Page 39 of The Best-Laid Plans

She opened her mouth, but the sound of Ellie’s voice sounded first.

“You also overestimate the quietness with which you’re making your accusations. I have heard every word and can undermine your assertions.”

Lillian’s gaze narrowed as she shifted her focus from him to Ellie standing just beyond the door. “You would speak so insultingly of your own sister?”

“If need be.”

Newton turned enough to look at his avenging angel. She stood with the firmness and boldness she’d claimed so adamantly she didn’t have. No one would doubt it seeing her now. Artemis had hoped to give her a bit of courage. In that moment, Ellie radiated with dauntlessness.

“You are ayoungersister,” Lillian said. “Your word against mine is hardly the firm defense you seem to think it is.”

Artemis stepped into view. “And what of mine, Lillian Napper? Does my word hold weight, do you suppose? If you calledmea liar, do you think that would go well for you?”

Wrapping her dignity around her like a soiled, torn, poorly patched cloak, Lillian swept past them all and, likely, out of the house entirely.

“I was afraid she would do something like this,” Ellie said. “But I had hoped she would prove those fears unfounded.”

“At least the threat has been eliminated,” Newton said.

Ellie looked at him, then Artemis. With a sigh, she said, “I am not at all certain it has been.”

Chapter Fifteen

Shopping with Artemis and Rosewas an experience unlike any other. Their discussion on everything from gowns to ribbon to embroidery thread became a lecture on the science of fashion that would rival any offered at Cambridge, if Cambridge offered education on such matters and, further, if they permitted women toattend,let alone teach.

Ellie felt like she had learned more in a single afternoon of wandering with them from shop to shop than she had in all her previous years. When she eventually was required to return home to her family, she would do so with a much better idea of how to make a showing for herself, along with knowing how to speak and act in her own defense. Both lessons were proving invaluable.

Whilst her companions spoke at length over which of Artemis’s necklaces would look best with a gown made of indigo taffeta, the ribbon meant to match it being what they were shopping for in this particular shop, Ellie became aware of eyes watchingher. It was not the first time that had happened since they’d been out that afternoon. She understood people’s watching Artemis—she was a diamond, by anyone’s estimation—but their attention was on her, and the looks she received were a bit unsettling. She didn’t feel threatened, by any means, but she felt their gazes. For someone accustomed to being invisible, it was not a terribly comfortable experience.

She met the gaze of two matrons not too far distant. The moment they realized she was watching them in return, they looked away and immediately began whispering. Ellie couldn’t overhear their conversation but had a sinking suspicion they were talking about her. This repeated not much later with a different gathering of ladies, this group younger than the first, though a little older than Ellie herself. It had happened at the linendraper’s. It had happened at the millinery. She wanted to think she was imagining the stares, but the frequency prevented her from completely dismissing the experiences.

“People are watching you in odd ways,” Rose said without preamble. “I have noticed it all morning. And the whispers are quite obvious too.”

Somehow Ellie found the confirmation both reassuring and worrisome. “I’d hoped I was imagining it.”

“You aren’t.”

Artemis watched the two of them, a little confused and more than a little concerned.

Rose took up the explanation. “Something about Ellie has captured the curiosity of Society, and not in a way that appears positive.”

“What could possibly have happened?” Artemis said. “I have heard no rumors or whispers. And I can think of nothing that has happened that would cause speculation about her. Perhaps they are not unkind glances.”

Rose examined a satin ribbon hanging nearby. “I am acquainted enough with disapproving stares and gossip and whispers to recognize them as such when I see them.”

Artemis drew Ellie closer to the both of them. Voice lowered, she said, “We will solve this mystery, I promise you. There is nothing that happens in Society that I cannot sort.”

“With help,” Rose said.

Artemis dipped her head in acknowledgment. “Wade into your river of information, Rose. We’ll meet you back at the house.”

Rose left without a word or a backward glance.

“She’s not upset, is she?” Ellie asked. “I feel like she didn’t particularly want to undertake this.”

Artemis hooked an arm through Ellie’s. “She plays her cards close to the chest, as I once heard my brother-in-law say. I struggled to make sense of her when she first took on this, no doubt, exhausting role. Enduring me every day is no small feat.”

Ellie could smile at that. Artemis had such a knack for lightening a situation.

---