Lady Lockwood pulled the first tray closer and began sorting.
She scanned one invitation.
“Important.”
It went to her right.
She opened another.
“Dangerous.”
That one went left.
Aurelian leaned forward.
“Dangerous?”
“Marriage-minded hostess.
Three unmarried daughters, two unmarried nieces, and a garden maze.”
Echo grimaced.
“Definitely dangerous.”
Aurelian looked again at the envelope.
He could not decide whether the garden maze improved or worsened the situation.
The next invitation landed near the first.
“Useful.”
“What makes that useful?” Aurelian asked.
“The host controls grain routes leading into the western territories.
Bellafonte produces goods that could benefit from those routes.”
That caught Aurelian’s interest immediately.
He leaned closer.
“What portion of the western routes?”
Lady Lockwood glanced at him.
There was the faintest change in her expression.
Approval, perhaps.
“Several of the major inland roads.”
Aurelian looked again at the invitation, this time with considerably greater interest.
Lady Lockwood noticed.
“Social gatherings are not merely places to drink tea and avoid embarrassment.
Alliances form there.
Contracts begin there.
Reputations change there.”
“I am beginning to understand.”
“No,” Echo said.
“You are beginning to understand that people gossip.”
“That is the foundation of noble society,” Lady Lockwood replied.
Carina coughed into her hand.
Aurelian suspected she was hiding another smile.
Lady Lockwood continued sorting.
The process soon became strangely efficient.
Some invitations earned only a glance before being assigned a place.
Others she read in full, questioned Carina about, or handed to Echo for confirmation.
Before long, the desk held several distinct piles.
Important.
Useful.
Dangerous.
Unnecessary.
Absolutely not.
A smaller pile appeared last.
Aurelian pointed toward it.
“And those?”
“Marriage ambushes.”
“I feel those belong under dangerous.”
“Some are dangerous enough to deserve specificity.”
Echo appeared delighted by the entire process.
“I should have created that category weeks ago.”
“You did not need it weeks ago,” Lady Lockwood said.
“He was not nearly this popular.”
Aurelian was not certain whether to be pleased or alarmed.
Lady Lockwood lifted an invitation bearing a black wax seal.
“This one is an absolute refusal.”
“Why?”
“The host releases hunting dogs into the ballroom for entertainment.”
Aurelian blinked.
“What is wrong with the dogs?”
Echo lowered her cup.
Aurelian spoke.
“I would like to attend that one.”
“You will not,” Echo said.
“I am no longer under your guidance.”
“You are still within reach.”
Aurelian looked at the black-sealed invitation once more.
He still wanted to know what was wrong with the dogs.
For nearly an hour, Lady Lockwood worked through the correspondence while questioning Aurelian about his family’s trade relationships, people he had met, families his parents already knew, and names he had apparently allowed to vanish from his memory the moment introductions ended.
“Lord Cheswick?” she asked.
Aurelian hesitated.
“Tall?”
“That describes half the men in court.”
“Brown hair?”
“That describes the other half.”
Echo laughed into her tea.
Whenever Aurelian gave an uncertain answer, Lady Lockwood made a note.
Whenever he admitted he had forgotten someone entirely, she made two.
At one point, Aurelian attempted to see what she was writing.
Lady Lockwood turned the page away from him.
“That concerns me.”
“It concerns me more.”
He decided not to ask again.
By the time they reached the final stack, the light beyond the study windows had shifted farther across the floor.
Echo looked somewhat more awake after several cups of tea, while Carina had quietly joined Lady Lockwood in identifying families with established connections to Bellafonte.
Aurelian had acquired a headache.
At last, Lady Lockwood selected several invitations and arranged them in a neat row across the desk.
“These are the events you will attend.”
Aurelian stared at them.
“All of them?”
“Yes.”
“In the same week?”
“Yes.”
“Is that necessary?”
“No.
It is expected.”
His expression fell.
Echo smiled sympathetically from the couch.
Lady Lockwood tapped each envelope in turn.
“Countess D’Aubrey’s luncheon.
An evening musicale at the Thierry estate.
A royal charitable exhibition.”
Aurelian recognized the Thierry name, which eased some of his apprehension.
Then Lady Lockwood touched the final invitation.
“And Lord Varian’s gathering.”
Aurelian recognized the seal immediately and picked it up.
“At least I know Varian.”
“That does not mean you understand his friends,” Lady Lockwood said.
Aurelian turned the invitation over.
“What sort of gathering?”
“One where you will listen more than you speak,” Lady Lockwood said.
Echo smiled sympathetically.
“That may be his greatest challenge yet.”
Aurelian looked at her.
“I can listen.”
“You can,” she agreed.
“Whether you will once someone says something foolish is another matter.”
Lady Lockwood ignored her.
“It is an opportunity to understand the sort of men who believe themselves responsible for governing noble society.”
That made Aurelian pause.
He looked down at the four invitations lined neatly across the desk.
A week earlier, he had wanted nothing more than to survive one welcome tea without embarrassing himself or his family.
Now he was being sent to luncheons, musicales, royal exhibitions, and private gatherings where alliances were formed and reputations shaped.
Somewhere along the way, the season had stopped being merely something he needed to endure.
It had become an education.
A rather relentless one.
Aurelian glanced toward Lady Lockwood.
She had already pulled a fresh sheet of paper toward herself and was apparently beginning a schedule.
He sighed.
Lady Lockwood looked up.
“Is there a problem?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Her pen touched the page.
Aurelian looked once more at the invitations.
Lady Lockwood was apparently scheduling his education by the day.