Chapter Fifteen
Edward just couldn’t see himself enjoying an evening of intellectual conversation at Lady Sorrell’s soirée. He was pretty certain that Miss Kendrick would find it just as dull. He could have gone to another party—he’d been invited to three that evening, but after avoiding socializing for so long, he just wasn’t used to it. No, he needed a quiet evening.
He’d tried sitting at home with a book, but it was too quiet, and he was certain Elizabeth would have scolded him horribly for retreating back into his own cocoon. He compromised by going to Powell’s.
There were relatively few gentlemen about this early in the evening, but there were enough so that Edward wasn’t entirely alone in the reading room. He settled down with a glass of rum and the newspaper.
“A quiet evening, m
