Blythe hoped that she looked effectively disinterested as she picked at her cuticles. “No, she’s not. I’m afraid you’ll have to settle for having just me around for a while.” She felt a little flutter of satisfaction when his eyes grew dark. Blythe didn’t want Aris as her enemy, especially when she might very well need his help. Still, it was remarkably satisfying to see him riled.
“What do you mean by that?” His voice was a deep baritone that drew the attention of men several feet ahead of them. It was a commanding voice. One that oozed power, and that she had every intention of ignoring.
“Miss Farrow has left Celadon.” It was Eliza who answered, keeping her own voice delectably sweet. She looked prim and innocent from where she sat atop a sleek chestnut stallion meticulously cared for and whose neck Eliza stroked absently.
Though she knew Eliza wanted only to make herself part of the conversation, Blythe was glad that she was the one who broke the news. While he did a fine job at masking it, the heat of Prince Aris’s annoyance beat against Blythe like a current. She turned her attention to her borrowed horse, suddenly finding its coat remarkably fascinating.
“I see.” Aris’s tone held no inflection. “And when are you expecting her to return?”
“Not for a long while, I suspect.” Eliza sat taller. “She moved back to her family’s home. I imagine she’ll be settling in. None of us had any idea she was leaving; it was all very sudden.”
Eliza could barely manage to conceal her pleasure at reporting this, and Blythe was surprised at her own reaction of annoyance. She had to remind herself that it was good that there was someone else who didn’t want Signa to return. Perhaps for a very different reason, but still.
Blythe shouldn’t have been annoyed; she should have been glad. She should hate Signa with every fiber of her being and never want to see her cousin again, instead of being plagued by such stupid, frustrating worries about how Signa was faring in her new home.
She shouldn’t care. She shouldn’t keep thinking about how Signa had admitted things too easily, and that there were pieces to her story that didn’t make sense.
What reason would she have had to kill Percy? She didn’t need the money. And Signa certainly hadn’t seemed bad by nature, just a little odd. So why, then?
Only when the horse twitched beneath her did Blythe stir, noticing that Prince Aris’s eyes were practically boring into her. She adjusted her hat’s strap and said nothing.
Ahead, a voice called out something indistinguishable and the hounds took off, riders on horseback keeping a close distance. Blythe’s own mount didn’t wait for the command before it followed suit. She gasped and held tightly on to the reins as it burst forward.
Everett was at the head of the group, leading the charge. Aris should have been up there with him and the other men, yet no one seemed to miss him when he ruined Blythe’s plans to corner Eliza by keeping back with them. It was strange how easily he seemed to maneuver through society. A thousand people should have been clamoring to get at him, yet he navigated easily, unbothered by a single soul. Blythe wondered what he’d done—or how unapproachable everyone else must have found him—to earn such freedom.
With a snap of the reins, Eliza moved beside Aris. “Are there many fox hunts in Verena?”
Given how severe his face became at the question, one would believe she’d asked whether his mother was a woman of the streets. “Hardly. I have no taste for the sport. If it takes this many people and their hounds to catch a fox, it seems that everyone’s time would be better spent elsewhere.”
Blythe agreed, though she didn’t voice her opinion or her surprise at how plainly he spoke of his distaste, especially in front of a Wakefield. Eliza cleared her throat, only a little thrown from her pursuit. “All the same, I’m glad you came. Perhaps you’ll find that you enjoy it more than you expected. The Wakefield family has been breeding hounds for these hunts for generations.”
It was certainly a lovely morning, early enough that even the birds were still rousing, with weather clear and mild enough to see endlessly ahead. Still, Blythe didn’t have much of a taste for the hunt and preferred to keep at the back of the group and far from where she’d witness anything. Her entire purpose was to see what information she might glean, and while she had hoped to get Eliza alone before she started prying, it seemed there was no choice but to begin.
“I imagine it’s been the furthest thing from his mind, but has Everett had his eye on anyone this season?” she asked. It was similar to the question she’d asked at tea, though this time Eliza sported a scowl so remarkably well practiced that Blythe couldn’t feel that bad for being on the receiving end of it. It was rude to gossip, especially in such company, but Blythe didn’t care what Aris thought. If anything, he looked as curious as Blythe.