Page 61 of Fortune Favors the Frivolous
“What!? When did he say that?”
“When he was pressured by the Gascoynes to do the honorable thing and I asked him the question.”
“Really? What were his exact words, Venetia?” Caroline tried not to sound as anxious and invested in the answer as she knew she did. But Venetia seemed not to notice.
“He just shook his head. And then we didn’t really talk about it anymore. But—” Venetia looked up at Caroline, her expression appealing, “He would have said something if he loved another, would he not? He surely would not be so noble as to marry me if his heart was engaged to another?”
Caroline stilled. How could she answer this? If she confessed, right now, that she and Henry loved each other more than anyone else in the world, then Venetia would simply crumple before passively allowing herself to be married off to Windermere.
“You must marry the man who reallydoeslove you,” she said again.
Venetia looked perplexed. “But there is no one, Caroline. And I am penniless. I have very few choices, you know.”
“Then you must make the best of what choices you do have,” Caroline said stoutly as she prepared to leave. “You simplymustattend Lady Townsend’s Comet Viewing Gala. Please promise? Tell your aunt that Lady Townsend, who is organizing the event, has specifically requested it. I’m sure it will not be as dreadful as you imagine.”
Chapter Thirty
An hour later,Henry couldn’t decide between disbelief and hope as he paced the length of his study, Caroline watching him anxiously from her perch near the window. Her mama was out visiting and she had an hour at best before she needed to return home before her absence would be noticed.
“This is madness,” he said finally, running a hand through his already disheveled hair. “Complete and utter madness.”
“It’s our only chance,” Caroline insisted. “Think about it, Henry. Rothbury is perfect—he has connections to Venetia’s family, a sterling reputation, and from everything I can tell, he’s been secretly enamored with her for over a year.” She decided to leave out the fact that Mr. Rothbury had actually been quite adamant about having no intention of offering for Venetia based on some apparently noble motive.
But what motive was that? Because she was currently betrothed to Henry? Well, tomorrow Venetia wouldnotbe betrothed to Henry. Not to please her aunt, though. She’d need to break her engagement at just the right time to deflect any danger of Mrs. Pike sailing in to push her into Windermere’s evil clutches.
Henry shook his head. “Based on servants’ gossip? And you expect me to trust the future of not only Venetia but ourselves to this scheme?”
“It’s more than gossip,” Caroline insisted. “Based on what I observed when Amelia and I saw him yesterday. And as for Venetia, you should have seen how her face lit up when she remembered him from childhood. When Mary told me he has her portrait, I didn’t believe it. But in fact it’s a portrait of Venetia’s mother and he had it right there, to hand, among his papers. Nor did he want to give it up unless it was to Venetia directly.”
Henry tried not to sound as glum as he felt. “Even if he does harbor feelings for her, it’s rather unlikely he’d act on them. You say he’s a man of integrity? Well, he knows Venetia is betrothed to me,” he repeated.
“Then we must create a situation where they are unable to escape one another… directly after she breaks off her betrothal to you.” Caroline moved to his side. “Two people, suspended hundreds of feet above London with nowhere to escape… Lady Townsend told mama there was no greater feeling.”
Henry gave a short laugh. “How would you possibly mastermind such an event: first getting Venetia to break off our betrothal and then, within minutes, getting her to climb into the basket of a hot-air balloon with Mr. Rothbury? Alone. Besides, you have no reason to believe she has—or could develop—any feeling for Rothbury.”
“I believe she could. You should have seen her face when she recalled him telling her that ‘even the most timid can exhibit the greatest courage if the goal is important enough.’”
“But, I repeat—practically speaking? How do you propose to get Rothbury and Venetia into that basket together, when Mrs. Pike is determined to force Windermere upon her?”
Caroline smiled with more confidence than she felt. “I’ll coordinate with Lady Townsend. At the appointed time, I will create a distraction for Mrs. Pike—”
“While I intercept Windermere,” Henry finished, still skeptical. “And it’ll all go to plan as it did when you threw those missiles through the window of Lord Windermere’s hunting lodge?”
“Exactly.” Caroline was not going to be deflected by his cynical rejoinder. “Meanwhile, Lady Townsend will guide Venetia to the balloon under the pretense of showing her how it works. You recall how persuasive she can be. And, you know, I’m quite sure she has a soft spot for Venetia and wants only the best for her, so I’m sure if I speak to her—”
“And Rothbury?”
“I’ll say what needs to be said. Maybe I could ask him to verify some documents or matters regarding the Playford estate while the festivities are underway—documents that would show Venetia, clearly, that her aunt was telling lies when she told Venetia her parents had married after—” She blushed, before mumbling “—after her birth.”
Henry swung round. “What?”
“They’re lies, Mr. Rothbury says,” Caroline soothed him. “Besides, you’re not going to marry Venetia, so it wouldn’t matter to you either way.” Caroline hesitated. “In fact, this is what Venetia was intending to tell you tonight as a reason to break off your betrothal. Except that it won’t happen in the way she or her aunt expect.”
Henry stared at her, frozen to the spot. Then he let out a low whistle, and didn’t even apologize. “My, my, Caro, what a clever, cunning mind you have inside that beautiful head of yours,” he said, admiringly, if not poetically, before his brow furrowed. “Not that this will work, but Rothbury would be furious to be duped into the basket with Venetia. Alone. Meaning that… perhaps propriety would require thathemarried her rather than… me?” Despite himself, he grinned before letting out a long sigh. “Oh, Caro, this is all so masterful, and it would be sowonderful if there were even the slightest possibility that things could run to plan as you seem to imagine they might.”
A moment of silence stretched between them. Then Caroline whispered, “I truly believe Mr. Rothbury harbors strong feelings for Venetia. And that being alone in the basket of a hot-air balloon would give him the opportunity to tell her this.”
Almost wonderingly, Henry shook his head. “Just imagine if, by some miracle, Rothbury declared himself and Venetia accepted?”
