Nesah pressed her thin lips together until they almost disappeared when she observed the girl's eyes following the nobleman. Fine! Clearly this one was a dumb sheep as well. A pretty one, but dumb, she reflected bitterly. "It was still rude," she replied, when the injured girl said it had been her own fault. But Nesah's voice now carried a hint of indifference.

She turned her eyes to the object of all this female attention and to her great annoyance she saw Douglas walking back over to them. It took all her self-restraint not to snap at him and tell him that actually, nobody had asked for his address, but she was still glad he handed the note to her and not to the pretty girl next to her. She did not reply, but forced another smile and took the note. The smile dropped the moment Douglas turned his back on them. As soon as he had left, Nesah turned back to the girl, smiled, and pocketed the address, without as much as showing it to the young lady. "Well, have a good day then," she said, and she turned and walked back to her table.

Her eyes shifted toward Nesah when she heard the change in the woman's voice. Now, what on earth could have happened? She was about to open her mouth to speak when the nobleman returned to slip a piece of paper to the older woman. She watched the man walk away, then turned in surprise when Nesah turned dismissive and said her goodbye. Pippa noticed the paper that had been handed over was no longer visible, and her brows furrowed ever so slightly. Well.

The young miss heaved a sigh and soon found her way to the exit as well, not caring that it looked like she was following the man out. Let the woman think what she will!