4. Chapter 4 #2
Andrew lay there a few moments, staring at the ceiling, and tried to figure out why every time he encountered this woman, calamity ensued.
Muffled laughter came from his companion, and he sat up.
Miss Whittingham sat across the rug from him, wild wisps of hair escaping from her bun, her face alight with laughter.
Her eyes sparkled. She had given up trying to stifle her mirth and was laughing so hard she had to gasp for breath between giggles.
His breath caught. What a goddamn beautiful sight.
Why hadn’t he noticed before how breathtaking she was?
“You…you looked like some mad…” Tears of laughter rolled down her face.
“Some mad magician making a bird appear from a breakfast plate. Ta-da!” She burst into fresh giggles.
Her mirth was infectious, and Andrew laughed as well.
The laughter felt so good that he couldn’t stop, and he fell back, chuckling like mad.
The high-pitched yip of a dog rang out. When he turned his head toward the door, he found a crowd of shocked faces staring at them. His sister quirked one elegant eyebrow. Good lord. He scrambled up. Giving a hand to Miss Whittingham, he helped her to her feet.
Her face flushed red, and she straightened her skirts. Then she faced the crowd in the doorway and declared, “The bird has escaped back into the great outdoors through the window. All is well.”
Emma clapped her hands together as she struggled to banish her embarrassment.
“Well, I think that is all the drama I can endure for one day. Boys, you take the dogs back outside to the garden. And all of you, change out of your costumes and go see Mrs. Fenway about having something to eat before you have to get back to your studies. I need to go see how poor Lucy is faring after her traumatic experience with the bird.” The children dispersed, and Emma was left staring at a tall, strikingly beautiful young lady with dark hair and bright blue eyes.
The duke quickly stepped in and introduced them. “Miss Whittingham, this is my sister, Lady Caroline Langdon.”
“It’s so lovely to meet you, Lady Caroline.
” Emma sketched a quick curtsy. “Here, let me show you both to the morning room.” She led them down the hallway, hoping they wouldn’t look into any of the open doorways.
Most of the rooms were bare; all the furnishings had been sold in order to keep the household budget afloat.
She kept the morning room for receiving guests, and the library was where the family gathered most often.
A piece of her hair tickled her nose, and she swiped at it.
Lud! She must look a disaster. Why was it the duke always seemed to catch her in the middle of some catastrophe?
“Please have a seat.” Emma gestured to the settee as they entered the morning room.
“I will just go look in on my sister and order some tea for us.” Emma backed out of the room to hurry down to the kitchen.
When she entered, she was happy to see all the younger children seated around the table, eating figs and buttered bread.
Lucy, still looking a bit shaken, gave her a small smile.
“Are you recovered?” Emma asked. “The bird has returned to the outdoors.”
“Yes, I’m fine. I feel a bit silly, but I could feel its sharp claws scratching my scalp.” Lucy grimaced.
“Good. Good.” Emma paced back and forth across the kitchen.
What did one serve a duke and his sister for tea?
Certainly not the buttered bread and dried fruit her family were used to having.
She spun around. “Mrs. Fenway, can you put together some tea for guests? Use the best china we have, please. And are there any of those biscuits left from what we baked this morning?”
“What guests?” Lucy straightened in her chair.
“The duke and some other lady,” Max said with his mouth full of bread.
“Did he say a duke?” Lucy stood up with a look of alarm on her face.
“Yes, the one we ran into yesterday in the park. The Duke of Gilchrest. He is here with his sister. Lord Almighty! What are they doing here?” Emma took a calming breath in through her nose. She looked over at Lucy, who stared at her, open-mouthed.
“You met a duke, conversed with one in the park yesterday, and didn’t tell me?” Lucy exclaimed.
“I never thought we would see him again. Certainly not in my foyer as I ran through like a madwoman chasing a bird with a broom.”
“Oh no. Truly?” Lucy came over and grabbed both of Emma’s hands.
“Look at me. This is what is going to happen. We are both going to rush upstairs to repair our appearance very quickly. Then we will go greet our guests.” Lucy gave her a shake, then said over her shoulder, “Mrs. Fenway, can you please deliver the tea tray to the morning room when it is ready?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Emma forced herself to snap out of her embarrassed stupor, then they dashed up the back staircase.
“Please excuse us for coming by unannounced. Gilchrest found your reticule and wanted to return it to you,” Lady Caroline said.
“Yes, in all the excitement, I almost forgot about it.” The duke pulled her small blue purse from his coat pocket. “You left it on the bench at the park.”
Emma took the reticule with shaking hands. It was the one which held the ruby ring. Hallelujah.
“Thank you so much. I have been looking everywhere for this,” she said, a bit breathless. “It is my favorite one.” Emma surreptitiously felt for the ring and, finding its shape inside, let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Lady Caroline turned to Lucy and asked conversationally, “Have we met? You look familiar.”
Lucy’s eyes widened as she stared at the duke’s sister. She shook her head.
“This will be my sister’s first season out in society,” Emma interjected.
“Yes, I am quite excited.” Recovering her manners, Lucy poured tea for their guests. “Sugar?”
“Yes, please,” Caroline replied. “This will be my third season. Up until now, I have been avoiding having to choose a husband, but I have promised my mother to be serious this year. I am happy to lend you any advice.” She took a sip of tea.
“Will you both be going to Lady Landsdowne’s soiree on Saturday?
She always kicks off the season with her own personal flair.
” Lady Caroline smiled so warmly it was hard not to smile back at her.
“We would appreciate any knowledge you can impart about the social season, as our own mother passed away many years ago—before I even had my first season,” Emma replied.
“Oh, I am so sorry to hear that. You both must come over and meet my mother. We shall help you both formulate a plan of attack for the season,” Lady Caroline announced.
Emma was shocked to have someone so high up in society offer her friendship so easily. “This season is really for Lucy. At five and twenty, I am firmly on the shelf. I will simply be acting as Lucy’s chaperone.”
She glanced over at the duke, who frowned. Perhaps he was not so happy that his sister was inviting them over.
“We should go, Caroline. We don’t want to monopolize their afternoon.
” The duke stood up and held out his hand for his sister.
“Thank you for tea. As always, our encounter has been entertaining.” He gave her a genuine smile, which made the corners of his blue-gray eyes wrinkle attractively.
She returned his smile automatically, puzzled to why he had seemed annoyed just a few moments before.
She showed them to the front door, and after the farewells, she leaned back against the wood. She and Lucy glanced at each other. Had they just been invited to meet the Duchess of Gilchrest and receive advice about navigating the social season?
Lucy grinned at her. “Did that conversation just happen, or am I still upstairs in bed dreaming?”
Emma grimaced. “Lucy, fate is a strange and tricky thing.” She pulled Lucy back into the morning room and closed the door. She sucked in a deep breath. “The necklace I was after the other night, when I was caught sneaking into the bedroom, was the Duchess of Gilchrest’s necklace!”
Lucy gasped. “The duchess caught you sneaking into her room?”
“No, it wasn’t her room, it was the duke’s room, and he is the one who caught me.” She crumpled onto the sofa, putting her head into her hands. How had she managed to get herself into this sticky situation?
“But he obviously didn’t recognize you, right?” Lucy asked.
“I don’t believe so, but that’s why I was never going to tell you I ran into him. I planned to avoid him at all costs. It should have been easy to do. But now we will be visiting the very lady I was going to rob. This is all too much.”
Lucy sat down next to her. “You must quit now while you still can. We will find another way to carry on. It’s too risky. I know you are the older sister, but you must heed me! No more jobs.” Lucy looked like a disapproving angel, her scowl out of place on her beautiful face.
Emma nodded her head and placated her sister. “Yes, dear, you’re right.”
But the truth was, she had no intention of quitting.
What Lucy didn’t understand was that when Emma was out scrambling across rooftops and slipping into darkened houses, she never felt so alive and free.
She enjoyed flouting society’s rules, the ones which made it impossible for a gently bred woman to earn a living for herself outside of selling her body to some man as a mistress.
She could have gone into service; she wasn’t too proud for that.
But what of the children? They deserved a chance to keep their place in society; Max was the heir to the viscountcy, for heaven’s sake.
No, she was the master of her own destiny; she would care for her responsibilities how she chose.
There was risk, yes, but she would be more careful how she chose her marks.
No more society ladies. She would stick to wealthy merchants and expensive paramours.