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That explained the whole thing about the lover then. Eleanor supposed the details didn’t concern her, so she decided to stop asking questions about Lady Eloise. She knew enough as it was. And while she didn’t make it a habit of drinking more than a glass of wine at dinner, she decided it was to her benefit to never get drunk.
“Enough about that.” Heather turned to Eleanor in interest. “I want to know more about Mr. Tumilson.”
Eleanor’s smile froze on her face. Did they know she and Mr. Tumilson had been lying to them about him being her suitor? Did they suspect he was a Runner?
“Yes, I want to know more about him, too,” Stacey added, her eyes twinkling. “I noticed you two at the ball, and it was apparent he was smitten with you.”
“Was he?” Heather asked.
“Oh yes. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her while she was away from him, and he had the smile of a gentleman in love while they danced,” Stacey replied. “Eleanor did a terrific job of pretending that she wasn’t interested in him. It made him work even harder to get her attention.”
Heather nodded in approval. “A lady has the right to make a gentleman pursue her. You can’t blame her for making things difficult for him.”
“But she isn’t making it too difficult. She did allow him to escort her to dinner this evening,” Tara inserted.
Heather giggled. “An excellent ploy. It’ll no doubt make him strive harder to marry you, Eleanor.”
If Eleanor wasn’t relieved to realize they hadn’t figured out the truth, she would have laughed. The last thing she and Byron would ever do was marry. But it was good they believed it. This was what her father wanted. It could very well get her membership intoLadies of Grace, and after spending this evening with them, she wanted to be friends with these ladies. They were turning out to be quite nice.
“Lady Cadwalader made a comment about the way Eleanor made Mr. Tumilson pursue her at the ball,” Tara spoke up. Directing her gaze to Eleanor, she continued, “Is that a strategy you’re using to impress prominent members of the Ton?”
What should Eleanor say to that? While her father wanted her to impress the Ton, all Eleanor wanted to do was lead her life far from public attention. Small dinner parties like this were much more manageable than mingling with a bunch of people at a ball.
“I think her goal,” Heather began, “is to make poor Mr. Tumilson suffer. I doubt she cares what the Ton thinks.”
“Well, either way, Lady Cadwalader was impressed,” Tara said. “So it worked to her advantage in both ways.”
Considering all the grief Mr. Tumilson had given her, Eleanor wouldn’t mind it if he suffered somewhat, but he certainly wasn’t going to suffer because he had a romantic interest in her. She couldn’t tell these ladies that, of course. Not that she even wanted to. She was getting their approval, and that’s all that mattered.
The door opened, and Tara’s husband poked his head into the room. “Do you ladies mind some company?”
Eleanor couldn’t speak for the other ladies, but she was glad for the distraction. If they kept talking about her and Mr. Tumilson, she didn’t know what she was going to do. She didn’t think there was a single question she could ask to get them to talk about something else.
Tara waved them in, and after a quick debate, the group decided to play cards. As the gentlemen brought the tables out and arranged the chairs, Eleanor noticed the way Heather and Stacey glanced between her and Mr. Tumilson then whispered to each other.
Eleanor’s face warmed. She supposed she should be glad they were still talking about the way Mr. Tumilson was interested in her, but she worried Mr. Tumilson would notice and assume she had a secret infatuation with him. Goodness, that was the worst thing that could happen right now. Imagine if he thought she had developed romantic feelings for him! He had such a swelled head that he would make her life impossible. He was already giving her grief over the way she’d acted at the ball.
“I’ll get the cards,” Tara’s husband called out when they were done.
Heather ran over to two chairs that were placed next to each other. “Lady Eleanor and Mr. Tumilson, you can sit here.” She patted the chairs and gave Eleanor a mischievous smile.
Eleanor bit her tongue and went to one of the chairs. If Heather knew… If only she knew…
Eleanor sat down but didn’t look at Mr. Tumilson. For some reason, this seemed to amuse Heather and Stacey all the more. Tara, on the other hand, gave no reaction. Of the three, it seemed that Tara was better at hiding her feelings. Thankfully, the gentlemen seemed oblivious to the whole thing.
“I can tell you more about that book I was reading if you want,” Lord Whitney told Eleanor as he and Stacey sat across from her and Mr. Tumilson.
Glad to have the conversation turn in a safe direction, Eleanor nodded. “I’d love to hear more.”
Without waiting for a question, he started talking about Rome. She breathed a sigh of relief because right now, she was having trouble remembering what he’d already told her about it. For this evening, at least, she had managed to get through a social event without feeling like a failure. And that was good enough for her.
