Chapter 8 #2
The Duchess of Hereford, who had been introduced as Miss Little at the house party, was still wearing her signature pink with pink diamond jewelry to set off her darker coloring. Mahogany skin, raven-wing-black hair, and midnight eyes were stunning against the lighter shade of dusky rose.
“And I am Kalina,” she said, smiling brightly with welcome. Miss Little, who had been bolder than Johanna but far shyer than Delilah at the house party, seemed to have come into her own with newfound confidence.
Johanna only hoped she could do as well.
Perhaps there was something about actually becoming a duchess that automatically made one more confident.
At the moment, she did not particularly feel like she belonged with this group of elegant ladies.
Even Mei seemed more comfortable than Johanna felt, despite not being a noble, much less a duchess or soon-to-be duchess.
But she smiled and greeted them and hoped they did not see how her stomach was churning or her hands were shaking.
If they did, they were kind enough not to look at her askance.
She put a finger sandwich and a scone on her plate and hoped no one noticed she was crumbling the scone between her fingers rather than eating it.
Not from guilt, this time, but from sheer nerves.
“Gregory and I saw the announcement in the Gazette this morning,” Tiffany said, smiling in the same friendly way that she had at the house party. “We are so happy for you, but we are dying to know how it came about.”
“Especially since you had to leave the house party early,” Kalina said sympathetically. “We were all hoping to spend more time with you there.”
Tiffany laughed. “Yes, you missed all the excitement.”
“Excitement?” Johanna echoed curiously. She had not realized something had happened after she left, other than Kalina’s engagement to the Duke of Hereford.
“Oh yes, Kalina’s scandalous manner of snagging a duke,” Delilah teased, making Kalina roll her eyes.
“My father’s, you mean.” She looked at Johanna.
“Most of the ton does not know and think that Nathanial and I were a love match from the beginning, but everyone else who was at the house party knows the truth. My father noticed the growing feelings between myself and Hereford but knew that Hereford was not considering me for his wife because of the scandal around my grandfather disowning my father. As well as my newness to the ton since he has three younger sisters who all need to debut and be guided through their Seasons.”
“Which all of us are more than capable of helping with, if you even require it. Nathanial was being foolish,” Lady Astrid said with a tone that made Johanna glad she was not the Duke of Hereford.
Lady Astrid had little patience for ‘nonsense,’ which is what she clearly considered Hereford’s reticence over Kalina.
“Yes, well. My father decided the best way to handle the situation was to get Nathanial drunk and leave him in my bed,” Kalina said in exasperation while Johanna’s mouth dropped open in shock.
She’d heard of mothers attempting such tactics, though usually it was to leave the young lady in the gentleman’s bed, and it was an extremely risky maneuver relying on the gentleman’s honor to offer for her after being so heinously tricked.
This was the first she’d heard of a father attempting such a thing.
“I am a very deep sleeper. I did not even wake the night that you left, and apparently, everyone else did.”
“It was rather noisy, I’m so sorry,” Johanna said, glancing at Lady Astrid, who waved her hand as if to wave Johanna’s guilt away.
“You needed to attend your mother. Think nothing of it. No one else did, especially after Kalina woke us all screaming when she found Nathanial in bed with her.” Lady Astrid smirked while the others laughed. Kalina included.
“You try waking with an unexpected naked man in your bed,” Kalina retorted.
“He was naked?” Johanna’s hands flew to her mouth in shock.
“Well, not entirely,” Kalina admitted. “But I did not know that. And he was not wearing very much.”
“The best ones never do,” Lady Delilah quipped, causing another round of laughter. Once again, Johanna was uncertain whether she belonged among these ladies. Not because of their stations, but because of their experience in marital matters.
Hopefully, she would feel more like she belonged once she had the experience as well.
“So,” Lady Astrid said, putting down her teacup and leaning eagerly toward Johanna. “You must tell us exactly what happened with Matthew. Did the two of you have a tête-à-tête at the house party?”
“Oh… ah no.” Johanna shrugged and relayed the story that Lady Stark had given the rest of the ton. Which had them all sitting back and frowning at each other.
“That does not sound like Matthew,” Delilah said skeptically.
“Well… I believe he used his coin to make the actual decisions,” Johanna tempered. These ladies clearly knew the duke better than the crowd at Hyde Park, and even they had guessed about the coin.
“That does sound more like Matthew.” Tiffany giggled. “I cannot believe it finally said yes. Every time he asks it questions about a lady—should he be introduced, should he ask her to dance, should he court her—it inevitably comes back with an eventual denial.”
“That would make sense with the odds,” Mei said, finally speaking up.
Johanna got the feeling she was very happy sitting, listening, and observing, but not because she was intimidated by the august company. She was just content that way.
“Yes, but Matthew always defies the odds,” Lady Astrid explained. “That’s why the ton calls him the Lord of Luck.”
“Should it not be ‘Duke of Luck’?” Mei asked, frowning.
“Yes, but the alliteration is too appealing to adhere to his actual title. And Matthew is very easygoing, so he does not object.”
“I wonder what made him think of you again,” Kalina said, tilting her head as she looked at Johanna. “I will admit, I am somewhat disappointed. I was hoping to have another secret scandal on our hands.”
“Another secret scandal?”
They told her about Tiffany’s marriage, too. Not quite as scandalous as Kalina’s, though a kiss in the library during a ball from a stranger who turned out to be her brother’s closest friend, which led to immediate fisticuffs in the library, did sound very exciting.
That was also when Johanna learned that both situations had been covered up, so the ton at large had no idea the reasons behind the hasty marriage.
In Tiffany’s case, it was put about that she and Gregory had been secretly engaged because she was supposed to be enjoying her first Season and confirming he was who she wanted before the announcement was made.
The public scandal of the kiss dimmed very quickly in light of the more romantic explanation, especially as they truly had fallen in love.
Kalina’s story was somewhat similar in that the ton was under the impression that she and Hereford had fallen in love during the house party and married in haste due to desire rather than necessity.
The other guests of the house party had been completely discreet, and nary a rumor had arisen about their marriage since their return to London.
“Though we did not actually fall in love until we were back in London,” Kalina confided. “But we were acting the part beforehand.”
Their honesty with her made Johanna’s guilt stir.
“It is possible Lady Stark had a similar idea to cover the real story of how the duke and I became engaged…” Johanna admitted. They had been truthful with her, giving her their trust, and she could do no less when faced with their vulnerability.
She did exactly what Lady Stark would have advised against and told them the truth.