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Thea gave a little, unrefined shrug and avoided my gaze. “I have my methods.”
“Oh, heavens, Thea. I wanted to help you make a match, but please promise me you will be wise. After what happened last year—”
Thea looked from Felicity to James. “That worked to your benefit, did it not?”
Good gads, she was acting ridiculous tonight.
“It did,” Felicity said, “but I was fortunate that it wasJameswhom I was found with and not a cad. It could just as easily have been my ruin.”
Thea laughed a little, the sound hollow. “I intend to remain above reproach in all my behavior, Felicity. I promise. I do want to secure a good husband.”
My stomach clenched again. “Quite impossible to promise a thing such as that, isn’t it, Miss Northcott?”
Thea blinked innocently up at me. “You mean to say you don’t believe I am capable of good behavior, Mr. Bradwell? How shocking of you. I had thought we werefriends.”
The word was sour, and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. Something between a laugh and a guffaw tore from my throat, and I cast my gaze about the room for a refreshment table. “Is there anything to drink here?”
This was far more difficult than I thought it would be.
Felicity grasped my sleeve in one hand and Thea’s in the other, looking between us imploringly. “Whatever you do, promise me you will both remain in the ballroom all evening until it is time to leave. Promise me.”
I promised. I loved my sister-in-law, and I would not do anything to hurt her if I could help it.
“Thank you,” she said.
A woman in a violet turban and a long white feather approached and spoke to Felicity, and I stepped back and leaned against the wall, waiting for the matron to leave.
“We ought to find a few gentlemen to introduce you to,” Felicity said to Thea once the woman had left. “James will know who is best.”
“Lord Keene or Lord Hampton would be fine,” Thea said, this time shooting a look in my direction.
I struggled to suppress my frustration. Was she trying to goad me? She did not even know them. They could be septuagenarians or missing half their teeth, and she would be none the wiser. I was a fool for providing her with any names at all. “Neither of those men would suit our purposes here very much.”
“Because I am not worthy of a title?” Thea snapped, clearly still reeling from our earlier encounter.
“Because neither of them are in the market for awife,” I said. They were rakes, the both of them, and the most they would want from Thea would be to slink away to the library alone. Something she had promised Felicity she would not do.
Thea looked to the ceiling as though it would grant her serenity and patience. “Perhaps I could be the woman to change their mind.”
“That is a lofty goal.”
“But not insurmountable.”
“Do I detect the possibility that you have now taken my warning to be something of a challenge?” I bit out between nearly clenched teeth.
“It does not sound like much of a challenge to me.”
“Goodness,” Felicity said, her widened eyes shooting between us. “Must I be forced to separate you like errant schoolchildren?”
Oh, what was I doing? The very opposite of what Henry had advised me, certainly. I shook my head, and a lone curl fell onto my forehead. I ran a hand through my hair to put it back where it belonged and trained my gaze on my sister-in-law. These social events were extremely difficult for her to manage, and I was certainly making it far worse. It was better if I put space between Thea and myself. “Forgive me, Felicity. I have become carried away. I will remove myself to avoid any further disruptions to your evening.”
“You are leaving the ball?” she asked.
“No. I have seen an old school chum, and I will greet him before Thea can light my cravat on fire with her evil stare.”
Thea raised her chin.
Chagrined, I avoided looking at Thea, regretting my final words as they were leaving my mouth. I turned and walked away from them. Let Thea have her roguish lords and dance with every man in attendance. I would not bother her again.
