Page 17 of A Duke Makes a Deal
“Of course not, Mama. He simply stated that he hoped to talk to Papa about business—and I explained that he wasn’t home, so he would have to pay his call another time,” she said, putting her hand through her mother’s arm. “Now can we please go? I promised Bettina that we would be the first ladies on the bridge today.”
Her mother sighed loudly, obviously deciding that the duke’s visit was of no consequence as they moved out of the room.
“Very well.”
Clara had often found herself rather lonely since coming to live in town. Most of the ladies she had met did not seem to know quite what to do with her. While she had attended a number of salons and luncheons, she had struggled to form a real connection with the others she encountered. Bettina was the rare exception who had seemed to truly welcome her friendship, which had made it all the more upsetting when Bettina and her family had traveled to the countryside to visit friends for the whole of the past week. There was a great deal she wished to discuss with her friend, which was why Clara was eager to get to the park where she knew Bettina would be waiting.
The road along Hyde Park was already filled with carriages by the time Clara and her mother made their way through town. The fashionable hour was upon them and Clara was hardly surprised that it was so busy. She and her mother quickly exited their carriage and brushed out their skirts as they began their walk.
They had only been in London for a month, but Clara always found that she missed the country whenever they came to thepark. It was well manicured and always had a lovely, curtailed set of flowering plants, Clara often longed for the wide-open spaces and wild flowers of the countryside. Still, the park was lovely. She didn’t like how slow she was expecting to walk, but she would still be able to reach her friends in a timely manner.
“There’s Bettina,” she said to her mother, nodding at the bridge. “I should like to go over there for a moment, Mama.”
“Go on, dear,” her mother said, patting her on the hand that she held in the crook of her arm. “I see Lady Berry over there.”
Clara nodded and headed towards the bridge where Bettina stood with several other young ladies, bent slightly forward as they discussed some topic Clara was sure to find interesting. She reached them quickly, moving into an opening of their circle with ease.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” Clara said, smiling at the girls who all stared at her with surprise. “We had a bit of a delayed start this morning.”
The ladies did not speak however. Instead, they all shared peculiar stares with one another, before glancing at Bettina. Clara tilted her head, confused, before turning to see Bettina as well. The ice blonde beauty had a small sneer on her lips as she looked back to Clara.
“Miss Woodvine. To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?”
Clara frowned, confused.
“We made plans to meet here,” she said, her eyes scanning the others again. “Did we not?”
“We did,” Bettina said with a demure smile that rankled Clara’s nerves. “But I don’t recall extending the invitation to you.”
One girl, a redhead named Janet Clovers, covered her mouth, trying to hide a chuckling noise while another all but glaredat Clara, as if she’d committed some terrible faux pas. But she couldn’t imagine what she could have done to cause offense.
“I’m sorry, is there something amiss?” she asked.
“Not at all,” Bettina said. “It’s only that, well, we think it would be uncouth to associate with my fiancé’s former paramour,” she said, nodding knowingly at the others. “It seems rather bourgeois to do so.”
“It’s a divine ring,” one of the girls cooed.
“So romantic,” another said.
Clara stared at Bettina, uncertain what she was talking about.
“You’re engaged?” she asked. Clara’s eyes dropped to Bettina’s hand. A purple amethyst sat on her fourth finger; a ring that had been described to her at length. It was the ring that Dilworth had told her about. Realization dawned on her as her blood ran cold. “To Dilworth?”
“Lord Dilworth, Miss Woodvine,” Bettina said haughtily, her chin ticked up with arrogance. “He is a viscount and should be addressed with some respect.”
“Country folk have such a lacking appreciation for society,” Janet said, ignoring Clara completely.
“So do inventors daughters it seems,” another girl, Winnifred, said.
Clara frowned as the coldness she felt was replaced with a miserable heat that crept up her neck. What was going on?
“I don’t understand,” she said, trying to ignore the queasy feeling that was settling in her stomach. “Dilworth only last night—”
“Yes, dear Hubert told me about last night,” Bettina said, batting her eyes as she retold her friends the story. “He was all set to propose to you, but at the last minute couldn’t dream of not spending the rest of his life with me.”
Clara’s brows lifted.
“How romantic,” Janet gushed.
