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asked, his tone one of disbelief, “Do
you seriously expect me to believe that someone was discussing such
a subject in your hearing at the musicale? And if you did hear a
couple of silly debutantes having such a conversation, why did you
consider it such an urgent matter as to arrange a clandestine
meeting with me? Are you perhaps trying to trap me into marriage
for yourself?”
    She had expected some resistance from him but
she had not thought he would turn on her so completely. Feeling her
face smoothing into the stony impassivity usually reserved for
uncomfortable social occasions, Rose's voice took on a frigid
chill. “I do not care what you believe, Your Grace,” she stated,
while dipping into an ironic curtsy. “I was laboring under a
delusion of misguided loyalty to a childhood friend that caused me
to go out of my way to warn you that grown men are conspiring
against you and using debutantes to do it. But if you do not care
to learn about it, I pray you will forgive me for inconveniencing
you by this ill-advised meeting. I wish you a good day, Your
Grace.”
    Unable to maintain her impassive façade, Rose
felt tears gathering in her eyes by the end of this speech. Turning
away so that the duke could not see, she once more busied herself
with her drawing materials, packing them away and making to
leave.
    Rose heard him make a growling sound low in
his throat. She was unsure what it meant, but then Alex grabbed her
by the arm and spun her back to face him. “I apologize, Rosie, I
meant you no insult. I know you would never stoop so low as to
trick me into marriage. Please, I know you went to a great deal of
effort to tell me about this, forgive my churlish behavior and tell
me what you know.”
    Gulping back her maelstrom of feelings, Rose
mustered her composure and launched into her tale. “It was at the
musicale hosted by Lady Yorkleigh two nights ago. My dear friend,
Lady Elizabeth, who I was sitting with, had to go speak with her
mother for a moment during a brief intermission in the
performances. I remained behind because we had managed to get great
seats from which to enjoy the music. I assure you I had no
intention of eavesdropping; I did not even realize the gentlemen
were there as they were behind me and obscured from my view by this
strange, sculpture-like object in the room. I really cannot tell
you what that object was, and it is the one thing that makes me
question Lady Yorkleigh's tastes, as everything about their home is
quite lovely.”
    “Yes, yes, Rose, I know the object you are
talking about, please get back to the matter at hand. Quit trying
to avoid the ugly part. I have known you for far too long.”
    Rose felt the color rise once again in her
cheeks, acknowledging the truth of his words. She continued, “I
would assume they could not see me, either, or else they would
never have said anything in such a location. I am undecided if I am
glad they did or not. I feel duty and honor bound to tell you, but
I dearly wish I was never involved and that they had never hatched
such a scheme in the first place.”
     
    ****
     
    Alex was now over his initial reaction to her
words and was again enjoying her company. He had missed his
friendship with Rose quite keenly. Hearing her now trying to dither
about in order to avoid getting to the truly bad part of her story
reminded him of just how deeply he had enjoyed their friendship and
what its loss had meant to him. He realized he would happily spend
the day listening to her put it off but clearly it was a serious
matter and he needed to get to the bottom of it. He decided to pry
it out of her.
    “So, who were the gentlemen?” He thought this
would be a straightforward question, easy to answer.
    “You have to remember that despite my
advanced years I am a debutante and have been out of the country
for a couple of years. Unless someone was involved in the Congress,
I really am unacquainted with most people. I had to get Elizabeth
to identify one of the