Chapter 10…nothing more than hatchmarks, caused by the tapping of the Countess of Kilmartin’s pen against paper, two weeks after the receipt of the Earl of Kilmartin’s third missive to her.
“Is he here?”
“He’s not here.”
“Are you certain?”
“I’m quite certain.”
“But he is coming?”
“He said he was.”
“Oh. But when is he coming?”
“I’m sure I don’t know.”
“You don’t?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Oh. Right. Well…Oh, look! I see my daughter. Lovely seeing you, Francesca.”
Francesca rolled her eyes, not an affectation she espoused except under the most severe of circumstances, as she watched Mrs. Featherington, one of the ton ’s most notorious gossips, toddle off toward her daughter Felicity, who was chatting amiably with a handsome, albeit untitled, young man at the edge of the ballroom.
The con
