The Countess Conspiracy

The Countess Conspiracy (2013) Courtney Milan

Set in England in 1867

And this, this is my favorite story in this series.

There was nothing shameful about the figure Sebastian was pointing to, not unless one harbored an irrational hatred for bar charts.

“Don’t worry,” Sebastian told Violet’s niece. “I’ll try not to seduce you on the spot.”

Violet felt a headache starting to form, sharp little pinpricks in her forehead. “Sebastian, you can’t talk of seduction to my unmarried niece.”

Another man might have blushed and apologized. But Sebastian just gave her a cocky smile and a wink. “I wasn’t talking of seduction,” he said. “I was talking of not seduction, which, as I’m sure you have surmised, is the exact opposite of seduction.”

“That’s specious,” Violet retorted. “If I asked you not to talk of elephants and you wandered around bellowing about not-elephants, you’d be mentioning elephants with every breath. The column of all things that are not elephants includes marsupials, canines—”

“The column of everything that is not an elephant does not include not-elephants?” he inquired, innocently examining his nails. “That’s counter-intuitive.”

“The column of conversational topics,” Violet stressed, “that are not elephant related does not include a discussion of the elephant-shaped hole in the conversation!”

You think it’s hard spending time with me? Imagine being a blacksmith puzzle made by a madman. You’re unable to perform the basic functions of your existence. You never bring anyone joy. You learn not to hope when someone picks you up. Because no matter how high their anticipation runs upon starting, you know what will happen in the end: They’ll throw you away in disgust.”

Oh. Look. Almost crying again.

“Come, Violet. I know better than to woo you with confusing data sets.”

“Clearly, you don’t know me as well as you think. Confusing data sets are my specialty.”

I love this story so very much.
Rating: 10/10

Published by Courtney Milan

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