Page 3

CHAPTER 3

“ T he Right Honorable the Earl of Shrewsbury!” the butler announced loudly enough that Ava could hear him clearly from Stella’s room.

She ran out of the room to take a peek at the young man who had joined the long queue of eligible bachelors outside the drawing room. Then, she quickly returned to Stella’s room.

“I am positive the Earl of Shrewsbury will pique your interest,” she said to her frowning sister.

Unlike other debutantes, Stella did not seem quite excited by the throngs of suitors who frequented the estate at different hours of the day. In fact, the previous day, she had suddenly come down with a mysterious illness that disappeared as soon as her suitors left.

“I am not interested in the Earl of Shrewsbury, I assure you,” she declared sharply as her maid pinned her hair.

“You have not even seen him yet,” Ava pointed out.

“I do not have to,” Stella said, still frowning. “I already know I do not want the man.”

“But you know you must take one of those bachelors as your husband,” Ava reminded her.

Stella shrugged noncommittally.

Ava knew her sister had changed, but she could not quite pinpoint the cause. Stella had been positively excited about courting when she had first debuted. But now, she no longer cared for it.

Finally, the maid was done with Stella’s hair.

“We must not keep him waiting. We must go to the drawing room immediately,” Ava urged.

With that, she led the way out of the room, her sister grudgingly following with a scowl on her face.

They descended the staircase, and soon enough, they entered the drawing room, where Lord Shrewsbury was already waiting.

He rose to his feet as soon as he saw them, the flowers in his hands bobbing a little.

“See, he even brought you flowers,” Ava whispered, nudging her sister.

Stella still did not look quite impressed by the gesture.

“Smile,” Ava hissed as they approached the Earl.

The man was beaming, unable to keep his eyes off Stella even for a moment, and that warmed Ava’s heart.

Stella forced a smile that looked more scary than pleasant. However, it did not quite deter the eager bachelor.

“Miss Stella,” he said as they finally made for their seats. He handed her the bouquet. “I was not quite sure what your favorite flower is, so I decided to get you a bouquet of every flower available instead.”

Ava’s heart swelled at the gesture. Lord Shrewsbury sure seemed pleasant.

However, instead of responding, Stella made to sit down.

Ava quickly grabbed her elbow, stopping her. “Say something in response,” she whispered.

“I appreciate the gesture,” Stella muttered. “However, I do not quite care for bouquets.”

The smile fell off Lord Shrewsbury’s mouth.

Ava’s heart sank at her sister’s cruelty. “I think what Stella meant is that she prefers seeing flowers in their natural habitat—in the garden,” she offered, trying to salvage the situation.

That seemed to have worked because Lord Shrewsbury beamed again.

“Then I suppose you would be happy to hear that my estate has an incredible garden that houses more than twelve types of flowers,” he stated proudly.

“That sounds… promising,” Stella said.

There was an awkward silence during which she rolled her eyes, as though she were bored out of her mind.

Lord Shrewsbury cleared his throat before he spoke again.

“Miss Stella,” he began. “Forgive me for being so forward, but ever since I saw you at Lord Pemberton’s ball, I have been looking forward to seeing you again.”

There was another moment of silence. It was not until Ava glanced at her sister that she saw her staring off into space.

She jabbed her elbow into her side, startling her. “Lord Shrewsbury was just saying how he had been looking forward to seeing you again,” she said.

“Oh.” Stella managed a smile. “Is that so?”

“You seem preoccupied, Miss Stella,” Lord Shrewsbury noted. “Would you rather I return at a later time?”

“Of course not, My Lord,” Ava quickly responded, looking askance at her sister.

“I know we were not able to talk at the ball. However, I would love to court you officially,” Lord Shrewsbury said.

Ava noticed Stella’s eyes clouding over.

“I am pleased to hear that,” Stella responded, not even a hint of enthusiasm in her voice.

“But you must first speak to our papa, of course,” Ava added.

“Certainly, I shall call on him tomorrow,” he responded.

There was an even longer moment of silence after that. Ava had just started racking her brain for something to continue the conversation when the Earl rose to his feet.

“I shall be taking my leave now,” he announced. “I will be back to make my intentions known.”

With that, he left.

He had scarcely walked out the door before Ava rounded on her sister.

“What is the problem with you, Stella?” she asked.

“What have I done?” Stella sputtered.

She looked confused, and if Ava had not been thoroughly convinced of the change in her sister’s behavior, she would have believed for a moment that Stella was truly oblivious to her actions.

“You know what I am talking about, Stella,” she huffed.

“I truly do not,” Stella insisted.

“I do not suppose you know how much effort I have put into ensuring that you get the best offers this Season. Yet, you are determined to ruin my hard work.”

Stella simply shrugged in response, before she made to leave the drawing room.

“Where do you suppose you are going?” Ava called after her.

“I suppose that is the only suitor I have for the day. I would love to retire to my chamber,” Stella said in a rather solemn tone.

Ava walked over to her. “You have been behaving strangely, lately.”

“I have not been behaving strangely,” Stella retorted.

“You know you have. First, you sneak away at every ball, and now, you either try to avoid meeting with your suitors or you are simply rude to them.”

For the first time, Ava saw remorse flash across her face. Stella averted her gaze and stared down at her shoes.

Ava knew that if she were to coax the truth out of her sister, it should be now.

“Stella, you know you?—”

“Miss Jennings.” The butler entered suddenly. “His Lordship is asking for you.”

And just like that, Stella slipped out of the drawing room.

Ava sighed. She half wanted to follow her sister and demand a response from her. However, she knew the moment was missed and could only question Stella on her strange behavior at a later time.

So she headed for her father’s study, dreading whatever condemnation she was sure to receive from him again.

“Father, you have summoned me,” she said as soon as she entered his study.

The Viscount Notley was bent over his desk, poring over the papers in front of him. It took him a rather long moment before he finally responded to her. However, Ava was used to it.

When he finally straightened and looked at her, he had a frown on his face.

“How was the suitor that came calling this morning?” he asked.

“He seems to be an agreeable young man,” she said simply.

“Did Stella like him?”

Ava was not quite certain how to answer that question. She had been the one managing her sister’s suitors, just as she had raised both of her sisters. And if there was something she had quickly learned as a child who had been forced to raise her younger sisters, it was that her father would blame her for any of their shortcomings, even if it was not her fault.

Therefore, she lied. “Stella was polite to him and engaged him in witty discourse.”

“Is that so?” the Viscount asked, his eyebrows rising high on his forehead. “That does not sound like Stella at all.” He then shrugged. “Well, I suppose she has realized that she would only become an old spinster if she were rude to her suitors.”

Ava nodded. “I suppose so.”

“The suitor who came this morning is an earl, and he is from a respectable family. If you ask me, I would say that he is by far the best option for Stella,” the Viscount continued. “Hence my surprise when this morning I received a letter from someone of higher rank, interested in courting her.”

He had a wide grin on his face, looking rather pleased with himself.

“Someone of higher rank?” Ava echoed.

“You seem to be surprised, too. Well, I would say I have done a good job at arranging the best prospects for my daughter,” the Viscount crowed.

His tone irked her.

She could not believe that he was now trying to take credit for all her efforts. She had worked very hard to ensure that her sister had the best debut, and since then, she had taken her to every party to ensure that her sister made an appearance.

And now, her father had swooped in and tried to take credit for her hard work.

Nevertheless, she did not bother pointing this out to her father because there was a far-pressing matter at hand.

“Someone of higher rank would be either a marquess or a duke,” she said. “Unless the Prince is suddenly interested in Stella.”

Her father chuckled. “Our Stella might have been lucky this Season, but I do not suppose that would be enough for the Prince to be interested in her. Her new suitor is a duke.”

“A duke?” she repeated, a million and one thoughts tearing through her mind.

There was only a limited number of dukes in all of London, and most of them were married. As of this moment, she only knew of two dukes who were unmarried.

“It can either be the Duke of Emerton or the Duke of Gillingham,” Ava concluded.

Her father shrugged. “It does not matter. It is settled; my daughter is marrying a duke.”

Ava’s mind, however, was not so settled.

She had just learned that the man who would be calling on her sister might be the very cold and unfeeling man she had been trapped in the passageway with. The man whose mere presence did things to her body that she had never thought possible.

Why would he try to court my sister after our encounter in the passageway?

Ava’s mind was in turmoil.

I suppose it could also be the Duke of Emerton.

Theo might be a rake, but Ava would rather her sister marry a rake than such a cruel and unfeeling man. And yet, for a moment, she could not help but wonder if that was the real reason why she did not want Edwin to court her sister.

“You must ensure that Stella is on her best behavior when the Duke arrives,” the Viscount instructed.

“I shall ensure that, Father,” she replied as she made to leave.

“I have heard news of Stella’s unruly behavior,” he added, stopping her in her tracks.

“What news?” Ava asked, hoping that he hadn’t yet been informed of Stella’s frequent disappearances at parties.

“I have heard of how she always develops some mysterious ailments when she has suitors calling,” her father grunted.

“I shall ensure that she desists from some acts,” Ava reassured him.

“And yet I cannot help but wonder just how effective your methods are, since she can still pull such pranks right under your nose,” he said. “Stella does not seem to understand the gravity of her situation, and I have you to blame for it.”

His words hit hard. Even though Ava was quite used to getting blamed for everything her sisters did, it did not make it any less painful every time it happened.

She had dedicated all her years to raising her sisters, and it had only earned her insults.

She wanted to ask her father why he was always so quick to take credit for her hard work, all while still blaming her for every little thing that had gone wrong.

But instead of doing that, she simply left the study. After all, there was a bigger issue at hand.