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I wouldn’t have mentioned it at all, but the woman on his other side did. Although she seemed genuinely interested, there was a gleam in her eye when the gentleman seated between us railed against women taking up positions in universities that should have gone to men. No amount of pointing out that the women didn’t replace men, merely added to the overall number, had any effect. He talked over the top of me. He then turned to the woman on his other side and chatted to her for the rest of the night.
Good riddance.
The gentleman on my other side was older and offered little in the way of conversation so I spent much of the evening thinking about how to make an early exit.
I caught sight of my aunt, watching me from the other end of the table, a troubled look on her face.
After the men adjourned to the smoking and billiards rooms, we ladies moved into the private sitting room. Aunt Lilian steered me towards a corner.
“I am sorry, my dear,” she said. “You didn’t seem to get along with your dinner partners.”
“My education came up.”
Her gaze narrowed and slid towards the girl who’d been seated next to my Cambridge partner. “Little snake. I should have known she’d be jealous of you. It’s not that she wants him for herself; she just doesn’t like seeing other women succeed. I should have put her between two elderly men.”
“Don’t worry about it, Aunt. I was glad she mentioned it. Imagine if I’d enjoyed my evening with him, and he’d taken that the wrong way? It would have become very awkward.”
She pressed her lips together and blinked severely at me. It was as much of a chastisement as she’d ever given me. “You will want to marry when you find the right man. He just wasn’t it. And you’re right. It’s fortunate you discovered that early.” She huffed out a frustrated breath. “Honestly, I had no idea he would be so against women being educated.”
“Most men are.”
“And some women, too.” She sighed. “I cannot believe you’ve become the topic of conversation. There are far more interesting things to discuss than your education. I don’t understand all the fuss about having a bluestocking in our midst. It’s not as though you’re a bore. Indeed, you can be charming and agreeable. My sister knew what she was doing when she raised you.”
It was the best I could hope for from my aunt. She didn’t understand the importance of education for women either. But at least she didn’t try to censor me at these dinners, nor did she blame me for the guests not turning up. Four places had been quietly and quickly removed by the waiters before the first course was served. I suspected their absence had something to do with not wanting to dine with me. It seemed like an over-reaction, but these people never ceased to surprise me with their snobbery.
I almost told my aunt that Lady Bunbury was to blame for the rumors. Aunt Lilian had come up against her before and won. But she couldn’t win this time. Indeed, the rumor was out now. We had already lost, and it would only upset my aunt more. Besides, it would blow over soon enough. It was hardly a scandal on par with Amelia Livingstone’s, for example.
Indeed, Amelia’s plight was the main topic of the whispered conversations in the sitting room. With the gentlemen gone, they didn’t hold back. I wondered if the men were having the same conversation. I’d have to remember to ask Floyd later.
I spent the next half hour talking to Miss Hessing and a few other young women who told me they admired me for getting an education. Some clearly didn’t believe their own words, but others did. I then retired, claiming a headache, and returned to my suite where Harmony was waiting for me.
She quickly helped me change out of my evening gown and into a plain black dress. We snuck out of my rooms and took the staff exit near the kitchen. It led to the lane beside the hotel where Victor stood, leaning against the wall, smoking.
He stubbed the cigarette into the bricks and gave us a nod. Without speaking, we left the lane, avoiding the brightly lit front entrance of the hotel where guests dressed in furs and silks returned from an evening at the opera, theater or private party. Some of the men would leave again to go to a gentleman’s club. Floyd would probably be among them.
I tried not to think about him getting further in debt, or of what Jonathon had said about Harry’s attempt to help Floyd—that he’d only done it to impress me. He was wrong. He must be. I was already impressed with Harry; he didn’t need to try to extricate my cousin from his self-inflicted problem for my benefit.
I gave him no sign that he’d risen in my esteem when he joined us outside his building. Indeed, I didn’t feel like having that sort of conversation with him right after he scolded me.
He stood underneath a streetlamp, arms crossed over his chest, his expression dark and forbidding. “I could have gone alone.” His voice was low, almost a growl. “There’s no need for you to come, too.”
“It’s my investigation as well as yours,” I shot back. “Harmony and Victor escorted me here, so I was perfectly safe the entire time. Now, are you coming with me, or do you want to stand there and brood?”
He walked alongside me, Harmony and Victor behind. We parted ways with them at the corner and headed in opposite directions. On our way to the boarding house, I filled Harry in on the Portland Club’s door plaque, and the matching symbol I’d seen on a card in Mr. Underwood’s case.
He agreed it was a very strong coincidence.
“Your uncle told me about your father’s forced retirement,” I said as we walked. “How is he taking it?”
“In his stride, as he takes most things; although I think he’s a little upset with the speed of it. My mother is furious with his superiors for the way they handled it.”
“I’m sure she is, and I don’t blame her.”
Harry’s mother was a formidable woman who still held a grudge against me for getting Harry dismissed from the hotel. I suspected she’d never forgive me, even if he made an enormous success of his detective agency.
“She’s planning to cook his favorite meals every night this week,” he said. “Naturally I’m going to dine with them.”
“Naturally.”
