“How well we were acquainted, whether he was a good person. Was he a danger to you or would he keep you safe? Was he a masca . . . mascalzini or something. It was an Italian word.”

“Mascalzone. It means ‘rascal.’” She returned her attention to the lobsters. “What did you say?”

“That I have known Mr. Ward for a long time, almost half his life. That he is a good man.” She took another lobster from Alice and put it with the others. “That I have never seen him this smitten.”

“Oh?” Had Kit been seeing someone? The woman from the opera, perhaps. “I hadn’t realized.”

“With you, Miss Lusk. With you.”

Alice dropped the tongs this time, and they fell into the lobster pot. Mrs. Henry retrieved them and dried them off with the towel. “He cannot stop watching you whenever you are close by. And you should have heard the way he bragged about you when begging me to come and help this week. He would have promised me the moon to gain my cooperation, if only to make you happy.”

“You are very sweet, but Kit is not serious about me. He’s told me many times that he will never marry.”

“Take it from me,” Mrs. Henry said, lowering her voice. “Sometimes a man’s brain needs time to catch up to his other parts.”

A strangled half laugh, half gasp emerged from Alice’s throat. “Mrs. Henry!”

“It’s the truth—and trust me, a man always catches up when the right woman comes along.”

It was similar to what Nellie had said, but Alice still didn’t believe this applied to Kit. “Well, even if that were true, I cannot wait around on the possibility that a man might catch up. I have to live my life, and that includes finding a husband who actually wants me. Now, not later.”

“I like you,” Mrs. Henry said with an approving nod. “He’d be lucky to have you.”

A month ago Alice never would have agreed, but much had changed both during and after the house party. Kit was a large reason for the shift, yet it wasn’t just his lessons. In the last few weeks, it was like she’d woken up after a long sleep to find the world had rearranged itself. That nothing was the same.

Only it wasn’t the world; it was her. She was no longer the same.

She proved she could make friends, that she could defy her mother. She could cook. Excelled at it, even. And yes, she could attract a man. Had kissed one, too. A duke had asked her to go driving with him.

While she might not be as popular as Maddie or as rebellious as Nellie, she was finally fitting into her own skin. Growing and changing. Getting stronger. Indeed, any man would be lucky to have her.