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“Then I would just wonder why you didn’t want to meet him yourself. He probably isn’t that bad.”
“He is, if half the stories about him are true. Look,” Cordelia leaned forward confidentially. “I will pay you.”
Rosaline snorted. “Pay me?”
“Ten pounds.”
Rosaline stopped laughing. Ten pounds was a lot of money. Ten pounds would pay the butcher’s bill and the greengrocer’s bill. Once they’d paid those bills, they’d be able to buy on credit again and have cheap meats instead of the dreaded tripe, which Rosaline did not consider as a real foodstuff at all. It might even buy a little tea.
She’d known that the Atwoods were rich but knowing that Cordelia could afford to throw away ten pounds on something as trivial as this was… well, it was a little galling.
Cordelia raised her eyebrows. “Well?”
Rosaline sighed. It was ridiculous, but ten pounds was ten pounds. She could meet some stuck-up duke and be rude to him for ten pounds.
If he was anything like some of the young noblemen Rosaline had met before, perhaps she might actually have done it for free.
“Fine. I’ll meet him. But if this all goes wrong, I’m not accepting blame.”
Cordelia squealed in delight, clapping her hands. “It won’t, I promise! Now, the meeting is tomorrow, and you’ll need to wear your nicest dress. Which is the best one you have?”
Rosaline flushed. “My blue muslin.”
Cordelia frowned. “But that dress is three… no, four years old. You wore it at Miss Swan’s ball.”
“Yes, well, we can’t buy dresses every year, Cordelia. Fabric is expensive, and there’s three girls and a boy in this house, not to mention the ridiculous things Papa buys at the tailors.”
“Oh.” Cordelia was beginning to look embarrassed. She was a good-hearted girl, but a little oblivious. It had probably never occurred to her how Rosaline might feel about their strained circumstances.
Clearing her throat, Rosaline got to her feet. “I’m so sorry, Cordelia, I’ve been horribly remiss. I’ll ring for tea.”
“No, thank you, Rosaline.” Cordelia said quickly, and Rosaline sank back down in relief. She wasn’t entirely sure how she could have served her guest something they didn’t have. “I don’t particularly want to encounter your mama. She was very sharp with me last time we met, since my mama had just cut her in church. It was ever so awkward.” Cordelia paused, glancing down at her hands. She looked uncomfortable, and that wasn’t like Miss Cordelia Atwood at all.
“For what it’s worth,” Cordelia spoke again, hesitantly, “I’m sorry for all of this. I miss you, Rosaline, every day. I don’t have any friends in Society like you. I begged Mama to let me invite you to our dances and dinners, but she says absolutely not, and she simply won’t budge. I tried…”
“It isn’t your fault, Cordelia.” Rosaline interrupted, leaning forward to take her friend’s hand. “I never blamed you for any of this.”
Cordelia bit her lip. “I want you to know that I never stopped being your friend, and I never will.”
Rosaline smiled weakly. She’d known all along that Cordelia would never betray her, but there was no denying that she and Cordelia’s futures would be very, very different.
“Iknow, Delia. Now, why don’t you tell me what I need to know about this monster of a Duke?”
Cordelia brightened. “Oh, thestoriesI can tell you! You’ll need a better dress than that blue muslin, though. It’s too old and he might notice how out of fashion it is.”
He might notice the darning on the bodice, too,Rosaline thought miserably. Her blue muslin was the lesser-mended dress in her wardrobe, but even that hadn’t escaped alterations and mending over the years. They simply couldn’t afford to clothe a growing family of four, and apparently the Baron did not think it a priority that his children should be neat and well presented, not while there were wagers to be placed.
“Well, what do you recommend?”
Cordelia tilted her head to one side. “I think perhaps one of my dresses will fit you. It’s a lovely yellow color, and you’ll look very well in it. It’ll need alternations, though, because…” Cordelia trailed off, indicating her own full bosom and Rosaline’s considerably smaller curves.
“Very funny, Cordelia. If you bring the dress here, I can alter it, and I’ll put it back to the way it was.”
Cordelia grinned cheekily at her. “If you can put the Duke off me for good, you can keep the dress.”
Rosaline raised an eyebrow. “It’s a deal.”
CHAPTER3
