Page 58 of The Best-Kept Secrets
“You will be in London for the Season?” Though it was a question, Eve could hear in her own voice that she’d stated it more as a declaration. She couldn’t help it. Lisette had been denied a London Season the past two years in a row, and ’twas horribly unfair.
“Oui,and I am so very happy.”
Eve hooked her arm through Lisette’s. “We will have the most wonderful Season.” Only as the words spilled from her lips did Eve realize her mistake. The Huntresses would, indeed, have a glorious time in London. But Eve wouldn’t be there.Theywould have the most wonderful Season. She would be left behind.
Unwilling to dampen Lisette’s much-deserved excitement, Eve pushed all thoughts of loneliness from the forefront of her mind. She felt she was doing an admirable job of not showing her distress as they stepped into the drawing room to await the announcement of supper.
All the other guests and their hosts were inside, mingling and gabbing. The elder Mrs. Seymour stopped Eve and Lisette. The sniff ought to have warned Eve that nothing good was to come of this encounter.
Still, she was caught off guard when Duke’s grandmother said, “That is the same blue gown you wore for supper last night. Do you not consider being a guest at Fairfield to be honor enough to make it worth your while to put in a bit of effort?”
Mrs. Seymour had been quite a complainer during their journey, but she hadn’t, until that day, truly become insulting.
Eve didn’t know entirely what to make of the change. “I fear,” she said, “this is the only gown I have that would be appropriate for supper. All my others are day dresses.”
“You have only one?” Mrs. Seymour gave every indication of shock. “It seems I was correct, then.”
“Correct about what, Mrs. Seymour?” Eve hated to ask, but she suspected the lady would be upset if she didn’t inquire.
“Dubhán told me that you and your sister paid the cook at that empty inn. It was hardly fair that he and his father were funding the entirety of that trip, and I told him as much. But he insisted you two had seen to that bit.” Another sniff—heavens, Eve had come to severely dislike the sound. “I do not know why he would lie to me about that, but he obviously did.”
“Nia and Ididmake certain the cook was compensated.” Eve knew it was a bit of a misleading explanation, but she was also perfectly aware of the reason Duke had offered it in the first place. It was a good tactic, and she would continue on with it.
“You couldn’t have,” Mrs. Seymour insisted. She snatched hold of Mrs. Greenberry’s arm as she happened past and pulled her into their conversation. “How much, Penelope, is a cook at an inn likely to be paid for two days’ worth of meals?”
“I really haven’t the first idea, Mother.”
With a huff, Mrs. Seymour said, “It needn’t be an exact answer, merely an estimate.”
“I couldn’t even provide you with that,” Mrs. Greenberry said. “I have no experience with such a thing.”
“How much do you pay your cook?” Mrs. Seymour asked.
With a look of patience wearing thin, Mrs. Greenberry said, “That is a rather gauche topic to discuss in a drawing room.”
Eve whispered to Lisette, “We’d best make our escape while we can.”
Lisette did not require being told twice. She slipped away. Eve, however, wasn’t fast enough.
Mrs. Seymour took hold of her arm the same way she had with her daughter moments earlier. “I told you during our journey that my daughter was difficult, did I not? And now you see it for yourself. I am attempting to sort the answer to a very simple question, and she not only will not offer basic information, but she also accuses me of lacking manners. Do you not now agree that I am very poorly treated by my children?”
“I do not know either of them well enough to answer definitively.” How she hoped that elusive answer would suffice. She would rather not be made part of a squabble.
“Liam.” Mrs. Seymour called her son over, and he obeyed with all possible haste. “Your sister is being difficult again. And she has, in some way, used her influence as hostess of this gathering to convince Miss O’Doyle to make light of the misery it is causing me.”
“That is unfair of you, Penelope,” Mr. Seymour said.
“It is also untrue,” Mrs. Greenberry answered tightly. “And it is inexcusable of you, Mother, to put Miss O’Doyle in such an impossible situation.”
Mr. Seymour’s expression turned a bit thunderous. “Where is Dubhán? He will settle this.”
While they searched the faces around them for their designated negotiator, Eve slipped away, hoping her lack of height would help render her difficult to spot. She stopped across the room, next to Artemis and Charlie.
“They are exhausting, aren’t they?” Artemis subtly nodded toward Duke’s family.
“Like trying to run through ankle-deep mud.” Eve was beginning to appreciate Duke’s eagerness to gain some distance from his family.
“How is Nia feeling?” Charlie asked.
