Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
“Ishould have canceled,” Genie whispered as she took Audrey’s arm and pulled her toward a potted lemon tree.
Glossy green leaves and bright yellow fruits hung from the branches, which, in contrast to the frigid, bleak weather outdoors, put Audrey in mind of a tropical island.
That had been Genie’s intent, and she’d purchased the shrubs from a hothouse just for this ball, the first she and Michael had hosted since George’s birth last November.
Limes and lemons and oranges brightened the ballroom in Lord and Lady Herrick’s Grosvenor Square home, and to play upon the theme, the women had been invited to wear gowns in all shades of bright colors.
But there was nothing cheery about the crowd that had turned out.
Lady Reed’s death was being attributed to the stress and shock of the murder of Eloisa Neatham, but the whispers of the ton suggested that doubts remained.
Audrey held reservations about it too, but she’d bit her tongue.
In fact, she hadn’t done a whole lot of speaking all day.
The previous afternoon, instead of rushing from her study to find Philip after the horrid intruder had fled, she’d poured herself a brandy and downed it to stop the quivering of her limbs.
The spirits had worked. However, they had also seemed to fuel a simmering fury within her.
She’d been bested. The intruder had followed her to and from Gloucester Street, known what she was taking from Mr. Potridge’s office, and with a show of force, had ripped away something that might have helped Hugh’s case.
It left her stunned and furious for the rest of the day.
But she hadn’t been able to bring herself to confess to Philip about any of it.
Each time she considered trying, she would think of Freddie Walker’s visit, and her tongue would suddenly turn to lead.
The wrath she felt over the intruder and the loss of the folio would temper under a kinking sensation in her belly.
Philip’s first love had returned. If he took back up with Freddie, began a clandestine affair, she would undoubtedly see him less.
Time with the man he loved would hold more significance than time spent with her, his best friend.
Would she become a duty to him? Would their time together be something he simply needed to endure, while he warmed with anticipation of his moments with Freddie?
The twisting of her stomach wasn’t jealousy in the traditional sense; it was something else, and it was utterly confusing.
So, she avoided it. Avoided Philip and the whole topic.
He’d gone out the previous night, presumably with Mr. Walker, and Audrey had entertained another nighttime caller knocking upon her bedchamber window. This one, however, was much scrawnier.
“Got them papers, duchess?” Sir had asked as he perched in the open window frame.
Hugh’s associate turned out to be satisfying company for her surly complaints, and the boy even taught her a few new insults—though she wasn’t entirely sure what a “fat-skulled bag of cobbler’s awls” was.
Though, she imagined it wasn’t anything complimentary.
Audrey had been prepared for Sir’s visit at least, and before the boy left, explained her plan for a furtive meeting with Hugh.
“He’s gonna think you’re a goosecap.”
She’d blinked, confused. “It has nothing to do with birds, Sir.” The boy had only laughed and tipped his hat before scrambling back to the ground.
Now, she stood in Genie’s ballroom, an eye on the grandfather clock as her sister-in-law fretted over the timing of her party.
“This is exactly what everyone wanted, Genie,” Audrey said over the elegant strains of the violins and flutes. “A gathering in which to gossip about other people’s misfortunes.”
Invitations had gone out long before Saturday’s disaster of a soiree at Lady Reed’s, and the marchioness’s death could not have been predicted.
The notes of an oboe filtered through the music, giving it a solemnity that it could have done without.
“I suppose you’re right,” Genie conceded, then looked askance at Audrey. “My, but you are awfully cynical.”
She sipped her punch. “If by cynical you mean realistic.”
The sea of vivid greens, yellows, oranges, and pinks parted, revealing a glimpse of Cassie across the ballroom’s parquet. She wore a shimmering ginger gold gown, which highlighted the streaks of auburn in her hair.
“She looks beautiful,” Audrey said, noting the pink flush of her cheeks. “And happy.”
She tried to ignore a pinch of jealousy.
It had taken leaving Violet House to induce a smile upon Cassie’s lips.
But then, perhaps the reason for that smile was simply her present company.
She stood within a small circle of men and women, though Cassie’s attention kept drifting toward a handsome, fair-haired young man.
He seemed to be speaking to her for the most part as well.
His golden curls and the wry bow of his lips as he grinned at Philip’s sister reminded Audrey of someone else.
“Genie, isn’t that young William?”
“Not so young any longer. My baby brother has at last come out of university and is living life as a gentleman about town.”
Genie gazed upon her youngest sibling with marked affection.
Just shy of thirty, Genie was the eldest of five.
After her mother died a decade before, she had assumed the role of mother to her four brothers.
It was one of the reasons she’d taken so long to settle down herself; she’d been far too preoccupied with their rambunctious antics.
The family had been left on the brink of impoverishment after their father’s death when they learned of his many unwise investments and business ventures, so Genie’s union with Michael had been a boon.
Her other brothers, now all in their twenties, worked in various business, but Michael had taken charge of William’s education.
“He looks smitten with Cassie, doesn’t he?” Genie said, her concern over the gloomy state of the gathered crowd lifting.
Audrey saw the interest lighting his eyes as well. She peered at Genie. “He isn’t aware, is he?”
Genie cut her an alarmed glare. “No! Of course not. I love my brothers, but I am loyal to Michael and his wishes. Cassie’s secret is safe with me.”
Heat rushed to Audrey’s cheeks. “I didn’t mean to suggest otherwise,” she said quickly, feeling instantly foolish for having asked. “I’m sorry, I’m not myself these last few days.”
“How could anyone expect you to be, with what you’ve gone through?” Genie laid a gentle hand, sheathed in a pomegranate red silk glove, upon her forearm. “My dear, you found yet another dead body. And how wretched you must feel knowing Officer Marsden is behind it.”
Audrey moved out from under her sister-in-law’s well-intentioned hand. “He isn’t.”
Genie’s gaze narrowed at her vehemence. “You are certain?”
“I am. Quite.” Audrey couldn’t expect anyone who did not know Hugh to have that same level of reassurance.
Her driver Carrigan, however, had been one person she’d predicted would.
And correctly. With his help, she’d arranged another meeting with Hugh for after the ball.
She might not have the papers she’d taken from Mr. Potridge’s office, but she had them committed to memory.
Come ten o’clock, she anticipated finally being able to discuss them.
Anticipation made her skin itch and her feet restless, though she had no desire to dance. Not that anyone would ask her anyhow.
“I wish the duke could have joined you this evening,” Genie said, as though she’d been privy to Audrey’s thoughts.
“He had a previous engagement.”
Genie upheld the vague excuse with an indulgent laugh. “Some meeting over brandy and cigars at a club, no doubt.”
Philip’s unexpected absence meant that she would now see Hugh alone; she’d planned to tell Philip about the arranged meeting just before ten, and to do so right here, in the ballroom, which would require him to tame his fury.
And when the three of them were finally together, Hugh’s presence might have further tempered the duke’s ire when she confessed about her outing to Pimlico and then the intruder.
Across the room, Cassie and William parted company, he bowing and Cassie making a polite curtsey. As she came toward her sisters-in-law, her cheeks were flushed pink, her eyes glittering.
“William has asked for my next two dances,” she squeaked when she reached them.
“Oh, how lovely!” Genie said, likely already envisioning a summer wedding at Greenbriar, their country estate in Kent.
“He is quite dashing,” Audrey said, thankful to have something to encourage Cassie about for the first time in months. Even if he’d resembled a toad, she would have said it, if only to keep her grinning so brightly.
“He is,” she agreed, sneaking a look back at him. But then her grin ebbed. “But perhaps… I don’t know. He is very sweet.”
Genie and Audrey exchanged a quick glance before Cassie faced them again, her girlish grin now gone completely. “What if he finds out?”
Audrey took her hand and squeezed. “Do not allow fear a foothold,” she said. “He is clearly taken with you. Enjoy your dances. That is all you need to think about right now.”
Genie was quick to agree, which seemed to bolster Cassie’s confidence. At least for now. But the secret she carried, along with so much grief and regret, was something that might continue to haunt her. Perhaps for a long time.
She moved off to speak with a few other young ladies, and Audrey again eyed the grandfather clock.
The hour was nearly upon her. Genie pouted when she announced she was taking her leave for the evening, but it was all in good humor.
And besides, as hostess, she had a duty to mingle.
Audrey had monopolized enough of her time.
As Greer fetched her pelisse and the carriage was called, Audrey’s nerves seemed to grow barbs. As did her guilt.