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Walking back inside, Frederick looked about for his grandmother, certain that Miss Dowding would be with her. Frustratingly, he soon made eye contact with a woman whom he had no desire to speak with, and the moment he did, she made a beeline for him.

“Your Grace!” she called and waved as she swept in.

“Lady Tattershell.” Lucky his mood was transcendent, for it made it easier to smile gracefully as she came to him. He took her hand and gave it a kiss, and she crooned. “I am glad that I ran into you, for it is always a pleasure. At least most often,” he then added bitterly.

“Wonderful to hear,” she said with excitement, ignoring the added comment. “I was hoping to see you tonight; it has been too long, Your Grace.”

Lady Tattershell was not a woman whom Frederick knew well but one he knew of. Although to be fair, everyone did. She was a renowned gossip, the type of woman who knew everything about everyone… and who loved to let everyone know that she did. To tell her a secret would be to see it spread through the ton within a week, likely exaggerated by the time it reached whoever was being spoken about.

For that reason, Frederick had little cause or wish to speak with her and every reason to be rude trying to get away.

“As lovely as it was seeing you,” he began, “I am afraid that I must find my grandmother.”

“Oh yes, of course,” she said with a slippery smile. “Give her my best, will you?”

“I will.”

“And Miss Dunn, too,” she said. “Strange seeing the two of you together, however…” She tittered. “I hesitate to even ask.”

Frederick paused mid-step and turned back. “Who?”

“Miss Dunn,” she said again. “The woman I saw you and your grandmother arrive with.”

Frederick frowned. “You mean Miss Dowding.”

“No…” She furrowed her brow and tilted her head. “Blue dress. Brown hair. You arrived with her, Your Grace,” she chuckled and slapped his arm playfully. “Unless you are simply picking women up off the street now. Miss Dunn, daughter of Lord Edgerton, of course. I assumed you knew him.”

“Miss Dunn…” He looked through the crowd and caught sight of Miss Dowding, who smiled, winked, and then looked away. “That is… her name… Are you certain?”

“Very,” Lady Tattershell said before her eye lit up. “Why? Did you not know? Oh!” She grabbed his arm, and the excitement was evident. “Then you must not know of?—”

“Oh, Miss Dunn.” He pulled his arm free. “I am sorry, I misheard you.”

“But you just said?—”

“Of course, I know her.” He looked warningly at Lady Tattershell. “Unless you wish to suggest otherwise.”

She smiled wickedly, knowing better than to push the matter with him. “Yes, Your Grace. Misheard. Of course. But do give her my best, won’t you. MissDunnand I… we know one another a little. Not well, but she will know my name. I assure you of that.”

“I shall…” he said carefully, a forced smile, an effort to not look as if his world was caving in.

Miss. Dunn? Lord Edgerton? Frederick pulled himself away from Lady Tattershell, mind spinning as he tried to reckon with what he had just been told and if there was any truth to it. The woman was a gossip, a liar, a rumor monger to say the least. But to make up something like that seemed beyond even her own reputation.

But if she wasn’t lying, then what did that mean? Was Miss Dowding lying about who she was? Or was something else going on here? He wanted to dismiss it because that seemed the easiest thing to do. And yet… as he approached Miss Dowding and his grandmother, as he really looked at her, he could not divorce himself from the notion that there was more here than he knew.

Miss. Dunn? Miss Dowding? His world cracking around the edges in a way he was all too familiar with. Why could things never just be simple?

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“Idon’t care!” Isabella crossed her arms and turned her nose up, looking away from where Caroline was standing.

“Isabella…” Caroline sighed, doing her best to be understanding because she knew that was what the moment called for. “You know it is not my fault. Or my decision.”

“I don’t want somebody else!”

“You knew from day one that this was going to happen,” Caroline continued carefully, wondering if reason and logic were the best tools for the current situation. “We told you so.”

“But you can change his mind!” She spun about, looking pleadingly at Caroline now. “If you go to father and tell him—tell him that you want to continue, I know he will agree with you. He has to!”