Page 69 of A Match of Misfortune

Her smile dimmed slightly. “But will people not look at me oddly?”

“Why must we care what others think?” Cecily attempted to conjure Nash’s confidence. “As long as you are enjoying yourself, it should not matter.”

“Besides,” Nash said, drawing their attention, “if anyone will receive others’ disapproving looks, it will be me. I have quite the reputation, as of late.”

A smile came to Cecily’s lips. “It is true. You should have seen the looks we collected yesterday on Bond Street. Several direct cuts as well.”

Adelaide dropped her gaze to the floor, obviously considering the idea. “I have always wanted to go to the menagerie, but I do not think I could bear for people⁠—”

“I fear if you do not go, then I cannot either,” Nash said, even taking Cecily by surprise. “Unless my being there is the reason for your hesitation?”

Her gaze lifted to his, a look of utter dismay on her face. “Of course it isn’t. I don’t care what people might think about you. I would never be embarrassed to be in your company.”

“And I would never be embarrassed to be in yours. Bath chair or not.”

At the fervent sincerity in both his look and his words, an unexpected sting touched Cecily’s eyes, and she forced her gaze downward. Mrs. Markham, who now stood at her side, put Theo down and placed an arm around Cecily. Though she appreciated the gesture, it only brought Cecily’s tears closer to falling.

“Very well,” Adelaide said after another moment of consideration, and Cecily could hear the nervous excitement in her voice. “It is not as though many people should know me here in London, anyway.”

Nash clapped his hands together. “That is the spirit.”

“What is that?” Jamison asked, coming into the corridor. “May I sit in it?”

“Of course you can.” Nash lifted his brother to place him on the seat. “But you need know this is Adelaide’s chair, so when we arrive at the menagerie, you may only ride on it if you are in her lap and she agrees to your being there.”

Jamison nodded his agreement.

Cecily glanced at Mrs. Markham. “Are you to come with us, then?”

“If you don’t mind our intrusion, Nash insisted that if Adelaide agreed to go, Jamison and I must also come. Theo would remain with Nurse, of course.”

“I should love you to be there.”

Theo toddled up to Nash’s side, and Nash lifted him onto the seat as well.

A knock at the front door stole the group’s attention.

“That must be the Rothsburgs,” Mrs. Markham said, waiting for Caldwell to answer the door. Sure enough, Lord Rothsburg and Bridget stepped inside with Fredrick right behind them, all of them wiping water from their saturated outer clothes.

Cecily felt her shoulders drop as she started toward her friend in the entry hall. “Is it raining out?”

Bridget looked at her with a sympathetic expression. “A torrential downpour. It began when we were not five minutes from here, so we figured we might as well wait it out here and hope it ceases as swiftly as it started. If that is acceptable to you?”

“Of course it is,” Mrs. Markham said, smiling.

“Do we have plans for this evening?” Cecily asked, worried that a postponed departure would mean they wouldn’t have ample time at the menagerie.

“We have the McMillans’ card party, but that is after dinner, so there is no rush.” Bridget shifted her gaze to Nash. “You will join us, will you not?”

“Are they aware I’m coming?”

“They are aware Cecily is coming, and now that the two of you are betrothed, they will not question your joining us.”

Nash looked far from convinced. “Are you certain it’s wise for me to go when I’ve not been invited? I would hate to cause another scene.”

“I would not be the least bit put out if you did,” Rothsburg said, receiving an elbow nudge from his wife. “What? We are only going because our mothers are dear friends with Lady McMillan, but you know we’ll be the youngest guests there by a decade or more.”

“The last card party we attended of theirs was before the Season began,” Bridget countered. “There will most assuredly be others our age this time. In fact, Lord Harlow told me at the park last night that he is to be in attendance.”