“I should return home,” he replied, his voice clipped. “We can meet to strategize later, I will leave you to your sister.”

He didn’t wait for a response, just spun on his heel and went out the door.

“Good-bye, my lord!” Olivia called.

Della took a deep breath before turning back around. She didn’t want Olivia to have any kind of suspicion as to what had almost happened; a pretend betrothal was one thing, but a very real affair would make Olivia determined to interfere.

It was unfortunate none of her sisters had been able to keep her from running off with Mr. Baxter. But if she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have Nora.

“Where are the girls?” she said. She hadn’t been able to spend as much time with her daughter since returning to London as she would have liked. What with hunting for Mr. Wattings and attending parties with Lord Hugely Attractive. She’d barely gotten to work for the Society for Poor and Unfortunate Children lately. She missed it, actually.

“They’re upstairs with Becky,” Sarah said. The three ladies began to walk toward the parlor. “We decided to visit the zoo another time, since Emily was sneezing this morning. They told me today that you and I are too old to play with, so we’re being shunted aside for a younger version.”

Della snorted in response. “Also because if they don’t spend time with us they’re not having lessons.”

“True,” Sarah confirmed.

“Della, you have to tell me how you came to meet Lord Stanbury,” Olivia said as they settled into their seats. “Why are you pretending to be engaged to him? I am delighted to see you out again, but I worry about you, you know.”

“I know. You don’t have to, but it is lovely that you do.” Della smiled at her younger sister, by far the most exuberant of the duke’s daughters. “Apparently Lord Stanbury is not accustomed to Society, and he thought that he might get entrapped by some conniving female if he entered this world as an unattached gentleman.” She shrugged. “It suits me to pretend, and he has promised to help me locate Sarah’s husband.”

Olivia turned to look at Sarah. “Oh! I didn’t realize—that is, I—”

“You thought I was like Della, relieved to be free of the burden of a gentleman in my life?” Sarah gave Della a fond look. “I admire your sister’s independence and refusal to be constrained by what people expect, but I did love—do love—my husband.”

“Refusal to be constrained by what people expect is a delightful euphemism for ‘won’t be told what to do,’” Della remarked dryly.

Sarah burst into laughter, nodding her agreement.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Olivia asked.