Tracking Silas down proved more difficult than Caroline had expected. The day after the Oldhams’ ball, he left for Edinburgh to lecture on his experiments. From there, he went to Paris for meetings at the Sorbonne. When he returned, he retreated to his estates in Leicestershire. Fenella didn’t look particularly cast down by his absence, but Caroline wasn’t hypocrite enough to encourage confidences about her friend’s well-traveled beau.
The season capered toward its end. Caroline made a gallant effort to garner the same enjoyment from the endless round of social events as she had at the beginning. But without Silas, the excitement had gone.
She kept up the pretense that she pursued Lord West, but she doubted even he was convinced of her interest. In all these weeks, they hadn’t moved beyond some harmless flirtation and a few dances. She told herself the best cure for pining after Silas was another man’s attention. But she couldn’t make herself take that last step toward seducing West. And so far, he’d done nothing to deepen their intimacy.
She was surprised that Silas had spoken so slightingly of the man. He was good company and the admiration in his eyes staved off self-pity.
Yes, she liked Lord West but he would never set her heart cartwheeling. Only one man did that. And she’d give away penny of her impressive fortune to change that unwelcome fact.