Leaning against the painted stone chimneypiece, Juliana crossed her arms. "Of course you cannot. That would ruin her. You'll have to marry her instead."
"I don't intend to marry anyone at present." He gestured to the pile of letters Alexandra had left on the sofa. "Are those the responses?"
"Yes," she said, grateful to have an excuse to move farther away from Tris.
"How many have accepted our invitation?"
She reclaimed her seat and picked up the acceptance notes, straightening the stack on her lap. "More than a hundred."
"Including Rachael," Corinna added with a mischievous smile.
Alexandra thought her sisters had meddled quite enough. "Oh, do leave Griffin alone. Rachael made it clear she'll never marry him, anyway."
Though Griffin looked curious, he remained stubbornly mute. The rain sounded louder as they all waited.
"What did she say?" Tris finally asked for him.
"She will never marry a cousin."
"Just that?" Griffin burst out, apparently unable to help himself. "Just she will never marry a cousin?"
Juliana took the chair beside him. "Do you remember her cousin Edmund?"
Griffin shook his head.
"The monster," Corinna reminded him.
"Don't call him that!" Alexandra burst out at the same time Griffin said, "Oh, yes," wincing at the memory.
He looked to her. "We all called him the monster."
"Well, he wasn't one. He was a sad little boy. And Rachael will get very upset if you call him that in front of her."
"Tell me about him," Tris said, sitting again by Alexandra.
Heat still seemed to be radiating off him. "Edmund looked very odd," she said, scooting away a little bit.
"Ugly," Corinna elaborated. "Malformed."
"I was trying to be nice, but yes. And he couldn't talk. He only grunted." Alexandra rubbed her forehead. "He died very young."
"His mother and father were cousins," Juliana said. "The doctors suggested perhaps that was to blame for Edmund's condition. And Rachael said that's why she'll never marry a cousin."
Griffin nodded thoughtfully. "When we were young, Edmund scared me out of my seven senses. I can understand why Rachael would be frightened of giving birth to such a mon…such a child." He released a tense breath, looking relieved. "Obviously, marrying her is out of the question. I don't know that her fears are founded, but given her feelings, that hardly makes a difference."
"There are others who believe close marriages aren't wise," Tris added in support. "I concur with the theory that interbreeding produces weak animals."
Corinna snickered. "Griffin and Rachael aren't animals!"
"But they are…in the strictest definition."
"Look at our own Mad King George," Griffin pointed out. "A product, you must admit, of copious interbreeding."
"What a picture," Corinna said. "You and Rachael interbreeding copiously—"
"Do shut up," Griffin interrupted in a tone that was dangerously polite. "Tell me what you've planned for the ball."
Alexandra rubbed her forehead again. "The invitations went out last month, requesting guests arrive at eight. We've procured a band of music from Chichester, and we'll place them in a corner of the great hall—"
"Not the minstrel's gallery?" Griffin broke in.
"No," Juliana said. "That's too far removed from the dancers. We want the musicians to take requests and interact with the guests. We'll have dancing until one o'clock, when a handsome supper shall be served. After supper, the dancing shall resume until dawn, and, for those who stay the night, we shall serve breakfast between eleven and twelve."
"And how many of our hundred-plus acceptances are from men?"
"Most of them!" Corinna cried. "We'll have a much greater number of unmarried gentlemen than unmarried ladies."
"Excellent." Griffin looked pleased.
Tris reached for some bread and cheese, leaning against Alexandra in the process. "Your ball sounds like quite an ambitious undertaking."
Juliana turned to him with a smile. "We've yet to receive your response, Lord Hawkridge."
"I don't attend balls," he said quietly, sitting back and brushing Alexandra again.
"Tristan will be leaving before the ball." Griffin stretched his long legs and crossed them at the ankles. "Everything's all set for Friday night, then?"
"No." Alexandra rose abruptly and went to the desk, bringing the response notes with her as a pretense. She sat and tucked them away in a drawer. "Rachael alerted us to a problem. We don't know how to waltz."
"Then we won't waltz," Griffin said easily.
"We cannot not waltz," Juliana said. "Everyone who is anyone waltzes. It's the thing."
"The thing is, we don't know how. One of you shall simply have to explain to the musicians—"
"I know how to waltz," Tris interrupted. He stood and walked over to the desk. "I can teach you all," he offered, absently rearranging items on the surface.
"Wonderful!" Juliana clapped her hands. "Tonight?"
"Griffin and I must finish planning the pipeline tonight—we have men arriving first thing in the morning for instructions. We can dance tomorrow, while I'm waiting for the parts to arrive from the foundry."
"What will we do for music?" Corinna asked. "If we're all dancing at once—"
"We can hum," Juliana said.
"We cannot all be dancing at once," Alexandra pointed out, moving the inkwell back to where she liked it. "Tris is the only man."
"I take offense to that," Griffin said in a tone laced with pretended outrage.
"You don't know the dance."
Tris lifted a quill. "He can dance while he learns. But we'll need a third man." Looking contemplative, he stroked his chin with the end of the feather. "I know. Boniface."
"Boniface?" Juliana scoffed. "Butlers don't dance."
Tris raised a brow. "Butlers do as they're told." He reached with the quill to tap Griffin on the nose. "Go inform him. You're the lord around here."
Griffin batted the feather away and stood. "I'm doing this only because I want to see Boniface's expression when I tell him," he claimed in a transparent attempt to retain his dignity.
"I want to see his face, too," Juliana said and quickly followed him. "Corinna?"
"Wouldn't want to miss this." Corinna dropped her palette and ran after them both.
A Lady of Distinction would find her sisters quite vulgar, Alexandra thought. Releasing a long sigh, she rubbed her forehead.
"Have you
