The Lady in Disguise

Chapter Thirty-One

Byrne stood in the middle of the cacophony with Miss Marbury as everyone whispered closely, rushing to know their partner better in the moments before the fun was to commence. Mrs. Baddeley said she would give them all ten more minutes to use wisely, since they now knew the object of the game.

"Have you sisters?" Mr. Walford asked.

"What sort of bugs do you like... best?" Miss Poole tried.

"Fine, then. Tell me about fake ruins," Miss Hartley sighed.

Lady Adele and Tony seemed to be endeavoring to communicate with gestures, which she seemed to find more amusing than Tony did.

Perhaps everyone else was more invested in the prize than Byrne was. Despite him funding this party, he had no designs how it ended, apart from one thing...

He tapped Miss Marbury, finally just asking when she faced him, "Did Miss Crewe accept Tony's proposal or not?"

"Him?" Miss Marbury frowned. Her gaze slid to Tony, then, narrowing. "What self-respecting girl would accept a proposal from a man such as—"

"Miss Marbury," he squeezed his eyes shut, "please just tell me."

When he opened them again, she was assessing him with a sly sort of smile. "She did not. Is that what you wanted to know?"

"Yes. Yes, it is," he said softly, sliding his own gaze to Miss Crewe. He didn't even care that she was laughing with his blasted, unwanted brother. All was right with the world.

"She refused him," Miss Marbury went on, adding on a mutter, "and with much more kindness than he deserved, to my mind."

Now that he knew Miss Crewe was truly free, Byrne felt a sudden urge to make more things right. "I have no idea what your quarrel with Tony is, nor his with you—"

"Sir Anthony should have no quarrel with me," she scoffed. "I'm not the one who—"

"But whatever it is," he cut in, "anyone who is favored so highly by Mrs. Baddeley cannot be all bad."

Miss Marbury's gaze softened as it landed on their hostess. "My cousin is all that is sweet and good. She rarely sees ill in anyone. And it's very kind of you to speak so highly of your friend. And I'm sure he treats you well, and Mrs. Baddeley, but he has been very ill-mannered to me."

Byrne had to laugh. "He says the same of you."

"Me?" She looked aghast. "I am never ill-mannered!"

"He thinks you are kind to all but him for no good reason."

She stiffened and nodded. "Perhaps he is correct on that, but I happen to have a very good reason." She turned to him with a sudden smile. "I'd rather we put our mind to this game lest Lord Swinton win. Or do you truly want this party to end with a lecture on... spiders?"

She did have a point.

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Emilia really needed to be more diligent. After her successful refusal of Sir Anthony, or Tony as he wished to be called, she should not consider her work done. Dissuading Mr. Byrne might be the hardest chore of all.

She'd been studiously avoiding looking at him, apart from one little misstep, but she could swore she still felt his gaze on her. Even in the company of Mr. Browning, a merry young lad with many interesting things to say, she found herself distracted by just the idea that Mr. Byrne might be looking her way.

"...and, if all goes well," Mr. Browning was saying, "I'd like to continue my studies at Edinburgh, but my father is still set against it. I'm hoping Doctor Allendale can convince him. After that, the Royal College, but that is a ways off."