and stepped away from her. Lydia gave the men a brief nod, then hurried toward the Greco-Roman façade of the lecture hall. Her chest tightened when Alexander fell into step beside her.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“This is where they’re holding the mathematics symposium.”
“I’ll go with you.” He took her satchel from her. “And afterward we will continue this discussion.”
“Alexander, I—” Her heart sank at the mutinous look on his face, and she knew she’d have no immediate chance of escaping him.
They went into the auditorium, which resounded with the rumble of male voices, the rustle of papers, and the scrape of chairs. Lydia searched the crowd until she found Dr. Sigley standing amid a group of men. He gave her a wave and pushed his way toward her.
“Miss Kellaway, you’ve arrived.” Dr. Sigley stopped before her and took her gloved hand. “And, Lord Northwood, a pleasure to see you again.”
He extended a hand to guide them into the main room of the lecture hall. As they sat down, Lydia took her satchel from Northwood and removed a sheaf of papers. She tried to concentrate on what she wanted to tell the professor, knowing she had to present a front of cool competence even if her heart broke a little more with every breath she took.
“This… this is my response to your question about the integrals,” she said, handing the papers to Dr. Sigley, who spread them out and reached for his spectacles. “The general systems have only three. There must be a fourth. And if you normalize the units, then choose the axis in which all moments of inertia are equal, then you find this unit.” She pointed to the pages. “So the fourth integral can be written in complex form like this.”
“Ah.” The single word conveyed understanding and satisfaction. “Now, this makes perfect sense. I do hope you intend to publish this, perhaps even lecture about it.”
No. No chance of that anymore.
The gaslights dimmed. The symposium coordinator banged a wooden pointer on the podium to gain everyone’s attention. Lydia sat back as he announced the series of lectures, the first starting with a discourse on symbolic logic and theory. As the lecturing professor began organizing his notes, Lydia fished for a pencil and spread a new notebook on her lap.
She listened as best she could, took copious notes for later review, and engaged in whispered consultations with Dr. Sigley.
And yet the entire time, her skin prickled with awareness of Alexander beside her—his tense posture radiating his frustration and anger.
What a fool she’d been to believe, even for a moment, that they might have a life together. That they could be happy. She’d reached too far beyond her grasp… and now she had to bear the fall.
It was one o’clock before the first half of the symposium concluded, with the coordinator inviting the participants to lunch in the adjoining hall prior to the start of the afternoon session.
“Will you lunch with us, then, Miss Kellaway?” Dr. Sigley asked, absently rubbing his belly. “Lord Northwood?”
“No, I hadn’t planned to stay for the afternoon,” Lydia admitted as they made their way along with the tide of men toward the exit. “But you and Mrs. Sigley must come to dinner soon.”
“Will do, then. A delight to see you again, and when I’ve got my thoughts on your paper in order, I’ll call upon you.” Dr. Sigley gave her hand a light squeeze of farewell and nodded at Alexander before joining the men heading into the dining hall.
“You’re coming home with me,” Alexander said.
Irritation prickled the back of Lydia’s neck at the implacable tone in his voice.
“Alexander, if you hadn’t divulged your intentions to my grandmother, we would not be in this position,” she whispered. “If you had listened to me when I first declined and…”
Her whole body rippled with a sudden chill.
“Lydia?” Alexander stopped at the sound of her strangled voice. “What is it?”
Someone bumped into Lydia from behind, forcing her to move forward. Her eyes locked on to the back of a blond man, his hair cropped short against an elegant neck, his shoulders narrow beneath a dark suit coat.
She shook her head. No. Don’t be silly. It couldn’t be, of course; there’s no way in the world…
He turned. She gasped.
“Lydia?” Alexander clutched her arm and used his body to push through the crowd, pulling her along beside him. When they reached the lobby, he eased her back away from the men still streaming through the doors. “Lydia, what’s the matter?