Kate and Mirabelle looked blank.
“It does seem notable that one may waltz,” Sophie continued, “as well as dance a waltz.”
Kate thought about that for a moment. “I waltz, you waltz, he, she, it waltzes…you’re quite right, Sophie.” She turned her attention back to Mirabelle. “It’s not as if one may say ‘I was quadrilling with Mr. so-and-so,’ or ‘Thank you, Lord Whomever, I enjoyed reeling with you.’ Not without sounding foolish anyway.”
“Oh very well,” Mirabelle conceded with a chuckle. “I’m not entirely certain it’s incorrect to refer to oneself as having been quadrilling, but I will grant that it’s highly undesirable.”
“And alter your future reports accordingly?” Kate inquired.
“If you insist,” Mirabelle sighed.
“Oh, I do.”
Mirabelle turned to Sophie with a rueful smile. “Kate’s been madly in love with Lord Martin since the tender age of eight,” she explained.
“I’ll not deny it,” Kate responded pertly. “And thank you, Sophie, for your assistance, it was very cleverly done. I so rarely win these arguments with Mirabelle and find I quite enjoy the sensation.”
“It’s not for lack of trying,” Mirabelle replied. “You would argue with a brick wall.”
Sophie laughed. “Perhaps you’d have fewer losses if you chose your battles more carefully.”
Kate snorted. “Where’s the fun in that?”
They finished their luncheon immersed in the same light sort of conversation. Sophie enjoyed every minute. She enjoyed the laughter, the closeness, the good-natured banter that never slipped anywhere close to the boundary of cruel. She enjoyed having friends. Yesterday she had enjoyed their company, but today she was enjoying their friendship.
She had real, honest-to-God friends.
The joyful headiness that accompanied that revelation was nearly overwhelming. Sophie had never had friends before. Not since her sister had died. These were young women her own age whose company she wanted to be in and who, in return, wanted her own. They included her in their jokes and tales, their secrets and dreams without awkwardness or artifice, and she felt accepted.
“Good Heavens,” Mirabelle cried, startling Sophie out of her reverie. “Look at the time!” She reached into her reticule and drew out a few coins which she placed on the table. “I’ll see you at your home, Kate. That should cover my share.”
Kate looked at the coins and sighed. “Won’t you let me—?”
She stopped at the sight of Mirabelle’s glare.
“Very well,” Kate muttered.
Sophie reached for her own bag. “Are you not returning with us, Mirabelle?”
Mirabelle shook her head. “No, I have another errand to run, but I won’t have you two late on my account. I’ll take a hackney back. And stop looking at me like that, Kate, I’ll take one of the footmen along with one of the maids, and your mother need never know.”
“I don’t mind waiting if you’d like,” Sophie offered.
“That’s kind of you, but I insist you return to your Mrs. Summers. She sounds a veritable hawk.”
“Usually,” Sophie said. “But she’s been remarkably lax of late.”
Mirabelle pressed a kiss on Kate’s cheek and then turned and did the same to Sophie. “I’ll see you tomorrow at tea then,” she said, and left.
It hadn’t been a request, but an open invitation. Sophie only barely managed to conceal the huge smile that would have reached from ear to ear and no doubt served to make her look half mad. She had friends.
Kate and Sophie settled their bills and headed out into the street to await their carriage. It really was a lovely day, sunny but with enough chill in the air that Sophie did not feel overheated in her layers of clothing.
“Our driver should be around any minute,” Kate remarked conversationally. “One of the…I say, what ever is that girl doing?”
Attempting to figure that out for herself, Sophie didn’t immediately answer. A young girl, or perhaps a woman—she was too swathed in rags for Sophie to make a reasonable determination of age—had skirted out to the very center of the street and crouched over the cobblestones. Her back was turned to the girls but even so, Sophie could see that she was digging at a gap between two stones with her fingers.
“Do you suppose she’s lost something?” Kate asked hopefully.