There was a smile on Lily’s lips, but it was forced and her blue eyes were hard.
“Yes, thank you.”
“Well, it is not everyone who can say that the first dance they ever danced in London was with the most eligible bachelor in England. You are a very lucky girl,” Lily said tartly.
“He would not have danced with me ‒ if you had not told him to,” Cornelia replied and wondered why it hurt her to say the words.
“Why does your niece wear darkened spectacles?” someone asked.
It was Lady Russell, a petulant beauty with a reputation of speaking her mind, however discomforting, to other people.
“She injured her eyes out hunting,” Lily replied. “Nothing serious, but she tells me that she has been ordered to keep them on for the next few months. So tiresome for the poor child. But then I always di
