Rivals of Fortune / The Impetuous Heiress by Jane Ashford Page B

talking for hours yet. We may as well go to bed, Joanna.”
    The girl nodded.
    â€œAre you tired?”
    Joanna considered. “No,” she said, “not at all.”
    Her mother laughed. “Well, I am. Come let us go.” And arm in arm, they walked up the stairs and toward the bedrooms.

Eight
    The next morning after breakfast, Joanna returned to her room and sat down at the window, gazing thoughtfully out over the fields. She had been wondering at herself since last night, puzzled by her own reactions. It had always seemed to Joanna that she understood her feelings very well. But now, she was not so sure. Could her mother have been right after all? Had she never really loved Peter? Last night, when she had spoken to him for the first time in weeks, she had been amazed at her relative indifference. After a moment of tumult and embarrassment, she had felt almost nothing. She pitied Peter and wished him well, but that was all.
    This realization led her to another less welcome one. If she had so misunderstood herself over this very serious matter, could she trust her own evaluation of any of her feelings? The possibility that she had no very clear knowledge of herself made Joanna distinctly uneasy.
    She tried to talk this over with Selina when she came for a visit that afternoon, but the younger girl wanted instead to hear the details of the party she had missed. “Tell me everything,” she insisted as they sat together in the rose arbor. “My mother noticed nothing important, I declare. She spent the whole evening talking with Mrs. Townsend.”
    Joanna obligingly told her what had occurred and with whom she had danced.
    â€œSir Rollin first,” sighed Selina. “And was he very elegant?”
    Joanna nodded. “The most modish man at the party.”
    The other girl clasped her hands. “To lead off with the most modish man present,” she sighed. “Did Jack Townsend wear his spotted neckerchief?” When Joanna shook her head, Selina smiled. “I knew his father would forbid it. Jack insisted it was the latest thing, but his father says the kerchief makes him look like a groom. I knew he wouldn’t wear it, whatever he said.”
    Joanna shrugged.
    â€œDid she dance?” added Selina portentously.
    The other girl nodded, not having to ask whom she meant. “Several times. First with Mr. Townsend and later with Mr. Erland and Jack.”
    Selina’s eyes bulged. “Was she very splendid? I daresay she overdressed and could not dance nearly so well as you, Joanna.”
    Joanna considered. “She wore emerald silk and ribbons, a bit too much trimming, perhaps. But she danced very well, I must say.”
    Selina shrugged. “I’m certain you were much prettier in yellow. What a fine gown that is. I should like one just like it.”
    Privately thinking that yellow might not become her sandy-haired friend, Joanna nodded. “Yes, it is pretty. Poor Constance chose green, and she was put out that Mrs. Finley wore it also. Though her dress showed more taste, I thought,” she added generously.
    Selina tittered. “Poor Constance, I daresay,” she added.
    Joanna did not notice the venom in her tone. “You know,” she continued, “Constance is really quite nice. I’m beginning to like her very much. I am to go to tea at the vicarage today. It is nearly four; I must think of getting ready.”
    Selina bridled. “Tea at the vicarage? But I thought we would take tea together. Perhaps here in the arbor, as we used to.”
    â€œWell, that would be delightful, but I cannot today,” replied Joanna, still unheeding.
    Selina stood. “Well, I do not mean to keep you, to be sure. Do not concern yourself with me. I shall go immediately.”
    Joanna looked up at her, astonished. “Why, what is the matter, Selina?”
    â€œPray think nothing about it,” retorted the other dramatically. “I’m