Page 10 of Cora
Cora laughed for the first time in days. “How adorable would it be to see my perpetually glowering half-brother take up knitting for a small dog?”
“Delightful.” Annalise stroked Titi absently. “Absolutely delightful.” Her face fell. “I needed a bit of delight.”
“Are things not improving?” Cora hardly dared to ask. Her sister-in-law shook her head.
“If anything, conditions are deteriorating.” Hesitantly, with her slim hand resting on Titi’s back, she said, “Actually, I have an ulterior motive in coming here today.”
Cora didn’t like the way her stomach dropped in apprehension. “You didn’t stop by for my tea and biscuits?”
Annalise smiled gently.
“Has Eryx told you about Wentworth’s offer?”
“He Whose Name Shall Not Be Spoken approached him about the bank?”
“Yes.”
“Whatever it is, I don’t trust it. That man is a snake.”
Annalise smiled mirthlessly. “You are not alone in your opinion. At first, Eryx laughed in his face. I understand you have some history with this gentleman?”
Cora snorted. “Gideon Wentworth is no gentleman. He is the most loathsome toad in London.”
“Only London?”
“The entire world. I amend my statement.”
“Tell me what happened?” Annalise asked.
Cora hated revisiting that night, but her friend’s soft question didn’t come from nosiness. Annalise had never been part of theton. All the pent-up resentment and anger inside Cora came spilling out like the contents of a shaken bottle of champagne.
“He is the man who ruined me,” she began.
Annalise’s brows arched high.
“Not like that,” Cora hastened to clarify. “I was only a few weeks into my one and only misbegotten Season.” She gulped past a sudden tightness in her throat. “At Lady Pindell’s debutante promenade, I was invited to give a recital before the ton. Three dukes, a prince, seven earls, and Jenny Lind herself were in attendance.”
“The Swedish Nightingale?”
Cora’s chin bobbed, her throat tight with tears at the memory of the last night she’d ever felt beautiful and talented. When it seemed like she had a sparkling future within her grasp. She was supposed to be past this. It wasn’t supposed to hurt anymore.
“I imagine the pressure was immense,” said Annalise sympathetically.
“It was. I prepared for weeks. My fingers ached from so much piano practice. I bathed them in ice water to ensure I could perform flawlessly. I even received a standing ovation from Miss Lind herself.”
“What went wrong?”
Cora tucked a strand of dark brown hair behind her ear.
“I agreed to an encore after a break for refreshments. Any song, the more challenging the better. Lady Pindell was delighted. She chose the piece from the audience suggestions, and we all left the room. Except for Gideon Wentworth.”
Even now, all these years later, fury burned within her.
“I barely knew who he was. Only that there was a tall and broody man who reminded me of Lysander. The churlish way he stared at me all evening that made me uncomfortable. Nothing more.”
Her Season had been anxiety-producing. Her father pressed her hard to make it a success. She’d wanted to impress her estranged half-brother, too. Eryx had not yet begun building his bank, and seeing the way people cut him while fawning over Lysander made Cora furious.
And then there was the Prussian prince, Leopold, who fawned over her so charmingly that there were whispers he meant to offer for her. She found his attention predatory and insincere, but that wasn’t a reason to turn down a good match. If he did offer, she would have little choice but to accept. Her father would insist.
