Bound by Bliss (Bound and Determined #2)(42)
“That must be it.”
“Only last night he promised he would help me find a husband, so perhaps now she will issue me an invite. I know it is rare for her to give out later invitations, but it has happened. I know that when she found out the Robbinet girl was already engaged she asked someone else.”
Angela nodded. “That would make sense. Should we go ask her? I believe that we passed her a few minutes ago. She was with her maid. I think she was throwing crumbs to the ducks. And we have bread.” Angela held up the bag.
Bliss was tempted to say yes, just because she could not imagine Lady Perse feeding the ducks and it would be worth the effort to see such a sight. However, she said, “I am not sure that would be wise. She may not have spoken to Duldon yet and I would hate to cause her any embarrassment.” And Bliss certainly didn’t want to face such embarrassment herself.
“Oh, you may be right. Now tell me, when did you see Duldon last night? I thought you were home with a headache. Did he call on you? If I’d known you were well enough for callers I might have persuaded Mother to let me visit you instead of attending the Penssils’ musicale evening. I can tell you that I certainly had a headache by the end of it.”
“Oh, did Sarah Swilp play the harp?” Please let the question distract Angela. Bliss had no desire to discuss just when she had seen Duldon. It had been a slip of the tongue to have mentioned him at all.
“Oh yes. Two pieces. I believe that several men were crying by the end—and not with joy. I don’t know why she is always asked to play.”
“I am just as glad to have missed it then. I do hate having to think of a compliment for her at the end. I believe last time I told her that I had never heard such an interpretation of the piece.”
“And the time before that you told her that her harp had one of the most unusual tones you had ever heard.”
“Yes, that is right. And she always takes it as the greatest compliment.”
“You are lucky to have missed it. Now, how did you recover so quickly? My mother made it sound as if you were about to drop dead from the pain in your head.”
Perhaps she had oversold her illness a little. “I am sure she heard that from my father. You know he does tend to exaggerate everything.”
“When he bothers to pay attention to you at all. Do you remember the time you broke your arm and he told you to lie down until it felt better?”
Bliss shuddered at the thought. “I believe he was waiting for several litters of rabbits to be born. He wanted to see if he had succeeded in breeding ones with even longer ears. Luckily the housekeeper sent for the surgeon anyway.”
“Who would want longer-eared rabbits? I do believe their ears are quite long enough.”
Bliss smiled and nodded. At least Angela had been distracted from her questions about Duldon. It was almost worth reliving the broken arm to escape that conversation. What would she have said? Oh, after he rubbed his fingers back and forth between my legs, pinched my nipples until I almost screamed, and left me shuddering with ecstasy, he agreed to help me find a husband? No, she didn’t think that would have gone over well. And despite her mistruth on the subject of her headache she didn’t like to lie to her friends. And she hadn’t even strictly told a lie about the headache. She’d merely told her father that she was worried she might be getting one. She’d never actually said that she had one.
Not that any of it mattered. She’d never been one for cutting hairs. “I must agree with you. A floppy-eared bunny is cute, but I don’t think longer ears make them any better. Are you going to tell me more about the musicale?”
That had been a mistake. Angela’s eyes narrowed. “You’re doing it again. Trying to distract me. Where exactly did you see Duldon last night?” she asked.
“He took me out to try and prove that he was not quite so dull. I set him on an adventure, rather like a quest. I wanted him to prove that I could trust him.” Unless she was willing to lie outright to her friend there was no way to avoid telling at least part of the truth.
“An adventure? I love adventures. Did he race his curricle? I’ve always loved fast horses, and despite being a dull man Duldon does have the most beautiful matched bays.”
His horses were quite something. There was no denying that. Again the temptation to lie came upon her and she shoved it down. “No, no races. He took me to a men’s club. I snuck in.” Bliss could only hope that Angela would make the same mistake she had and would not ask further questions about the nature of the club.
“Duldon snuck you into a men’s club? That does not seem at all like him.”
“I would admit that it does not sound much like the man that I thought I knew, pretended I knew, but I am starting to reconsider. He is not at all as bad as I expected.” That was at least honest—or mostly so. It was clear that even in her mind she could no longer pretend that Duldon was boring.
“That sounds like you are warming toward him. Are you considering marriage then? It would make everything so much simpler if you simply wed him. Then you would not have to go against your brother and it would not matter that Lady Perse did not like you.”
“Let us not talk of Lady Perse. She is Duldon’s aunt by marriage and as his mother died when he was quite young I believe they are close. If she has taken a dislike of me it will only bring trouble—although I am hopeful she will change her mind once Duldon talks to her. But, to get to the more important point, no, I am not actually reconsidering Duldon’s proposal. I still do not believe he is the husband for me. I want somebody more controllable and he has not yet persuaded me that is the case. No, he is not for me.”