"Where is everyone?" Amanda asked.
A rather inane question, considering the Pevenseys' drawing room was teeming with people. But all of them—save Lord Malmsey and a few doddering old men—were female. Remembering the way James and the duke had reacted to her invitation last night, Juliana sighed. "I collect most gentlemen would prefer to sit through Parliament than an evening of music."
"Except for Lord Malmsey," Amanda said.
"If it weren't for Aunt Frances, he'd probably be at Parliament, too." Indeed, Lord Malmsey had made a beeline for Frances the moment they'd walked in the door. The two of them were off in a corner, whispering, even now.
Whispering endearments, no doubt. Lord Malmsey was looking more and more in love—and more miserable that he had to marry Amanda—every day. Juliana wished more than ever that Lord Malmsey could cry off the wedding, but wishing didn't change the facts. It just wasn't possible, not if he ever wanted to show his face in society again.
Amanda clutched Juliana's arm. "I need to talk to you."
"About what?"
"My father," she said, looking even more miserable than Lord Malmsey.
If Frances knew Lord Malmsey was engaged, she'd look more miserable than both of them put together. Juliana's projects all seemed to be falling apart. She still hadn't figured out how to break the news to the duke or her brother. "What about your father?" she asked Amanda.
But before Amanda could answer, Lady Stafford waltzed up. "Good evening, Lady Juliana!" All smiles in contrast to everyone else, James's mother was accompanied by Lord Cavanaugh, who, while older than Lord Malmsey, at least wasn't in his dotage. "It's a pleasure to see you here."
"I adore music," Juliana said. "I was pleased to receive an invitation to Lady Pevensey's musical evening."
"This is your first season, isn't it?" Lord Cavanaugh asked dryly.
"Oh, hush," Lady Stafford said. "Lady Pevensey's musical evenings are always enchanting." She turned back to Juliana. "Are you attending Lady Hartley's breakfast on Sunday?"
"I haven't decided. I'm supposed to have a sewing party."
"Oh, you must attend—it's the event of the season. Everyone will be there."
"Including your sisters?"
"Without a doubt. I must tell you, my sisters are thoroughly enjoying your sewing parties. They haven't called on my son for an examination in two entire days."
"I have only four sewing parties left before the baby clothes are due." Three if she went to Lady Hartley's breakfast, which she might as well do if no one would be available to attend her sewing party anyway. "I told Lord Stafford his aunts would have less time to ponder their health if gentlemen were courting them, but he said they wouldn't be interested."
Lady Stafford flashed Lord Cavanaugh, who was courting her, a fond smile. "My sisters are older and set in their ways."
"I believe they're bored and need something to do. Something to get them out of their house after my sewing project is complete."
"Perhaps you're right, dear. They've been helping me renovate one of Stafford House's bedrooms, but that will be finished soon, too. I cannot imagine what else to suggest to occupy them after that. I've tried to talk them into redecorating their own house, but they won't hear of it."
Standing on the temporary stage she'd had erected in her drawing room, Lady Pevensey clapped her hands. "If you'll all take your seats, we're ready to begin!"
"I shall think about your sisters," Juliana promised Lady Stafford before turning to find a seat. "There must be something they would find diverting."
Frances and Lord Malmsey had seated themselves in the last row, so she headed toward the front in order to give them some privacy. After this afternoon's party, she had a hundred and fifty-seven baby items completed, which meant she needed eighty-three more. That hadn't seemed an impossible task, with four parties remaining—slightly more than twenty items per party. Perfectly reasonable, especially if she made a few by herself in between. But with only three parties…
"We need to talk." As she slid onto a first-row chair, Amanda grabbed her arm. "We cannot talk in the front, right in the faces of the musicians."
Juliana didn't want to talk; she wanted to listen. Though she normally spent hours playing the harp, all her projects had left her scant time for any music of late. But her friend looked panicked. "Very well," she said, walking around to take a chair in a middle row. "What do you need to tell me about your father?"
Amanda took the chair beside her. "I've received word that he'll be arriving in three days. Early Sunday evening." She clutched her hands together in her lap, perhaps to keep them from trembling. "He's coming to see to the final details of my wedding."
Juliana patted her on the arm. "We still have time—"
"No, we don't! It's scheduled for a week from Saturday, and—"
"Ladies and gentlemen," Lady Pevensey announced, "I'm honored to introduce our first guest musicians. Miss Harriet Kent will perform Mozart's Sonata in C Major on the pianoforte, accompanied by her sister, Miss Hillary Kent, on the violin."
The room fell silent while the Kent sisters minced their way to the stage.
"A week from Saturday," Amanda repeated, "and—"
"Shh!" someone hissed behind them.
Juliana laid a hand over Amanda's clenched ones. "Wait," she whispered.
Her friend waited, tense as the younger Miss Kent's bowstrings. When the lively notes of the first movement filled the air, she wasted no time before resuming their conversation in a lower tone. "My wedding is a week from Saturday. My time is running out. I need James to compromise me—I must try again to trick him."
"You must not!"
"Shh!" someone else hissed.
"You must not," Juliana repeated in a whisper. "That would be unethical and dishonest. We shouldn't have tried it the first time, and I won't try it again."
"We have no choice!"
"Shh!"
"Shh!"
"Shh!"
Juliana twisted in her chair to glance behind her. Several people were glaring. All women. A couple of the aging men were already nodding off. "Hush," she murmured, turning back to Amanda. "Of course you have a choice. You
