Chapter 22 #2
“Oh, yes,” said Elizabeth slyly. “There should always be two women to every single man, and since Louisa’s talking fertilizers with some dowager or other, I thought I might do the service.”
‘It’s amazing,” Rafe said, “how you can remember your lessons when it suits you, and other times they seem to bolt straight from your head.”
“What can I say? Careless youth.... “ Elizabeth shrugged. Taking a seat at the table she began reshuffling the cards. “So what were you two discussing before I arrived?”
“Marriage,” Rafe replied as Elizabeth dealt him a hand. “And no slipping aces into your sleeve.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she said, spreading her cards in a fan and widening her eyes in mock innocence. “Dreadful institution, marriage. Man owns the woman, lock, stock, and barrel. I think I’d rather have a bit of freedom to explore the world. What do you say, Alix?”
“About marriage? Or about exploration?” Alix asked, studying her hand.
“Both.”
“I think that undertaken with the right person, for the right reasons, both can be quite exciting and productive.”
Elizabeth discarded a card. “But how do you know you’ve found the right person, and you’re marrying for the right reasons?”
Rafe, feeling distinctly uncomfortable with the course the conversation was taking, attempted to change the subject. “You were up early this morning. Louisa said you’d gone riding. Did you meet up with anyone interesting?”
Elizabeth cast him an amused glance. “For example, behold my brother. I’m told the ladies find him quite attractive. And I’ve heard he’s quite the...”
“Elizabeth,” Rafe said in a warning tone.
She left the sentence unfinished, shaking her head. “But you see how he always has to have his way, to control everything. I can just imagine the lectures his wife would have to put up with, why she’d have to have the patience of a saint.”
“One might say the same for the man who chose you for his bride.”
“So whose marriage were you discussing before I arrived?”
“My marriage to your brother,” Alix said.
“Oh.” Elizabeth’s eyes widened in genuine surprise. “I have put my foot in it, haven’t I?”
“Indeed,” Rafe agreed.
“Forgive me, please, and let me be the first to extend my congratulations.” She studied the two them thoughtfully. “Does Lady Anne know about this?”
“We’re keeping it quiet for the moment. When the time comes, I shall tell Lady Anne myself.”
“May I come with you?”
“No brat, you may not.”
“I’d give up my voucher for Almack’s to see the expression on her face when she hears your news.”
“If you receive one. And I’m certain Lady Anne will wish us only the best.”
“I’m certain she’d rather eat the feathers on her hat.”
Alix struggled to keep a straight face during this exchange; she agreed with Elizabeth and added the silent prayer that Anne Dinsmore choked on them.
“So,” Elizabeth said brightly, “were you introduced in France?”
Alix glanced at Rafe. It was a question both had dodged before. Rafe drew a card and, without looking at his sister, said, “Alix and I met in Paris quite by accident. She was most taken by me.”
“Indeed, at our first meeting, his lordship seemed almost a different man, as if cut from a simpler cloth.”
“And yet she practically threw herself into my arms.”
He was incorrigible, Alix thought, smiling sweetly across her cards. “I must admit, he outshone my companions at the time.”
Rafe’s shoulders shook slightly. “Mademoiselle, you flatter me.”
Elizabeth stared at them both in bewilderment. “Why is it that when people become betrothed they start speaking utter nonsense?”
Lord Minton and James Dinsmore strolled up to the table. “Come now, Moreham,” Minton said. “You can’t monopolize two such lovely ladies all evening.” He smiled at Alix.
“The silver siren’s haunting song
Across the waves doth waft along,
Mere mortal men cannot resist
Lost beyond reason, dare drowning for a kiss”
“I wrote that for Mademoiselle de La Brou. What do you think Moreham? Did you get the reference to across the waves, just as Mademoiselle de La Brou has come to us across the channel? Quite clever if I don’t say so myself.”
“You’d be the only one,” Rafe muttered.
“Well, mademoiselle, Lady Percy’s going to honor us with a recital on the pianoforte. If you’d care to listen, I’ll escort you to the music room.”
James Dinsmore looked over at Elizabeth. “Lady Elizabeth, would you care to join us? My sister has offered to save us seats.”
Elizabeth winked at Rafe. “That would be delightful.”
Sometime later, Alix stepped outside the Percys’ salon for a breath of fresh air.
Lady Percy had vigorously pounded her way through a prelude by Bach.
Resisting the urge to rub her ears, she wondered if she might ever appreciate the piece again.
She crossed her arms and gazed up at that night sky, inhaling the crisp fall air.
She caught the scents of dry leaves, apples, and tobacco.
But before she could register that she was not completely alone, a pair of strong arms encircled her and she felt familiar lips against her neck.
“My Lord Minton,” she breathed. “We mustn’t.”
“Minx,” Rafe growled against her ear.