And the Miss Ran Away With the Rake(58)

Miss Nashe turned slightly and smiled. “The marquess is ever so clever and was most determined to win. For my sake. And of course he was most conscious of my social standing. I believe he could drive to China and back without getting lost.” She shot a speculative glance in Daphne’s direction.

Daphne didn’t rise to the bait.

What was it Harriet always said? Just because someone throws a hook in the water doesn’t mean you have to bite.

Daphne had no intention of paying Miss Nashe any heed, let alone biting at anything she tossed out.

“Such a lovely prize,” Harriet rushed in to say. “A pearl necklace.”

Miss Nashe fingered the strand around her neck. “Yes, quite quaint. Mother insisted I wear it.”

Daphne glanced over at Tabitha, who had chosen the prize. Don’t bite. . .

“Now Lord Astbury can choose whomever he wants for the unmasking ball,” Lady Alicia enthused, having missed the undercurrents around her. She smiled at her friend, confident that Miss Nashe would be that cherished prize.

“But remember, only from the available ladies,” Miss Nashe said with a coy flutter of her fan, implying that she would not be among that group.

And neither will I, Daphne vowed. I’ll find Mr. Dishforth. Tonight if I must. Even if I have to stand up and demand he step forward.

Which she hoped she didn’t have to resort to.

“I find it all so romantic,” Lady Alicia continued. “Especially how Lord Henry and the Earl of Kipps were vying over you at dinner.”

While nearly always the picture of composure, Miss Nashe snapped a dark glance at her dearest bosom friend. One could only assume that Lady Alicia had let spill a confidence: that the heiress had set her cap for one of them.

Lord Henry or the Earl of Kipps.

But like any Bath-educated heiress who hoped to rise quickly in society, Miss Nashe recovered quickly. “I do so prefer a man who is handsome and well turned out.” She paused to make sure everyone was looking at her when she said, “I thought Lord Henry looked quite dashing tonight, while the earl is so . . . so . . . strikingly noble.”

“Most decidedly,” Lady Essex agreed. “If anything, it simply becomes a matter of whether a lady prefers the security of wealth and connections—”

Meaning Lord Henry.

“—or the addition of a coronet to one’s jewel case.”

Which would make the lady the next Countess of Kipps.

Miss Nashe didn’t so much as nod in agreement, but let a sly smile tip at her lips. She had made her decision as to which man she wanted, but she was keeping her choice a closely guarded secret.

Yet given the gleam of avarice in the girl’s eyes, Daphne could make a good guess as to her intentions. To catch the earl’s eye and his hand.

Despite the fact that Kipps had pockets to let—through his own imprudence and recklessness—he was an earl.

Foolish chit. Lord Henry is twice the man Kipps will ever be, Daphne thought, the vehemence of those words resounding through her like the echoes of St. Edwards’s sturdy bell.

Yet what if she does prefer Lord Henry over the Earl of Kipps?

The question prodded at Daphne more than she cared to admit.

And as if to tug at that nagging thread, Harriet and Tabitha joined her on the settee.

“Lord Henry,” Tabitha whispered.

“No, I wager Kipps,” Harriet countered. “As Benedict might say”—referring to her brother in the navy— “half pay will never suit Miss Nashe.”

Meaning a mere second son, with just an honorific title like Lord Henry, was not up to her lofty aspirations.

“What do you think, Daphne?” Tabitha asked, smoothing out her skirt even as the door opened and the gentlemen began to arrive, sending a nervous flutter of fans and whispers through the sitting room.

“I think you should have stricken her from the guest list before the invitations went out,” Daphne said, smiling politely at the heiress across the room.

For the better part of the evening, Henry had done his ingenuous best to discover Miss Spooner’s identity.

And to prove that the lady’s similarities to Miss Dale were a ridiculous coincidence.

However, his search had been for naught.

Lady Alicia had only wanted to discuss Miss Nashe’s charms. Miss Nashe had only wanted to discuss, well, herself. And since he’d known Lady Clare since childhood and knew that she had vowed since her broken engagement several years earlier never to marry, he sincerely doubted she had taken up Miss Spooner’s pen.