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Chapter Twelve

Selina

“ I s something the matter?” Selina asked her sister-in-law as they sat on either side of the pale yellow chaise longue. She felt a degree of impatience with this little tête-à-tête, for Mr. Drake was in her home.

He had been there before, of course, but always with a plan on Selina’s end—a way she intended to rattle him. She had no such plan today, and she was desperate to hit upon one.

“No, no,” Jane said, arranging her hands in her lap in a way that might have been thought to belie her assurances. “I simply wished to speak with you before Phoebe returns.”

“By all means,” Selina said, turning her knees toward her. Whatever Jane’s claims, Selina sensed that something important was about to be communicated. It made her just the slightest bit nervous.

There was a pause, and Selina had the distinct feeling that Jane was gathering her courage.

Jane’s face spread into a smile. “Tell me about Mr. Drake.”

Selina blinked. “About…Mr. Drake.” That was why she had pulled Selina aside? To have a chit-chat about him?

“Yes. He is obviously head over heels for you, Selina, and I find him to be utterly and completely engaging. Given his presence here two days in a row—and Phoebe has mentioned other visits—I can only assume that you are agreeable to his suit.”

An incredulous laugh burst through Selina’s lips. She should have known Jane would fall under Mr. Drake’s spell, just as Phoebe had done. It was precisely why Selina dismissed her impulse to tell Jane precisely how she felt toward Mr. Drake.

Jane’s gaze grew bemused at the strange reaction.

“My dear Jane,” Selina said, “let us leave discussion of Mr. Drake behind for the moment and rather speak of whatever it is you wished to speak about with me, for I sense something is troubling you, and not for the world would I have that be the case.”

Jane gave a nervous laugh. “Oh, not troubles, precisely. It is only that…well, it is something Phoebe said yesterday while we were out.”

Selina nodded, urging her to go on, while she racked her brains for what could have been said to require this private audience in the middle of Mr. Drake’s visit. Leaving him with Richard was not her preferred scenario, for Richard was often thoughtless in what he said.

“Naturally, I asked her about the young gentlemen she has become acquainted with while in Town, and I was pleased that there were so many mentioned. You have obviously gone to great trouble to ensure this, for which your brother and I are sincerely grateful, of course.”

“But…” Selina supplied when there was a pause.

Jane licked her lips nervously. “But there was one she mentioned—indeed, the one I inferred she was most interested in—called Mr. Evenden.”

“Your inference was correct, I believe,” Selina said, wondering if perhaps Phoebe and that young gentleman had somehow managed to do something untoward—not that she could believe such a thing of Phoebe, but infatuation could make one do strange things.

Jane’s brow knit as she regarded Selina, as though considering her next words carefully. “Though naturally Phoebe is too modest to say so, it sounded to me as though Mr. Evenden has evinced a marked interest in her—and that she returns this interest.”

Selina waited for her to go on.

“I inquired further and discovered that Phoebe essentially cut off the acquaintance.”

Selina raised her brows. “Did she?”

Jane nodded.

“Well, no doubt she had good reason for it.”

Jane frowned. “That is just it, though. Her explanation was a bit difficult to follow, but Richard and I agreed afterward that it sounded as though it was your idea—or at least done at your urging. That you had put it into Phoebe’s head that Mr. Evenden’s attentions were not to be trusted.”

Selina’s fingers tightened their hold on each other, and her heart clenched.

Jane’s gaze grew sympathetic. “Now, I know, Selina, that you have Phoebe’s best interests at heart, and it is the height of kindness for you to play chaperone to her, particularly given that you share no blood relation.

But I admit that I was troubled to hear of this particular turn of events from Phoebe, and I wondered if perhaps we requested your chaperonage too soon after George’s death, may he rest in peace. ”

“Too soon,” Selina said incredulously. “It has been over four years since his death, Jane.”

“I know that,” she hurried to say, “but…” She hesitated.

“Speak plainly, Jane,” Selina said calmly. “I can bear it, whatever it is.”

Jane pressed her lips together. “It is only that I think Richard and I both underestimated just how unhappy you were and how your marriage to George affected you.”

Selina swallowed forcefully and kept her expression curious. “You mean to say that you think that my unhappiness in marriage is poorly affecting Phoebe.”

“I think ,” Jane said with deliberation, “that you are trying your very best to protect Phoebe from the pain of what you experienced. But I wonder if perhaps your fears are a bit…inflated.”

Selina’s lungs tightened and her pulse pounded. “Inflated.”

Jane nodded, her brow wrinkled with sympathy and worry.

“Mr. Evenden is a flirt, Jane. He is a charmer, and Phoebe’s lack of experience in Society makes her susceptible to reading too much into his behavior toward her. In warning her against him, I was simply attempting to spare her unnecessary heartbreak.”

“But is there not the possibility that you have instead deprived her of the opportunity for courtship that might have turned into more?”

A sick feeling swam in Selina’s stomach.

But Jane did not know of what she spoke.

She was older than Phoebe and married, but she had married for love, and she had done so in her first Season.

Her understanding of the world had formed based on such experience.

She knew little of heartache, and she had Phoebe’s same inclination to assume the best of everyone.

“The risk of pain from Mr. Evenden’s quarter seemed greater than the possibility of such a thing,” she settled upon replying.

“There is no reward without risk, Selina,” Jane said, “and while a just world would see Phoebe receiving the attentions of any number of gentlemen based upon her admirable character, we do not live in a just world. She does not have your wealth or your beauty, as pretty as she is. She does not have the luxury of turning away suitors based on ungrounded fears.”

Ungrounded fears.

The two words rattled in Selina’s head and heart.

Jane thought she was being irrational in guarding Phoebe against men like Mr. Evenden. She had no notion that Mr. Drake, who she seemed to regard very highly indeed, was the very grounds for her fears.

But even if Selina told Jane that Mr. Drake was nothing more than a black-hearted fortune hunter hiding behind a handsome face, and even if Jane somehow believed it, she would undoubtedly point out that Phoebe was not a target for such wiles .

Selina stood, her heart racing. “You must excuse me, Jane,” she said as evenly as she could manage. “I have to see to my guest, but I will endeavor not to shield Phoebe from eligible gentlemen, whatever my concerns may be.”

Jane let out a sigh and did not stop Selina from leaving the room.

Selina seethed and hurt all at once. Jane had all but accused her of denying Phoebe a match, of tainting Phoebe’s happiness with her own ungrounded fears .

She was Mr. Drake’s prey, and yet somehow she had been cast as the huntress, shooting down innocent suitors willy-nilly.

There was nothing innocent about Mr. Drake, however, and yet people refused to see it. They must be made to, which was why Selina was in such dire need of the next part of her plan.

She strode toward the garden, her mind racing in an attempt to strike upon her next step. She turned at the end of the corridor and ran headlong into something solid.

“Oh!” she cried out, placing her hands out to guard herself from further injury.

“Forgive me,” Mr. Drake replied, taking a step backward. “Have I hurt you?”

Selina’s surprise gave way to the irony of his asking such a thing.

“No,” she said with extra force. He had not hurt her, and he would not.

Her gaze dropped to his hands, which seemed to be guarding something, though it was difficult to see in the dim corridor. “Is everything well?”

The pause before his response was longer than expected.

“Yes,” he finally said. “Pip seems to have found a pigeon in the garden, and the sight upset Miss Lou, so I have come to dispose of it.”

“A pigeon?” she repeated blankly.

He lifted the corner of the handkerchief to confirm.

Selina drew back at the sight of the dead bird. She had never liked the birds. They were dirty and ugly and forever getting in one’s way.

The way Mr. Drake held the creature and the slight downturn of his lips made it evident that he was no lover of them, either.

Selina stilled, an idea forming in her desperate mind. A ridiculous, laughable idea.

It was not enough to repay Mr. Drake’s crimes, but it would serve until she found a better plan.