an attempt at matchmaking. With her mind now settled, she closed her eyes again. Tomorrow could prove to be interesting.
* * *
The next morning, she came upon Adeline in the corridor. “May I speak with you for a moment?”
Adeline’s stomach growled as she glanced longingly at the door to the breakfast room, but nodded. “Will this take much time?”
“It will not take long at all.” Georgie pulled her friend into a rarely used parlor and closed the door. “If this game is not actually hunting gypsies—in which case I hope you will join with me to stop it—and it has teams, will you ask either Mary or Amanda to put me on the same team as Turley?”
Adeline nodded again. “Of course.” Then she pinned Georgie with a look. “What is this about?”
There was no reason not to relate what she had been thinking. “You remember when Frits first kissed you?”
“Yes,” Adeline said slowly.
“And how after that you became much more interested in him?” Georgie wondered if she was going to have to walk her friend through everything she had considered.
“I take it Turley has not kissed you at all.”
She could not keep from sounding as disgusted as she felt. “He has not even acted like he wanted to. Well, only once, but I might be wrong about that.”
“Ergo, you wish to give him a chance,” Adeline concluded.
Georgie bit down on her lip. “I thought that if he did not kiss me, even when I gave him an opportunity, then I should forget about finding a way that he could fall in love with me.”
“If only we could ask Frits’s advice,” Adeline mused. “But I am afraid that would put him in a difficult situation and not only because of his duty to you. He and Turley have been the best of friends for most of their lives. He might feel as if he was somehow betraying Turley.”
Georgie had not even thought about asking Frits. He of all people would be able to tell her what to do. Still, her friend had a point. “I suppose you’re right.”
Adeline’s stomach growled again. “I am famished.”
“You will ask about—”
“Yes.” She opened the door. “But now I must eat.”
Chuckling to herself, Georgie followed her friend into the breakfast room. As she filled her plate, she thought about what Adeline had said about approaching Frits. It would be a last resort, but Georgie might just do it.
* * *
The next day dawned with a chill in the air reminding Gavin that it was getting later in the month. And every time he’d thought about marrying Georgie, he had imagined her at his home during Christmas. It had been so many years since the house had been filled with love and warmth. He might even invite his sister and her family to join them. It would be fun to have children running around. Mayhap, Georgie would be pregnant by then. He threw back the covers. If he wanted his wishes to come true, he had to get busy.
“My lord.” His valet entered the room carrying a letter. “This came for you after you had retired.”
“Thank you.” He took the missive and opened it and read it twice.
Gypsy hunt? Why the devil would they want to hunt gypsies? Granted, many people didn’t like the Romany, but that was no reason to hunt them. And why would the ladies be involved? They barely went fox hunting. He’d better go in the event they actually planned to hunt gypsies and put a stop to such foolishness.
Gavin refolded the note his valet had given him. There would be no time to go riding with Georgie this morning. Unless, of course, Adeline had decided not to attend the entertainment.
He went behind the screen to wash and shave. What possessed Lady Turner and Mrs. Fitzwalter to hold any entertainment so early in the morning? Or at all? He shook his head. He had no control over what his hostesses did. What he might have some influence over was being paired with Georgie. Provided it was an actual game. That would be the only good thing about playing silly games. After all, considering the intellect of the two ladies in charge, how hard could it be? They would not play to win, which would give him more time with her. And the more time he spent with her the better his chances at convincing her to marry him. The question was should he leave early and attempt to persuade the ladies that they