Page 22 of A Match for Princess Pompous
Color touched Tabitha’s cheeks. “I hope you are correct.”
They had finished their small selection of pastries and ices. They would be leaving soon. Odette found she regretted the necessity.
“We are attending the opera tonight,” she said. “If you do not have unchangeable plans, would you join us in our box?”
“I would dearly love that.”
They returned Tabitha to her home. Odette repeated her offer, hoping it would be taken up.
On the ride back to Barrington House, when only the two of them were in the carriage, Mrs. Northrop said, “You seem to have enjoyed Miss Summerfield’s company.”
“I did, indeed. I hope the Summerfields will stay in the neighborhood for a time after the Season.”
Mrs. Northrop tipped her head to one side, watching her. “Even though her parents and the Hewitts intend to pursue a match?”
That reality had very nearly pushed itself from her mind. “She did not seem overeager to pursue that herself, did she?”
“Not at all,” Mrs. Northrop said. “Though, if I am not mistaken, she does have an interest in someone.”
Odette had not received that impression at all. “Whom?”
“The same young gentleman Mrs. Hewitt insists has an interest in you.”
“Mr. Lexington?” She practically spat the name, so great was her shock.
Mrs. Northrop tapped her fingertips together, eyes squinted in thought.
“I saw no indication Tabitha had feelings for him,” Odette said. “She hardly mentioned him.”
“Precisely.” Mrs. Northrop’s eyes wandered to the window, but she did not appear to actually be looking at anything. “When I spoke of the attention she had received from Mr. Hewitt and the time she’d spent with you, she discussed it. But my mention of Mr. Lexington was soundly ignored.”
It had been, now that Odette thought back on it. “And she did blush rather immediately afterward.”
Mrs. Northrop nodded. “I watched the two of them at the ball. Tabitha looked at Mr. Lexington in much the same way you look at young Mr. Hewitt, though her gaze is far less hopeful.”
Someone who hadlesshope in her future than Odette did? Her heart ached for her new friend. “What can we do?”
Mrs. Northrop looked at her once more. “Concern for others is not precisely a Princess Pompous trait.”
“I am not really—” Her irritation dissipated at the twinkle in Mrs. Northrop’s eye. “You are the one who told me to shed my haughty persona.”
“And I am so pleased that you are doing so. I like the Odette I have been coming to know these past days.”
The compliment was humble and small, yet it filled her heart with warmth. Someone liked her. That had become a rare thing these past months. She’d begun to doubt if it was even possible anymore.
“It has been nice being more myself,” she said. “Are you certain, though, your plan will work? What if—?” She cut off her own question. She was trying to have confidence in Mrs. Northrop’s expertise.
“Be true to the person you are. Build your friendship with Tabitha. I will sort out the gentlemen.”
She would believe it. She had to.
***
Adelaide wrote out a very specific set of instructions, which she had delivered to young Mr. Hewitt. He and his friend would join Lord and Lady Barrington, their daughter, and her friend in their opera box that night. Adelaide would watch and ascertain a few key things. If all went well, she would begin arranging an intricate dance. She had managed to maneuver farmore complicated connections, yet she still figuratively held her breath.
She was not unaware of the fact that people’s futures were determined by her success or failure. She did not take that responsibility lightly.
Chapter Nine
