Chapter Twenty

A n hour later, Elizabeth slowly moved the cutter along the surface of the glass ball. She had taken a nap earlier that afternoon when something had disturbed her sleep. She thought she'd heard a loud noise, but when she got off the daybed, she opened the door of her bedchamber to see what was going on, and everything was quiet. Figuring she had imagined it, she decided to finish working on the glass ball. The ship on the ocean waves wasn't as elaborate as anything Mr. Preston would have done. She had a long way to go before she could master that level of skill with her work, but she was happy with the results.

She inspected the glass ball for a moment then picked the last part of the sky where she would engrave the moon. After much thought, she had chosen a quarter moon. Once the moon was done, she sat back and wiped the cutter. She examined the ball as she debated if she should add anything else. All of the stars were in place. The ocean waves were engraved to her liking. The boat was complete. There was nothing else she could add to make it better. She smiled in satisfaction and set the cutter down.

A knock came at her door. She jerked. It wasn't time for dinner already, was it?

A glance at the clock near the table let her know dinner wouldn't be ready for another two hours. She hurried to cover the ball and her tools then hurried to answer the door.

A maid stood on the other side. "Lady Quinton wants to know if you're available."

Elizabeth glanced back at the project she'd been working on. She almost told the maid no, but then she thought it might be nice to visit with Lydia again. She offered the maid a nod. "I'll be down there in a moment. I need to get ready first."

The maid indicated she would pass on the message then went down the hall.

Elizabeth was ready to shut the door when she saw the butler and footman carrying trunks from Oscar's bedchamber. What was going on? She took a step into the hallway, and a coachman brought out a third trunk.

She wasn't in the habit of prying. Her parents and brother had taught her long ago that she didn't need to put her nose in the affairs of others. But her curiosity got the best of her. She glanced around. The servants were gone now. Using the moment of privacy to her advantage, she entered Oscar's bedchamber. She blinked in surprise. The room was a lot cleaner than it'd been that morning. Every speck of food and every container with liquid in it had been removed. Stains were even out of the rugs, and she could make out the surfaces of the dressers and tables. Whatever Felix was paying this maid, she probably deserved a little more, given how much filth she'd had to clean.

But the room was also devoid of any personal items and clothes that indicated someone lived there. Oscar was done living here, and he didn't plan on coming back. Something about the finality of it filled Elizabeth with a sense of loss, even though she barely knew him.

What had prompted this? Everything seemed fine earlier that day. Yes, Felix didn't think Oscar would succeed in making the love potion—and one could hardly blame him for that, but it seemed that the two got along pleasantly enough. A few days ago, Lydia had told her that Felix and Oscar learned to depend on each other while they were struggling to make ends meet. Given how close they were, why would Oscar be moving out?

She heard someone coming up the stairs and hurried to slip out of the bedchamber. The footman was approaching. Hoping he hadn't caught her in Oscar's bedchamber, she lowered her gaze and headed for the drawing room. She didn't think he noticed her leaving the room. She was certain she'd made it out. So there would be no reason for him to tell Felix she'd been in a room that didn't belong to her.

She didn't see Felix or Oscar on her way to the lower floor. To be fair, Felix had told her he'd be in the library, so she shouldn't expect to see him. It had been nice, however, of him to let her know where he planned to spend the rest of the afternoon. She didn't know why a simple thing like him telling her where he was going to be should make her feel warm all over, but it did. Her gaze went toward the library. The door was open. She was tempted to peek in there to see if Felix was still there, but Lydia called out to her from the drawing room.

Elizabeth turned to the drawing room, and an excited Lydia headed in her direction. Lydia closed the distance between them and hugged her. Elizabeth hesitated for a moment then gave her a tentative hug back. She wasn't used to touching people, but she knew this was the proper response. Still, it felt so awkward.

"Thank you for coming down to talk to me," Lydia said as she pulled away from her. "I asked to speak with both you and Felix, but the butler said Felix isn't here. And I notice there's a wagon out front with Oscar's lab supplies in it."

There was a wagon out front? Elizabeth was tempted to go to the window to take a look but wondered if that would be inappropriate since she had a visitor.

"I wonder if Felix is making him move out," Lydia continued as she settled onto the settee. "Sometimes the two will argue over the lab. I have trouble blaming Felix for being upset, though. One time, Oscar spilled something on Felix, and Felix was itching for a week. I knew right then that it was a matter of time before Felix had enough of the experiments."

Elizabeth cringed. She would hate for something like that to happen to her. She was relieved to know Oscar would no longer be doing his experiments here.

Forcing her attention to Lydia, Elizabeth sat beside her. "You said you wanted to speak with me and Felix?"

Lydia handed Elizabeth a cup of tea then picked one up for herself. "I wanted to invite you both to a dinner party at my townhouse. Do you know when Felix will be here?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't." She hadn't even known Felix was gone.

"Do you know where he went?"

Again, Elizabeth had to say no.

Lydia sighed. "If he went to Marco's, he could be gone for hours. He and Oscar go there quite a bit. They weren't able to get into White's, though they tried. Well, Felix tried more than Oscar did. I think Oscar only tried to get into White's because of Felix." She giggled. "Isn't it funny how gentlemen need to have their exclusive clubs where they have to vote on who can join and who can't? I always thought it was ridiculous. I much prefer a place like Marco's because anyone can go there. What do you think?"

"I never thought about it." It didn't matter to Elizabeth what gentlemen wanted to do with their time. If she was a gentleman, she wouldn't bother with any of those clubs. But then, she preferred to be by herself working on her engravings. She shifted on the settee. "How many people do you plan to invite to this dinner party?"

"It would be just you, me, Guy, and Felix."

Oh, good. Elizabeth already felt better about the dinner party. She was finally feeling more comfortable with Felix, and Lydia was such a talker that she could make up half an evening's conversation all on her own. However... Her gaze went to the owl statue perched on the fireplace mantle. "Is Guy all right with this?"

"I haven't told him I want to get him and Felix together yet," Lydia admitted after taking a sip of her tea. "I'm waiting for the right moment. Considering it's getting cloudy out, I've decided not to do it today."

Elizabeth's eyebrows furrowed. What did clouds have to do with telling Guy about a dinner party?

"Are you willing to come?" Lydia asked. "I want you there. But I confess to having another motive. I can't let Guy and Felix continue not speaking to each other." Before Elizabeth could reply, she added, "Guy has to understand that you have a right to decorate this townhouse any way you want. I firmly stand by that. Before the dinner party, I will have another talk with him about it. He was too upset last time I brought it up." She glanced at the doorway as if she expected Felix to be there, but he wasn't. "I don't know if I should share what happened at our country estate." Lydia turned her gaze back to Elizabeth. "But if you don't know, then how can you understand why Guy got upset?" Lydia put her cup down and turned toward her. "At my family's country estate, there were owl statues like the one you put on that mantle, except these owls weren't as decorative as yours is. These statues were put there by our ancestor. He used them to open up secret passages."

Elizabeth's ears perked up. She'd never heard of secret passages before. "Were these for servants to use so they wouldn't be seen by your family?"

"I wish it was that simple. I hate to tell anyone this, but James—that is the ancestor who put the owls there—used the secret passages to meet his mistress."

"Oh."

Lydia nodded. "I know. It's one thing to hear about gentlemen taking mistresses in London, but it's another to find out your own ancestor brought his mistress to the country. To keep his affair a secret, he put those passages throughout the property. There was something terrible that happened at the small cottage James hid in a section of trees, but Guy won't tell me what it is. All I know is that Guy used to think an owl was a harbinger of death, and now he also connects it with adultery. The fact that Guy is inclined toward superstitious beliefs only heightens the problem."

"Do you have secret passages in this townhouse?"

"No, of course not. We didn't even know the owls signaled entry points to the secret passages in the country home until recently. Felix, Oscar, and Guy got rid of the owls and destroyed all of the passages. They even burned down the cottage and removed some of the trees. That's what took us so long to return to London after your brother's untimely death." She placed a hand on Elizabeth's arm. "We really are sorry about what happened to your brother. Felix didn't want to kill him."

Elizabeth wasn't sorry, but that was something she would never tell another person because she realized how terrible that made her seem. Unless someone lived with George, they couldn't appreciate how difficult he'd made her life. Things with Felix were much better than they'd ever been with her brother, or her parents. Despite the way things started out between them, she could honestly say this marriage had benefited her, even with the rumors going through London about her.

"Well," Lydia continued in an attempt to lighten the mood, "I probably shouldn't stay here too long. I'm surprised Felix isn't here. He doesn't usually leave the townhouse when it's this close to dinner. Ever since I can remember, he's been particular about being on time, and he likes to iron his clothes so they're presentable when he eats."

"He irons his clothes?"

Lydia smiled. "Everyone has their quirks, and that one is his. He's meticulous about his clothing. He won't let a servant iron them for him. He even arranges his outfits himself. Growing up, he paid for someone to teach him how to best match his clothing."

Elizabeth hadn't thought about it, but now that she did, she had to admit, "He does have good fashion sense."

"Yes, he does. I think he takes great care in how he dresses because he isn't as good-looking as other gentlemen." Lydia shrugged. "We all have to work with what we have, and he's making the best of what he's got."

Elizabeth hadn't realized he was that sensitive about his appearance. Now she felt guilty for rejecting him when he asked her for a dance. At the time, she couldn't believe he'd had the audacity to approach her like that. Not only was she the sister of a duke, but she was beautiful. She'd thought he should pick one of the homely daughters of an earl, viscount, or baron, and even then, she hadn't been certain if any of them would be desperate enough to want him.

Looking back, she could see how much like her brother she'd been. Like George, she had considered herself better than others. Felix might have been wrong to spread lies about her, but she'd been equally wrong to treat him with disrespect. If memory served, she had made a snide comment about how repulsive he was right in front of everyone. That had to have damaged his pride, especially since he was already sensitive about his looks.

"I'm thinking of having the dinner party on Sunday," Lydia said, interrupting her thoughts. "It's the Lord's Day, which will make it a lucky day for Guy, and it gives Felix enough time to prepare for it."

Elizabeth gave a look at the doorway. Felix still hadn't returned home. She supposed this dinner party would be set. She rose to her feet with Lydia. "I'll tell Felix you invited us to a dinner party."

"Thank you. And assure him that I will talk to Guy again."

"I think you already mentioned doing that."

"Yes, but it doesn't hurt to emphasize it when you give Felix the news."

"All right, I'll be sure to mention it," Elizabeth promised.

Lydia smiled. "I must say that you are quickly becoming a good friend."

"I am?"

Lydia nodded. "I know you didn't want to marry my brother, but I'm glad you did. I wouldn't have gotten to meet you any other way."

Elizabeth watched as Lydia left. She supposed Lydia was right. Though they were the same age, Elizabeth didn't recall seeing her until the day she married Felix. Elizabeth did like her. Lydia was, perhaps, one of the sincerest people Elizabeth had ever come across. With Lydia and Felix in her life, the world suddenly seemed a little less lonely.