies’ circle. Perhaps this whole engagement had been a mistake.
Well, there wasn’t that much ‘perhaps’ about it, really. Evelinaknewit was a mistake.
Even so, she bided her time, hovering in the corner with Diana and the others. Every so often, suitors would come and ask one woman or another for a dance, and the orchestra played on in the background. Evelina was grateful Jerome seemed to have temporarily forgotten her.
Time passed. Dancers began to tire. It would be time for Father’s toast any minute now, when Evelina’s engagement to Jerome would officially be announced to theton.
Diana nudged Evelina lightly, which caused her to stumble into Matilda, who had faithfully remained by her side lest she fall ill again.
“What is it?” Evelina asked.
Diana nodded toward Father, who was approaching the conductor of the orchestra, undoubtedly to stall the music so that the ball might transition into the evening’s climactic toast. Mother was at his side, practically bouncing with the supposed excitement of it all.
“It is likely best for you to seek out Lord Wilmore so that you might be side by side for the announcement,” Diana said regretfully.
Evelina supposed she was right. With a heavy heart, she gestured for Matilda to follow her as she went about searching for Jerome.
He was still in the ballroom, it turned out, talking with the same group of gentlemen as before in that nasally way of his. His back was to Evelina as she approached, and he kept talking, unaware of her presence.
“Itwasquite the stroke of luck, wasn’t it? Winning that wager against the Marquess of Langwin,” Jerome said snidely. “Of course, the merger between my business and that of the Russell family has been under wraps since it was made—if I were to guess, the Marquess gambling the merger contract wasnota move he had run by his father first, and it certainly caused waves with the Talbots. But now that I am to wed Lady Evelina, what does it matter? The textile shipping monopoly is imminent, my friends, and I plan to be a major player—”
Evelina stood stalk still, thoughts racing and crystalline clear all at once.
Firstly, she knew with sudden conviction that she had never met a more obnoxious and foolish person than Jerome in her life. Here he was, bragging about confidential business endeavors to a group of what might as well have been strangers, all with that awful pretentious lilt to his voice.
Secondly…was this the missing piece of what had gone wrong in the merger with the Russells? The Marquess—Gerard—had gambled away the contract without his father’s permission? That would make Jerome the ‘anonymous third party’ Father had been so upset over.
Thirdly...
“Matilda,” Evelina said, voice low and taut with a sudden rush of fear. “Thomas doesn’t know.”
Matilda had been eyeing Evelina with wary suspicion the whole time she’d been listening in on Jerome’s conversation. “The Duke of Elvington doesn’t know what, My Lady?”
Memories and suspicions flashed across her brain. All of Thomas fears and theories, his grief and his hope…it was all becoming undeniably, devastatingly clear.
“The truth,” Evelina said.
She turned on her heel and ran from the room.
