“I don’t suppose you had really discussed with him the idea of inviting me to dinner the very next time you saw me?” he said.
“But he did not mind,” she said. “You are my brother.”
“And your friend was mortified too,” he said. “Abby!”
“Don’t scold,” she said. “Don’t, Boris. I am so very happy that we can be together occasionally again. You must come to Severn Park with us in the summer and we can all be together again—the four of us. The girls will be ecstatic to see you.”
“You see?” he said. “You are at it again. Don’t, Abby. Severn may tolerate it now because you are new to him. But he will not enjoy having you organize his life, believe me. But yes.” He patted her hand and his expression softened. “I will try to see the girls when they come to you. Two years ago it did not seem that we would ever be together as a family again, did it?”
“Oh, Boris,” she said suddenly, her eyes widening. “Guess whom I saw at Lady Trevor’s ball last night? Rachel! I swear it. I even spoke with her.”
“Ah,” he said quietly. “You have seen her, have you?”
“You are not even surprised,” she said. “You knew she was here?”
He nodded.
“Boris,” she said, “her hair is black and her face was painted.”
“Yes,” he said. “It would be best if you forgot about her, Ab. I had better be getting back to my seat. The play must be almost ready to start again. Shall I take you to Severn?”
“No,” she said. “I shall return to our box. He will be there soon. You will come tomorrow?”
“I will,” he said. “But no more invitations without consulting Severn in private first. Promise me?”
“I promise,” she said. “If I remember, that is.” She smiled brightly at him as he clucked his tongue, opened the door to the box for her to enter, and took himself off back to the pit.
Abigail sat down quietly and watched the people milling about in the boxes opposite. Boris was quite right, she thought. She must learn to curb her tongue, or at least to know what she was about to say before she actually said it. It would not do for Miles to develop a disgust of her and think that she was thoroughly lacking in conduct.
“. . . the delectable Miss Meighan if I had a chance,” one of the gentlemen from the next box was saying.
Abigail’s eyes pricked up at the familiar name. She felt instant guilt at the setdown she had given that young lady earlier in the day. Though, of course, the girl had asked for it.
“He said he was tired of managing females and tired of beautiful females too,” another man said with a chuckle.
“He can talk,” someone else said indignantly, “when he has the beautiful Jenny to visit every day of his life, and every night too, for that matter. I wouldn’t mind being able to afford her.”
“She wouldn’t have you if you had a king’s ransom to lavish on her,” the first voice said, and there was a loud burst of guffaws from the other occupants of the box. “Jenny may be a courtesan, but she likes her men handsome and well-formed and sweet-smelling.”
Oh, goodness, Abigail thought, they were talking about someone’s mistress. How scandalous. She considered coughing, but decided it would be better to leave the box quietly again to find her husband.
“I suppose it might have been too much to have Miss Meighan as Lady Severn and Jenny as mistress too,” the second man said. “A mite exhausting, wouldn’t you say?”
There was more laughter as Abigail froze in her seat.
“I wouldn’t mind suffering that sort of exhaustion,” someone else said. There was a moment of silence. “No. No need for alarm. They are not back yet.”
“Anyway,” the second speaker’s voice said, “you haven’t heard the best of it yet. He told Stapleton that he was quite determined to avoid the match. He vowed he would marry the very next plain and dull woman he met. Someone he could take into the country during the summer, get with child, and leave behind him. Someone to fade into the background producing an heir while he was left free for Jenny and her successors. And the very next morning he met just such a woman and kept his vow.”
“We had better lower our voices,” someone who had not spoken before said. “They are going to be back any minute.”
“He chose well,” the first voice said. “In addition to everything else, she is also a nobody and inclined to vulgarity, if my Aunt Prendergast is to be believed. Severn is going to regret giving up Miss Meighan yet, the idiot.”