Dora got back to her feet and retrieved her gloves from the bench where she’d left them. “I do not mean to do scandalous things,” she told him. “But I will try harder to keep my head about me.” She bowed her head politely. “I appreciate your engagement in my troubles, Lord Sorcier. I hope you do not go to too much trouble on my behalf.”
“I go to exactly as much trouble as I like,” Elias told her, with another wry half-smile. “And none but the Prince Regent can force me to do otherwise, I assure you.” He paused. “Sometimes even he has his difficulties.”
Dora pulled her gloves onto her hands. “I will thank you, nonetheless,” she said. “But I must excuse myself. Lady Carroway expressed that she would like to speak with me tonight, and I cannot avoid her without being terribly rude.”
Elias stepped neatly out of her way, as she headed back into the party.
At least, Dora thought, as she snuck her way back towards the ballroom, Vanessa is not interested in marrying the Lord Sorcier after all. But the idea had now struck her that perhaps Vanessa had actually dragged them all to London only to find a cure for Dora, and that bothered her as well.
Soon, Dora knew, she was going to have to corner her cousin and demand an explanation.
It didn’t take much searching to find Vanessa in the ballroom. Dora’s cousin had gathered a respectable crowd of both men and women around her. Vanessa was so generous with her attention and her approval that this often happened, as people discovered in her a genuinely interested listener and slowly flocked to tell her their favourite party stories. Already, the older women showed signs of doting on her, and the eligible men began to size up their chances with her.
As Dora approached, however, Vanessa’s eyes caught on her, and she moved to make room for her cousin. “Dora!” she said. “Your dress! How did you get it so clean?” Her brow knitted as she noted the subtle change in colour. Few people in the room would probably remember the difference between the light pink dress Dora had worn before and the white one that she wore now—but since it had been Vanessa’s own dress, she was bound to spot the oddity.
“The stain wasn’t quite so bad after all,” Dora told her. “Though it did take some work.” She ventured onward before Vanessa could ask further questions. “There are so many people here,” Dora said. “I’ve never been quite so overwhelmed before. I was hoping you might join me for a moment on the balcony?”
Vanessa nodded and turned instantly to give her apologies to those closest to her. At least one man who had been hovering with the clear intent to ask for a dance stepped back awkwardly to let her pass. Vanessa took Dora by the arm, and the two of them headed towards the balcony.
“Normally, you must worry when you leave me alone,” Dora told her cousin in a quiet voice, as they crossed the room. “But see—I left you for only a moment, and you have spilled our family’s worst secret to the Lord Sorcier. What were you thinking, Vanessa?”
Vanessa frowned. “I was thinking that if anyone might be able to cure you, Dora, it would be the magician who does three impossible things before breakfast,” she retorted. “And I was right, wasn’t I? He said that he would investigate the matter.”
“It was very careless of you,” Dora replied calmly. “Now tell me the truth, Vanessa—are you really here to find a husband, or did you simply come to London to find the Lord Sorcier?”
Vanessa bit her lower lip, and Dora sighed. Just as I thought.
They exited onto the balcony, and Vanessa carefully closed the door behind them. “I offered to marry the Lord Sorcier if he could fix you,” she admitted, when the door had closed. “I know it isn’t much of an offer for a man of his position, but I hadn’t much else to propose, and I fear I panicked somewhat.”
Dora shook her head in disappointment. “I warned you what an awful man he was,” she said. “Please tell me he didn’t accept your offer?”
Vanessa had the good grace to look embarrassed at this. “He did not,” she admitted. “He said that if he wanted something pretty to place on his mantle, he could buy something much less expensive than a wife. But he did say that he would try to cure you anyway, Dora, and that’s what matters.”
“It is not what matters,” Dora informed her. “For we are now in London, and Auntie Frances and the countess are on the warpath. If I do not miss my mark, you shall have a husband soon whether you want one or not, Vanessa. You had best start thinking about what sort of husband you’d like, before they choose one for you.”
Vanessa clasped her hands behind her, looking down at the ground. “I greatly dislike the way they talk about tricking some man into marrying me,” she sighed. “Is it naive of me that I thought I might simply meet someone agreeable and then ask whether they found me agreeable?”
“Very naive,” Dora confirmed. “Auntie Frances has always said that you ought to be a princess. I am surprised that she is willing to entertain even something so low as a viscount-in-waiting, given her aspirations.”
Vanessa winced. “I’m quite sure that I’ve danced with every one of Lady Carroway’s sons by now,” she said. “There is not a thing wrong with any of them, except that I cannot yet remember which face goes with which name.”
“Except for Albert,
