Page 31 of A Devious Secret

Marielle came to a stop in front of him. “It is only a matter of time before you must face her,” she said. “It might as well be in the privacy of the drawing room.”

Stephen nodded slowly. “You might be right.”

“Of course I am right.” Marielle flashed him a bright smile. “I usually am.”

“And you are very humble about it,” Stephen joked.

Marielle looped arms with her brother. “You may as well get this over with,” she said as she started leading him towards the drawing room.

Gemma followed behind and she was curious as to why Mr. Wycomb had such apprehension towards Lady Haddington.

Once she stepped into the drawing room, she saw a thin, brown-haired young woman sitting next to Dinah. They had stopped speaking and were watching Marielle and her brother.

Mr. Wycomb cleared his throat. “You are looking well, Lady Haddington.”

Lady Haddington tipped her head. “As are you, Mr. Wycomb.”

A small silence descended over the group before Marielle gestured towards Gemma. “Lady Haddington, allow me to introduce you to Lady Hawkinge.”

Lady Haddington smiled. “It is a pleasure, but I must insist you call me Evie,” she said.

“Then you must call me Gemma.”

Evie nodded approvingly. “Dinah has informed me that you intend to stay in London for the remainder of the Season.”

“That is true, assuming that they do not tire of me.”

Dinah spoke up. “Never,” she said. “Gemma has been a delight and I have found her to be an excellent shopping companion.”

Evie made a face. “I detest shopping with my sister. I have never seen someone that analyzes every part of a hat.”

“I must ensure the hat is up to my standards,” Dinah defended.

“You go into the shop, buy a hat, and you leave. It is a simple process,” Evie said. “Yet, my sister has found a way to complicate it.”

Dinah leaned forward and retrieved her teacup. “You will have to excuse my sister. She seems to think that shopping is akin to torture.”

“Only when I shop with you, dear sister,” Evie teased.

Marielle walked over to sit down next to Evie. “Have you been to the orphanage as of late?” she asked.

“I went this morning, but I’m afraid Georgie wouldn’t let the girls practice climbing walls,” Evie shared.

“Pardon?” Gemma asked, fearing she’d misheard Evie. “Why would girls wish to climb walls?”

“It is a simple but practical thing to do,” Evie explained. “Besides, it has come in handy on occasion.”

Gemma gave her a questioning look. “Why would anyone need to climb a wall?”

“What if the doors are locked?” Evie asked.

“Then you wait for them to be unlocked,” Gemma replied.

Evie gave her an amused look. “I’m afraid it is not quite that simple.” She turned her attention towards Mr. Wycomb. “What say you, sir?”

“I may have climbed a wall in my youth but that was so I could torment Hugh,” Mr. Wycomb said.

Marielle shook her head. “You two were terrible to one another.”