Chapter One #2
Their intervals together had been quite diverting.
While they’d lasted. But the gold dust would likely have fallen off the pig soon enough, as her mother would say, had they not shuffled off this mortal coil so quickly.
Though their families had all made good on her husbands’ promises of security upon their deaths.
Despite the brevity of the actual marriage.
The reason she’d agreed to wed them all in the first place.
Well, one of the reasons. But as a woman, it was an important one. So. There was that.
“I know how much you cared for Charles,” Jane said. “And how lonely you’ve been since his death.”
Selena blanched, chastising herself for being so obvious. She did try to hide her more morose moments. Especially from Jane, who mourned her brother dearly.
“And if you are going to stay to enjoy yourself this evening, well…” Jane shrugged a shoulder. “You are too young not to enjoy such bounty.” Jane made eyes at a shy-looking young man who blushed and hurried to the refreshment table to drown his reddening cheeks in punch.
The women laughed, but Selena shook her head. “While you are not entirely incorrect, I think I’ve given fate enough chances to be kind to me. I’d rather not tempt it again.”
Though speaking of temptation…
A tall, broad-shouldered man with thick, wavy brunette locks and a jawline that would be at home with Michelangelo’s David sauntered into the room.
He glanced about, one brow raised over a twinkling eye as if to say “Behold, I have arrived!” As if he thought the festivities could not begin without him.
Though, in his defense, if she must be charitable, he did command a justified, if unseemly, amount of attention.
The eye of every unwed lady in the ballroom was upon him.
And the eye of more than a few wed ladies as well.
Of all ages, she noticed, her lips twitching when she spied the ancient Lady Collier making moon eyes over her fan at the gentleman.
“He would be a lovely treat,” Jane whispered to her.
“Jane! Really,” Selena whispered back.
Of course…he would. His hands alone, with those long, strong fingers encased in their pristine white gloves as he clapped a friend on the shoulder, were large enough to—
No. She nipped that thought in the bud, appetizing as it may be. All of that was beside the point.
Jane leaned toward Selena again. “No one is saying you have to marry again. However. A few discreet liberties with a handsome gentleman now and then wouldn’t be so unusual.”
“Jane!” Selena exclaimed again, trying to keep her voice down.
Jane simply shrugged. “You’re a widow, dear sister. One with adequate means and little supervision. Take advantage.”
Selena clapped her hand over her mouth to keep her scandalized laughter muted. Jane winked at her and turned to survey the room once again.
Her dear sister-in-law might have been purposely baiting her to pull her from the doldrums. But she did have a valid argument.
Selena had money, courtesy of her husbands—a sizeable inheritance from Charles and small settlements from the families of her other husbands.
Generous of them, considering most of her marriages had very obviously not lasted long enough to actually consummate them.
Not enough to entice any reluctant bridegrooms, but enough to live comfortably for the rest of her life.
Her only chaperone was Jane who, as a married woman and her relative by marriage, might do for propriety’s sake but was proving to be more of an instigator than a deterrent.
And, more relevantly, the loneliness that was Selena’s constant companion had grown nearly unbearable of late.
It was the greatest reason she had agreed to visit Jane, in fact.
She needed to move on from her parents’ home.
Build a life for herself. As she did not intend for that life to include a husband, she would like to find friends.
Companions. Worthy occupations with which to pass her time.
And…
“Perhaps a moment or two of discreet companionship now and then wouldn’t be the end of the world,” she said quietly.
“That’s my girl,” Jane whispered back.
Selena shook her head, but with a fond smile. “As long as I take the proper precautions, of course.”
“Of course,” Jane nodded sagely.
“And never allow it to become more than that,” Selena added.
Jane’s dismayed groan made Selena smile. But she was resolute. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I will not yield on this. I will never marry again. My heart has been through enough.”
“I hate to hear you say that, but…I can’t say that I blame you,” Jane said, patting her hand.
“Besides,” Selena muttered, “I am running distressingly short of countries in which to become a widow. I cannot return to France, Italy, Wallachia, Bavaria…Scotland.” She gave Jane a sad smile. “If I bury a husband in England, I’ll have to relocate to the Americas.”
Jane clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle her amused snort, then shook her head. “Now that would be a real tragedy.”
“Mrs. MacLaren, Mrs. Haddon,” Lady Persing said in greeting as she approached.
Selena and Jane both startled, too lost in their own conversation to have noticed their friend. They smiled in welcome as the older woman sidled up to them with a mischievous smile.
“What has you looking so delightfully scandalized, I wonder?” Lady Persing asked.
Before Selena could answer, Jane piped up.
“I have been trying to convince dear Selena that she mustn’t become a recluse now that she has finally returned home.
She seems distressingly determined to remain aloof.
Despite the wealth of entertainment at her fingertips,” she said, with a delicate nod at the mingling assembly.
“Oh, my dear,” Lady Persing said, fanning herself gently. “I agree with Mrs. Haddon. If Lord Persing were to ever to depart this earthly plane…”
The three women looked toward Lord Persing, who had found himself a nice quiet corner, perched himself on a chair, and promptly fallen asleep, his head bobbing toward his rather rotund chest.
Jane and Selena joined in the laughter as Lady Persing giggled fondly.
Selena finally sucked in a deep breath and Jane glanced at her, eyebrows raised in question.
“Very well then,” Selena said, with the air of one very much put upon. “Perhaps I shall attempt to be more open to any opportunities that come my way. I may even reconsider my status as the city’s resident recluse.”
Jane flashed her a delighted grin, which Selena couldn’t help but echo.
She lifted her now empty lemonade glass and turned toward the refreshment table. “Just as soon as I—ah!”
She looked up into the stunned eyes of the handsome brown-haired gentleman she’d spied earlier, who was now standing before her, eyes wide, hands holding a half-empty glass of lemonade and an empty plate that had likely once held the cake that was now dribbling its way into her decolletage.
She glanced back at Jane, who for once in her life had been robbed of speech.
Selena grimaced as the sticky dessert slipped into her stays. “I’ve changed my mind.”