Alex shook her head, garnering a stern look from Eliza as the maid tugged on a curl a touch too firmly. “No. My mother never would have stood for that. He came here after the investigators left.”
“Poor Blackmoor, it must have been a difficult night for him.” Vivi speculated. “Were you able to talk much when he arrived here? Or was it too late to do so?”
“No, my mother and I waited for him.”
Vivi nodded, recognizing that, of course, Alex and the duchess would have waited. “How was he?”
“He was…” Alex paused, looking at her reflection in the mirror, pretending to be caught up in Eliza’s work as she realized that now was the appropriate time to tell her friends exactly what had happened. “Fine…tired and certainly overwhelmed, but we…” She took a deep breath, then lost her courage. “We stayed up for a time and talked and he seemed to be in fairly good spirits.”
“Did he say anything more about the state of the robbery? Suggest any suspects? Mention any clues?”
Vivi laughed at Ella’s line of questioning as Alex watched Eliza insert the final pin into her hair. She smiled up at her maid and thanked her, announcing “There’s no one on the island of Britain who is more of a genius with hair than you are, Eliza.”
She turned the spot at the dressing table over to Vivi and moved to her wardrobe to retrieve the chemise that she would be wearing under her ball gown that evening. As she did so, Ella prodded again, flopping back on the bed. “Well? Did he?”
Taking another deep breath, Alex answered, “No. He failed to mention any of those things. I rather think he was too busy kissing me.”
There was a moment of silence as the words hung in the air of the chamber, and then three gasps erupted in the room, followed by an “Ow!” from Vivi as Eliza accidentally yanked on a strand of her hair.
Alex couldn’t help the nervous giggle that escaped from her as she looked from one face to the next. Vivi’s shock had quickly turned to excitement; Eliza was the portrait of surprise; and Ella looked thoroughly dumbfounded.
Ella spoke first. “I beg your pardon?”
“He DID? And you haven’t TOLD us?” This from Vivi, who had twisted around in her chair and had waved off Eliza.
Which suited Eliza, it seemed, for she couldn’t hold back a starry-eyed “Oh! Lady Alexandra!”
Alex sat in a nearby chair, embarrassed by all the attention, and said, “Yes. He did. I didn’t tell you because it’s not really something that one feels entirely comfortable speaking aloud.” Looking at Eliza, she continued, “I wouldn’t get too excited, Eliza. I’ve been given no indication that it will happen again.”
Vivi and Ella pounced on that. “What?”
“Why not?” from Eliza.
Alex shook her head and looked up at the ceiling. “Because he’s ignoring the whole event!”
Ever the pragmatist, Ella asked, “What do you mean he’s ignoring you? I thought you said you’d seen him since?”
“I didn’t say he was ignoring me. I said he was ignoring it. I have seen him. He’s been here, talked with me, shared meals with my whole family.” She looked at her slippered foot, draped over the arm of her chair. “He just hasn’t…mentioned…or even appeared to remember…the kiss.”
“How is that possible?” Vivi asked. “Surely, he must be at least more…attentive? Than before?” She looked to Eliza for support. The maid nodded eagerly.
Alex let out a frustrated breath. “Oh, he’s being the perfect gentleman. Charming, entertaining—entirely Gavin. It’s not as though he’s avoiding me. It’s as though it never happened. Which I suppose is better than last time.”
Ella and Vivi met each other’s gaze. Ella said, “I beg your pardon. Again? Last time?”
“There was a LAST TIME?” Vivi queried excitedly.
“Oh, Lady Alexandra!” This, again, from Eliza.
“Hold.” Alex slashed a hand through the air, leveling a gaze at Eliza, then Vivi. “Don’t go off into some fantasy world. This is not as rose-colored as you seem to think,” she continued grumpily. “If you keep looking at me, we’re never going to be ready for the ball tonight.”
“Who can think about a ball at a time like this?” Vivi interjected, even as she turned to face the mirror again, offering Eliza her back. “You simply cannot expect that we wouldn’t be more interested in this conversation than in something as trivial as hair.” The maid nodded agreeably but lifted the hair iron nevertheless.
Ella spoke up, “Excellent attempt at evasion, Alex, but you failed to answer the question. There was a ‘last time’?”
“Not exactly,” Alex mumbled.
“How, exactly, then?”
“You’d make an excellent Bow Street Runner yourself, Ella,” Alex said grouchily, ignoring her friend’s nod of thanks. “All right. The evening of the Worthington House dinner, Gavin and I were on the balcony, talking, and I thought he might kiss me. But he didn’t. And then he summarily avoided me for a fortnight.”
“Ah…so that’s what put you in such a vicious mood for days later,” Ella pointed out.
“I was not in a vicious mood!” Alex looked over her shoulder for support from Vivi only to catch her and Eliza sharing a wry look in the dressing table mirror. “Traitors. All of you.”
Vivi smiled, careful not to move her head. “Go on.”