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“Have you talked with Lady Eleanor before this evening?” Byron asked Piers.
Piers shook his head. “No, unfortunately, I haven’t had the pleasure of making her acquaintance until today.”
Byron glanced at Nick. “Has your wife invited her over here to talk to her privately?”
Nick’s eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t think so. Tara likes to keep busy by establishing social connections with prominent members of the Ton. She doesn’t often have moments that she spends with just one lady. She reserves that time for me and our children.”
Byron glanced at Piers. “And what about your wife? Has she spent any time alone with Lady Eleanor?”
“No. The only time Stacey has been with Lady Eleanor is when the group has a social event.” Piers’ eyebrows furrowed. “What is all of this about? Do you think Lady Eleanor hasn’t been with our wives enough?”
“I apologize,” Byron hurried to say in case the gentlemen started to question exactlywhyhe was at this dinner party. “I was merely making conversation. Lady Eleanor is so shy. While at the ball, she barely spoke to anyone. It made me wonder if she had any friends.”
“I noticed that she’s shy,” Nick said. “Tara did, too. That’s why she’s been hesitant to invite her into the group. While Lady Eleanor’s reputation is impeccable and her father is in good standing with the Ton, she doesn’t seem to attract anyone to her.” He glanced at Piers. “At least not until tonight. Like you, I think she manages just fine at a dinner party. Maybe she needs some time with people before she’s comfortable enough to talk to them.”
“Maybe that’s why my wife thinks she’ll be an asset to the group,” Piers said. “Perhaps my wife sees Lady Eleanor and remembers the way I was when she first met me. I struggled for years in knowing what to say to people I barely knew. My wife helped bring me out of my shell. She might do that for Lady Eleanor, too.”
Or maybe Stacey had other motives. As far as Byron was concerned, Stacey had just become the main suspect in this case. She wouldn’t be the first person who pretended to befriend someone with the intent to harm them. He was going to have to watch Stacey carefully from this point forward.
***
Eleanor sipped her tea as she listened to Heather. Eleanor had asked all three ladies to share their stories about how they got married, and Heather was the third one to share her story. Unlike Tara and Stacey, however, she ended up spending nearly twenty minutes explaining the details of her and Gill’s courtship and how she kidnapped him so they could get married outside of London.
The Duchess of Ashbourne’s advice was working much better than Eleanor dreamt possible. All she had to do was ask anyone at this dinner party questions, and they shared just about everything with her. Asking questions to further explain something was easy once someone got invested in talking. At this pace, Eleanor wasn’t going to have to worry about any awkward moments of silence like she had the other time she’d been with these ladies. Now she didn’t have to feel like a wallflower.
“I should have realized he was willingly going along with the kidnapping,” Heather rambled. “He didn’t put up a fuss when it came time to make our vows, and he pretty much coaxed me into consummating the marriage right away by telling me he needed an heir.”
Tara chuckled. “I don’t think any gentleman is going to put up a fuss if a lady goes to bed with him, regardless of the circumstances.”
“Oh, I’m sure if he really doesn’t want to be with the lady, he’ll find a way to show restraint,” Heather argued before she sipped her tea.
“I don’t know. Even Piers will put down a good book if I suggest going to bed,” Stacey said.
“Yes, but he wants to be with you.” Heather gave Tara a pointed look. “And Nick wants to be with you. I’m just saying if a gentleman doesn’t want to be with the lady, he wouldn’t be intimate with her. I know that, as a lady, I couldn’t give myself to a gentleman I didn’t want to be with.”
“You’re right,” Tara conceded. “There’s no way I could be intimate with Nick if my heart wasn’t in it.”
“That’s why I now know that Gill was actually helping me kidnap him. He never stopped loving me. He was just hurt that I rejected his proposal. I can’t blame him. I shouldn’t have said no. It was foolish to listen to Lady Eloise.” Heather glanced at Eleanor. “Lady Eloise didn’t think Gill’s title was good enough forLadies of Grace.”
“Who is Lady Eloise?” Was there another lady who belonged to this group that Eleanor had yet to meet?
“Was,” Tara said. “She was the lady who established the group. Due to a series of unfortunate events, she is no longer in it.”
In a solemn tone, Stacey added, “She’s no longer among the living.”
Eleanor’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, that’s terrible.”
“She took a fall down some stairs,” Tara began. “We weren’t fond of her, but we didn’t wish for her early demise, either.”
“Was it an accident, or did someone murder her?” Eleanor asked, suddenly thinking of her own situation.
“It was an accident,” Tara replied. “The butler saw her trip.”
“Her lover paid to have the incident investigated, but once the butler gave his report, the matter was resolved,” Heather added.
“So she just happened to be clumsy then?” Elanor asked.
“I think she was drunk when it happened,” Tara said. “She made it a habit of drinking too much, and word around London was that she’d go to her husband’s residence while drunk. The two didn’t get along.”
