“I admit it turns my stomach as much as it does yours, but yes, I’m intrigued, with no head injury to speak of,” she replied.
He turned his face and grinned at her. “Don’t keep me on tenterhooks. Do tell. How exactly have I intrigued you, Miss Lowndes?”
She remained focused on her game. “You’ve intrigued me, Upton, by your complete unwillingness to discuss Mrs. Langford. Then there’s the little matter of her arrival at this party, despite being barely able to claim a passing acquaintance with Cass. And finally, Mrs. Langford’s apparent flirtation with you over dinner, though I daresay that turns my stomach perhaps the most of all.”
He managed a shrug. “Unwillingness to discuss Mrs. Langford? I don’t know what you mean.”
“Don’t you, Upton? You’ve changed the subject often enough. Tell me, why do you think she’s come?”
“I’m sure I don’t know. I thought perhaps she was a friend of Cassandra’s.”
“I’m sure you do know. And you know Cass didn’t know her before meeting her this morning.”
He leaned back against the cushions that rested on the wall behind them and crossed his legs at the ankles, working diligently to appear nonchalant. “You’ve been reading too many novels, Miss Lowndes. Your imagination has quite got the best of you. Mrs. Bunbury is quite lax in her patronage.”
“It’s not possible to read too many novels, Upton, and I can only hope my imagination always has the best of me.”
“Why don’t you tell me, then, Miss Lowndes? Why do you think Mrs. Langford has come?”
Miss Lowndes flipped over two more cards. “I win!”
“Was there ever any doubt?” he replied with his usual sarcasm.
She arched another brow at him, but her smile was a bit distracting. “Don’t change the subject, Upton. I have no idea why Mrs. Langford came all the way from London to spend time in your company. It seems entirely illogical to me. But then again, several things about Mrs. Langford seem illogical to me.”
He did his best to sound bored. “Like what?”
“You don’t find it odd that a war widow has a governess and a tutor, lives on Charles Street, and has more trunks than Lucy does?”
He cleared his throat. Damn Miss Lowndes and her uncanny intelligence, not to mention her curiosity. “I’m not certain that’s any of my business,” he offered.
“Isn’t it?” Miss Lowndes shuffled the cards in her hands. “You seem to be preoccupied with my Mrs. Bunbury. It seems only fair that I pay a bit of attention to your Mrs. Langford.”
“That is patently ridiculous. Mrs. Bunbury doesn’t exist.”
“Which is precisely why my task shall be much easier than yours.” Miss Lowndes smiled at him sweetly. “I have no idea why Mrs. Langford followed you here from London, Upton, but I intend to find out.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
The following evening, Jane stared at her reflection in the looking glass in her bedchamber. Dull brown hair and plain brown eyes stared back at her. She sighed. She’d never be as slender and lovely as Lucy, or Mrs. Langford, no matter what she did. Tonight she’d actually made an effort. She’d allowed Lucy’s maid to help her dress. She’d spent more time preparing herself for the evening’s festivities than she ever had for a social event before. But why?