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coward now the most advantageous match she could expect? She refused to believe it.
    I am not pathetic.
    I am not without worth.
    I can do better for my family than this.
    “I . . .” She began in a loud voice. All eyes turned to her, and she realized, belatedly, that she couldn’t announce to all and sundry what she had been thinking. “Am . . . going inside.”
    And with that spectacularly feeble finish, she turned and strode toward the house without any clear idea of what she would do once she reached it. Go to her room, pack her things, leave for home, and wait there until it was time to go to the poorhouse. That was the best she could come up with at present.
    She knew she was being followed by everyone, but it was only Lady Engsly and Lady Winnefred who made the effort to catch up with her. They flanked her like a pair of guards.
    “There is a study off the library,” Lady Engsly said. “May I suggest we—”
    “I am going home.” She kept her eyes on the house and increased her pace.
    “I understand you’re upset, Miss Ward,” Lady Engsly said, “but it would be better for you, and your family, if you settled matters before you left.”
    The mention of family silenced the dissent on the tip of her tongue. A vision of George and Isobel formed in her mind. She couldn’t imagine how such a mess could be settled, but she owed it to them to at least try.
    “The study, then.”
    “A wise decision,” Lady Engsly said placidly. “Our husbands will mediate on your behalf, if you like.”
    She threw a surprised glance at the lady. “They would do that?”
    Lady Winnefred brushed impatiently at one of many light brown locks of hair that had slipped from their pins. “Yes, of course. They’re quite fond of you.”
    Adelaide blinked at that admission. She hardly knew them, really. It was their wives with whom she’d begun to develop a friendship over the last few months. Adelaide said a small prayer of thanks for that friendship. Lady Engsly and Lady Winnefred were clever, sensible, and levelheaded women. More, they were the only ladies who hadn’t eyed her a moment ago like a temporarily amusing but ultimately pitiable creature. And the only two who weren’t even now trailing behind her like starving dogs after raw meat.
    “I would be grateful for their assistance.”
    She doubted the marquess and his brother would welcome the responsibility, but even reluctant interference was better than dealing with Connor and Sir Robert on her own.
    Lady Winnefred nodded and sidled closer to speak in a low tone. “Perhaps you would like to slow your steps, so that your champions might keep pace.”
    If Adelaide had not already been shamefaced, she would have blushed. Lord Gideon was as fit as his brother, but an old war injury required the use of a cane. A quick glance over her shoulder told her he was keeping up well enough, but the pace couldn’t be comfortable for him. Nor for Mrs. Cress, who also required the assistance of a walking stick.
    She slowed down for Lord Gideon’s sake. Mrs. Cress she would have been happy to leave behind.
    Doing her best to ignore her audience, she pushed through a side door and turned her feet toward the study door.
    Lady Winnefred caught her arm. “Wait a moment.”
    “What for?”
    “Your pride, of course.” She gestured at Lady Engsly, who’d stepped over to confer with Lord Engsly and Lord Gideon. “She’ll only be a minute and then—”
    Lord Engsly nodded and stepped away from his wife. “Mrs. Cress, would you be so kind as to take the guests . . . elsewhere?”
    There was a murmur of discontent amongst the guests, and Mrs. Cress’s round face scrunched in annoyance. Clearly, no one wished to miss the next chapter of the sordid tale. One didn’t argue with a marquess, however, not even in one’s own home. After a bit of cane thumping, a harrumph, and finally a heavy sigh of resignation, Mrs. Cress began to herd the disgruntled guests down the hall.
    “The two of