12 ATTRACTION WILL DO (2)

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CHAPTER 12

"Priscilla!"

Evelina ran frantically to her and gave her a hug from behind. She closed her eyes as the mango-cherry scent of her hair soap poured into her nostrils.

"You missed me that much?" With a giggle, the brunette turned to look at a very blushing Evelina.

"Get over yourself," was Evelina's droll response.

"In a heartbeat," said the brunette, smiling, "except that I cannot. I'm very glad to see you."

"Likewise." Evelina smiled back. "But why are you out here? When Abigail told me I had a guest and that I had to…"

"Step outside?"

Evelina nodded. "I didn't know that you were going to be my mysterious Guest."

"When was I not a mystery?"

"Um... five years ago?"

"You mean when my mother banished me because I was the bane of her existence? Sure, right." Priscilla said with a sniffle.

"Banishment might be a harsh word, Prissy. The Viscountess had no choice but to send you to a good place for your own betterment. We both know how much the Viscount's death has affected you."

Evelina needed her to get her facts straight, as much as she hated having to remind her of her father's death.

Everything the Viscountess - her mother - had done so far had been to her benefit. She was the one who had quickly fallen down the rabbit hole. She had become destructive not only to herself but to everyone around her. As such, it was only logical that a timely intervention should be carried out.

Evelina had taken it upon herself to speak to her mother in an attempt to influence the Viscountess's decision to send Priscilla to the apothecary for treatment.

She had suggested that Priscilla be sent to live with some distant relatives instead, knowing full well how much Prissy hated drugs and being considered ill. She also secretly feared the kind of treatment her friend would get at the apothecary, and being away from familiar faces wouldn't be very helpful, so she'd strongly resisted.

In both of these situations Evelina knew that she would have to be away from Prissy, but in her mind one of those choices was far better than the other.

To this day, Priscilla doesn't know of her involvement.

"Well, Spain was anything but. For one thing, Garsea and Nuño know so little about giving a girl some privacy. And don't get me started on their chatty older sister, Elvira. I didn't get a moment's peace from those three the whole time I was in that house."

Evelina chuckled. "You look quite refreshed to me. Come. Let's sit over there!"

They linked arms, shoes crunching on the tufts of grass that covered the floors of the spinney. The area in front of them overlooked the game birds that had gathered to bask in the late morning air.

Evelina's eyes were drawn instead to the clean lake in the middle of the grove. And to the little ducks swimming in it.

"It's so good to have you back, Prissy," Evelina said as soon as they'd sat down on the level grass sloping down towards the lake. "So much has happened in the time since you have been away."

"I think I've got some information about what happened, such as the fact that you've already turned down thirty potential suitors."

"What?! Thirty?! I don't think I've turned down that many!" Evelina tilted her head in time with her exclamation. She looked at Priscilla. "You're not allowed to know so much from so far away."

"My mother used to write to me every week." Priscilla closed her eyes and opened them again.

"She did not!"

"How else do you think I was able to find out about it? Her letters were always up to date, and when she wrote to me about the debutants last season, she explained how you easily earned the title of Diamond of the First Water.

"There were so many suitors lining up at your door after that, and even the Countess used to brag about it all the time. Sometimes in a way that secretly irritated my mother, but they never had a fight or anything like that.

"And since the two of them have been friends for so long, Mother didn't think to cause her pain by pointing out that your indecisiveness in choosing one of these men was making her lose face in the eyes of the other mothers in her social circle.

"Even Lady Galloway's nasty daughter has managed to snatch up a gentleman for herself in the several months that you've been dragging your feet on your decision.

"Just think, good ol' Anna will become a bride in front of both of us."

"Yes. I have news of her engagement to a fine country lad in Statestown."

"And this could have been avoided if you had chosen one of the options that were put in front of you," Priscilla accused.

"Not a single one of them met my criteria, Prissy."

"And what might that criterion be? You literally have the most luck that many girls would kill for. I hear that even the Prince is after you these days, but you still refuse?"

Priscilla's accusation made her stomach knot and left a bitter taste in her mouth. And it wasn't that what she had said was wrong. It wasn't, it was uncomfortably the kind that made her want to let out how stuck in her beliefs she had been in search of a match; her twin flame. He had to be out there.

Was she wrong?

Was she wrong to believe in love before marriage? She'd always wanted the kind of man who would see her as a person, not as an object to be beautified in his home, without an opinion of her own.

But Evelina could not say these things to Priscilla. Since their friendship had been strained by five years of separation, she had little to work with. They were practically strangers at the moment and needed time to get back on the same page, and she was not too keen on sounding stupid to anyone, not even her best friend since childhood.

"I have my reasons for rejecting the Prince," She said instead.

At that, Priscilla sighed and fell silent for an outrageously long time. Then she moistened her lips and prepared to speak again. "Mother wants to marry me to the current Duke."

"No way!"

Priscilla nodded. "That's why she brought me back. In her words, she refused to let me debut last season because she was saving me for a time like this. She hasn't stopped talking about how extravagant our wedding will be since I came back yesterday, along with the seven sweet bundles of joy she hopes our union will produce."

"This is outrageous. I mean, have you even met this man? And she's already talking about you giving her grand babies. Tsk."

Priscilla almost laughed at Evelina's passionate response, but for several reasons she decided not to. This was partly because she understood the angle from which Evelina saw her situation, and above all how much she meant well for her.

"I know little of the man, the Duke. He and Colin formed a bond at some point in London, but I personally don't know what he's like." Priscilla said instead.

"Speaking of Colin, I haven't seen him since we were kids, but I hear he's doing well in his new position as Viscount."

"He is. You wouldn't believe how much he's grown. He is even muscular now and particularly handsome. Yuck! If he hadn't been so arrogant in his rampage, sleeping with several women and breaking their hearts, he could have made a fine husband to someone like you." Priscilla ended by hissing

Evelina laughed.

"Then it's a good thing my heart doesn't come with a fragile label. It can't be broken so easily."

"You should think that."

"Oh, I know." Evelina said matter-of-factly.

"I wouldn't be too sure. It is said that the Duke has the reputation of making any woman's heart swoon, and that he is a sexual beast. Imagine if I gave him to you," Priscilla said.

"No, thank you. I am not interested in a man whose purpose in life is to take everything in skirts."

"So you have heard the rumours too." Priscilla sounded almost amused.

Evelina straightened up her back. "I have, and I wonder why every girl is crazy about him. He's only been here a few weeks and he's already slept with half the ton."

Priscilla smiled now. "Men like him are disgusting to you, I recall."

"Colossally revolting," Evelina said with a sneer.

Priscilla thought long and hard for a minute. "If I end up married to the Duke, will I no longer deserve to be your friend?"

"You'll get a better husband, Prissy."

"That was not the question I was asking. Will you hate me if it turns out to be him?"

Evelina turned to catch the thread of despair that ran through her friend's eyes. For some reason, it felt as if Prissy was hanging on her answer to that question, more like she needed a favourable answer to spur her on to her next course of action, whatever that might be. She was curious to find out.

"I could never hate you, Prissy. You know that." Which was true, because not even when Priscilla had gone spiraling and pulled at her hair until her skull cracked, had she been able to bring herself to hate her. And since that had happened around the time Priscilla had lost her dad, she'd easily excused her behaviour as depression and vowed to get her help then.

"That is … good to know." Priscilla let out a sigh she hadn't realised she'd been holding for so long. She'd always been one to worry about what Evelina thought of her, and the years of separation hadn't diminished that fact.

"Now, did you doubt that I would?"

"Given how determined I am to see this agenda through, the thought has crossed my mind."

"What does that mean? You want to marry the Duke?" Evelina's azure eyes pierced her melting brown ones, but Prissy looked at the lake instead. "The view from this side is lovely, as lovely as I remember it being," she said with a smile.

Evelina jumped up and stood in front of her, making herself the focus of the girl's attention in the blink of an eye. "You did not think that you would be able to change the conversation at hand so easily, did you?" Arms crossed, she looked at Prissy for some sort of explanation, but her arms weren't the only parts of her body that were crossed with the seated girl at the moment.

"Do you really have to give me those eyes?"

"When my best friend is clearly out of her mind, I may even spank you. What did you mean about marrying the Duke? This man is nowhere near good enough for you." Evelina put her hands down and let them sling to her sides.

Priscilla just smiled. "I'm very different from you, Lina," she began. "It's true that Mother's plan mostly sounds ridiculous, but arranged marriages are not unheard of. And since I skipped my debut last season, this is the only chance I've got to avoid being an old maid.

Just think. It's a win-win if Mother can arrange for me to be the Duke's choice.

"I get to be a Duchess and escape being called a spinster, and then the Duke is also attractive to look at, or so I've heard, which is a plus, or else the other girls wouldn't be swooning around him like bees just to get his attention."

"But Prissy, you're going to be married to a man who cares very little for you... and he's going to hurt you a lot by not being faithful to you."

"I've given it a lot of thought and it's just the way the world works. So there is no point in fighting. Men are applauded for being rakes, whereas as women we are expected to be chaste and faithful to our husbands."

"Why does that sound so depressing?" Evelina said, collapsing back onto the grass.

"Because it is." Priscilla let out a sigh. "You should consider agreeing to the Prince's request before you become a -"

"What? An old hag?"

"A Spinster."

"See if I care." Evelina muttered angrily, then crossed her arms.

"Maybe you ought to." Priscilla said softly.

"All I can say is that you've changed so much in our time apart. I somehow expected you to want more. What happened to the conversations we used to have?" Evelina sighed and looked at the waterfowl.

"Fanciful ideas, Lina. That kind of fantasy belongs to Lala Land, not the real world. More what? Do you think Henrietta married Archibald just for love? Affection?"

"They look so good together and Archibald adores Hetty. They're even expecting their second child!"

"For one thing, you only know what Henrietta told you. I doubt very much that Archibald fell in love with her at first sight. They may simply have decided that they worked well together and that marriage was worth a try.

"What you see now is the result of many months of commitment, initially fuelled by a feeling of attraction. Have you never felt attracted to any of your suitors in the past, or even to the prince?"

"I can't believe you, Prissy." Evelina gasped loudly. "Don't you believe in love anymore?"

"If you want to know if I fantasise about it. What girl doesn't? The butterflies in my stomach, the electric sparks when our fingers touch, the longing eye contact, all of it. Of course I think about such things in my quiet hour, but I'm not deluded enough to put much faith in it. Not when my future is clearly at stake.

"Nevertheless, Lady Featherstonehaugh is giving a ball next fortnight and the Duke is expected."

"You really mean to do it, don't you?"

"Go to the ball?"

"Seduce the Duke," Evelina said flatly.

"Hm." Priscilla sighed. "Get up! You're to follow me to pick up my dress and one for yourself in return."

She shot up, holding out her hand, expecting Evelina to take it.

"Not happening!" Evelina said, slapping her hand away.

"Are you saying you're not coming to the Ball with me?"

"You have decided to do such stupid things on your own. So count me out of your plans completely."

"But Lina?" Priscilla purred softly.

"That tone would not work on me. There's nothing you can say that will make me do what you want me to do. Go and visit the dressmaker on your own. I'm not going with you." Evelina said, standing her ground.