does not matter. As you’ve said, I made my choice.”
Just then, Martin approached, his smile still there but less pleasant than it had been at the onset. He seemed put out by Calliope’s iciness toward him. Diana pulled away, gaze intent upon her husband.
“Oh, Hastings, my dear … might I have a word with you?”
Calliope winced, hoping Diana wouldn’t be too hard on the man.
She was forced to forget her sister and brother-in-law as Martin came near, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to her knuckles.
“Calliope, darling, you are radiant this evening. I take it you enjoyed our jaunt to Box Hill this afternoon?”
She studied the man she had nearly chosen as her husband with an objective eye, and wondered how she had ever built him up as some romantic ideal in her mind. Even without Dominick’s presence to overshadow him, he now appeared ordinary to her eyes. He was still as handsome as he’d always been, but the fanciful adoration she’d felt toward him was gone, and she realized now that it had begun fading weeks ago.
“I did,” she replied between sips of her cordial, her gaze moving about the room.
Dominick had entered when she hadn’t been paying attention, and now knelt at Aunt Louisa’s feet. She and Aunt Doris looked on as he scratched behind Horatius’s ear, earning himself huffs and sighs of bliss from the round dog.
“You seem distracted this evening,” Martin said, regaining her attention. “Is everything all right?”
“Of course.”
“Mr. Burke has certainly made a spectacle of himself this week, don’t you think?”
She tore her gaze away from the man in question, trying not to show how charmed she was by watching him play with Horatius. Apparently, the aunts were just as captivated, smiling down at him as he wrapped both the ladies and the dog around his finger.
“Whatever do you mean?”
Martin rolled his eyes. “He has spent weeks vying for your attention, only to turn around and set his sights on the widow. Haven’t you noticed the two of them? It is quite shameful, the way they flirt and carry on.”
Calliope found Lady Thrush hovering near Dominick and the aunts, clearly looking for an opening to engage him. Her teeth ground together as the woman bent over to pet Horatius, her bosom on full display due to the low neckline of her gown. Calliope bit back a giggle when Horatius growled at Lady Thrush, before rolling onto his belly beneath Dominick’s hand, making his preference known.
“I suppose I can understand the allure,” Martin added. “Though I would think you far too intelligent to be drawn in by false charm and obvious manipulation.”
Calliope took a step away from him, her hand clenching around her glass. “Are you insinuating something about my association with Mr. Burke?”
Martin’s bravado faltered, and he reached for her, his hand gentle on her arm. “I only seek to remind you of our previous conversation, as well as the one I am set to have with your father in the morning. I have made my intentions clear—”
“That you have, Mr. Lewes,” she snapped, prying her arm from his hold as discreetly as possible. They had not yet drawn any attention, but she didn’t wish to make a scene. “Though I would not be so quick to accuse Mr. Burke of falsehood when you have your share of secrets.”
Martin blanched, panic flashing in his eyes before he glowered at Dominick. “He told you, didn’t he? I knew he would use what he saw to discredit me. Darling, everyone finds themselves in a bind from time to time. That I was forced to make use of a pawn broker to keep myself in the way I am accustomed has no bearing on my feelings for you.”
Calliope blinked, head spinning as she digested these words. Dominick had witnessed Martin in such a shameful position?
“That I did not know. Though I do thank you for your honesty, Mr. Lewes.”
Martin cleared his throat, swiveling his pleading gaze away from her, cheeks and neck flushing bright red. “Calliope, please, it isn’t what you think. I am in dire straits until I inherit, and even then it will not be as much as I’d anticipated. While I do need a bride with a fortune, I think we both know I could have had another. I chose you. The way I feel …”
“Now is not the time for such talk, as I am certain you are aware,” she snapped, alarmed at the desperation that had crept into his voice. They