A Lord Rotheby's Holiday Bundle (97 page)

Jane hoped Lord Neil would choose to
attend at least some of the events she would be forced to attend.
Unlike his elder brother, he at least bothered to smile and speak
to her when he saw her, usually.

She doubted that any of the other
gentlemen at this ball, or any of them through the entire Season
for that matter, would condescend enough to dance or converse with
her. But Lord Neil would. Jane was certain of it. Perhaps even
without being goaded into it by his mother, unlike his eldest
brother.

Then she wouldn’t have to feel like
such an abysmal failure.

Not that she
wanted
to succeed on the
marriage mart. Far from it. But being shunned simply due to her
father’s lack of title was not exactly her idea of a pleasant way
to spend her evenings for months on end.

Jane supposed this
evening
could
surprise her. The entire affair might not be as bad as she
made it out in her head. She should go to Turnsley Hall with an
open mind, with no ideas in her head about what to
expect.

But that would simply leave her open
for huge disappointment when everything turned out just as she
expected.

Still—better to expect a pickle than
to think one was biting into a peach.

Chapter Five

Sitting crouched behind a prickly bush
in front of Bodham-Smythe’s mansion was not exactly the manner in
which Warwick Turnpenny, Viscount Utley had imagined spending his
night. However, in order to discover exactly what he needed to
know, he had few alternatives. Graciously, the cover of night and a
smattering of clouds in the sky allowed him to remain hidden there
far better than he could have done during the day.

After what felt like hours, he finally
saw what he’d been waiting over an hour for: the Duke of Somerton’s
crested carriage rolled into the drive and came to a
stop.

Utley had heard rumors that Somerton
was rejoining the marriage mart this Season. Indeed, Phinny had
even mentioned the possibility. He needed to see it with his own
eyes, though. Rumor was not nearly enough.

The outrider came around and set down
the steps, and then plain as day, Somerton stepped down. He turned
and handed down the dowager and both his sisters.

But he didn’t stop there. Somerton
reached his bloody cursed hand back into the carriage, and down
stepped a woman Utley hadn’t seen before—a blonde with a few too
many curves for his taste. Somerton placed her hand in the crook of
his arm, patting it and keeping it snug, then held out his other
for the dowager. He led the party up the steps into the grand
townhouse.

His heart raced in his chest at the
sight of her. Not that she was pretty or fair enough to cause such
a reaction in him. Far from it, actually. But because of what she
represented.

Vengeance. And maybe, just maybe, a
solution to his financial woes. Phinny could only do so much, after
all.

Once the damned Hardwickes were inside
the doors and the carriage had pulled off down the road, Utley took
another surreptitious look around to be sure no one was watching
him. Then he straightened, stepped out from the bushes, brushed the
debris from his evening attire, and darted around back to the
servants’ entrance.

~ * ~

“
You will of course reserve
the first set for me, won’t you?” The Duke of Somerton’s rather
awkward attempt at a request, at least to Jane’s mind, came across
more like a command. He wore an almost sheepish and quizzical look
upon his face.

He wanted to dance with
her? Cousin Henrietta must have orchestrated this. Jane couldn’t
imagine he would actually
want
to dance with her.

“
Er...yes, Your...er,
Peter, that is. I mean Your Grace. Oh, bugger it, what am I
supposed to call you?” She ignored the looks of sheer curiosity and
open incredulity upon the faces of some nearby onlookers—surely
gossips desperate to spread news of her blunders to all and sundry
at the first opportunity. Let them have at it. This would be the
least of her mistakes this evening, she was certain.

The fact remained that if he were any
other duke—anyone other than a cousin of some sort—she wouldn’t be
so confused. But the familiarity she held with the remainder of his
family left her befuddled as to the proper form of address for Lord
High-in-the-Instep.

“
Your Grace is perfectly
acceptable.” Of course it was. She should have known he’d expect
more formality than his siblings.

He glanced around, his eyes darting
from one side of the grand ballroom to another. Finally, they
settled in one general area before he turned to his party. “You’ll
excuse me, please. Miss Matthews, I’ll return to collect you before
the first set begins.” Then he executed a perfect, if rather hasty,
bow and walked away from them.

“
Why gracious heavens,”
said Charlotte, “One would think it was
his
debut and not ours, Jane, if one
didn’t know better. I can’t say when the last time I saw Peter so
anxious might be. If ever!”

“
What do you think that
have been about, Mama?” asked Sophie. “He was all out of sorts.
I’ve never seen the like of it.” She narrowed her eyes in thought,
then lowered her voice so no one could overhear. “He’s always
so...so...calm. This is highly irregular.”

Cousin Henrietta followed
her eldest son’s path with shrewd eyes before turning them on Jane.
“I haven’t the first inkling what’s going on in his head this
evening.” The dowager’s denial was less than convincing, but Jane
kept such thoughts to herself. “Now, Sophia. You
will
do your best this
evening to secure a match, won’t you? Excellent.”

Sophie and Charlotte waited until the
dowager was scanning the crowd before they simultaneously rolled
their eyes to the heavens.

Unaware of their reactions, or at
least unaffected by their less-than-enthusiastic responses, Cousin
Henrietta continued. “I’ll be quite busy this evening with
introducing Jane and Charlotte about and being certain they’re well
received. Sophia, you’ll have to see to your own affairs for the
most part, of course. I have, of course, asked Peter to help me
keep an eye on you both as well. It’s quite an undertaking, I’m
sure you understand, to have two debutantes to introduce at the
first ball of the Season.” With a rather pointed look at her eldest
daughter, she finished with, “I should much prefer to have only had
these two charges to look after, you know.”

Before she could continue with her
lecture, a handsome dark-haired gentleman joined their group. He
bowed to them each in turn and smiled broadly. “Your Grace, Lady
Sophia, Lady Charlotte. Might I beg an introduction to the lovely
young lady in your care?”

“
Why, of course, Lord
Sinclaire. Meet my distant cousin, Miss Matthews. Jane, this is the
Earl of Sinclaire. This rascal has ever been in and out of my home,
since my sons were all just boys.” Cousin Henrietta positively
beamed as she spoke. “Miss Matthews has joined us for the Season,
my lord.”

His dark, almost black eyes smiled at
Jane from beneath heavy lids. “Might I be lucky enough to beg your
hand for the first dance?” He winked up at her before rising
again.

What a Lothario. She had expected to
secure only a very few dance partners for the night, instead
primarily gracing the walls, but things were not turning out
according to her plans. Jane nearly laughed out loud and was
certain she hadn’t concealed the amusement from her face. She’d
never been able to, drat it all.

“
Lord Sinclaire, I fear
I’ve already promised the first set, but I would gladly dance the
second set with you.”

“
Somerton?” he asked,
furrowing his brow in a keen impersonation of displeasure. When
Jane nodded, he continued. “The duke is a lucky man, indeed, to
have secured the first to dance with the loveliest debutante in the
room. I suppose I’ll have to settle for the second set
then.”

Then he turned to Sophie, who was
grinning from ear to ear at Jane with a wicked gleam in her eyes.
“Lady Sophia, might I console myself in your arms for the first
set, since your brother had the advantage over me?”

She nodded slyly as a swarm of other
gentlemen moved in to request introductions and ask the young
ladies to dance. Lord Sinclaire secured Charlotte’s hand for the
third set.

It was all becoming rather
overwhelming.

Candelabras and chandeliers sprinkled
a shimmer across the revelers throughout the ballroom, though it
was not quite as grand as that at Hardwicke House. The scent of
lilies and roses in full bloom assailed Jane’s nostrils, from where
they filled marble pots and dotted the floor everywhere the eye
might rest. Fine silk and lace draped tables, filled with even more
flowers and candles, flowing over until they almost showered down
to the floor. And everywhere Jane turned, elegant ladies and
handsome gentlemen strolled about, dressed in their finest and
bedecked with more jewels than Croesus had a right to
own.

This was all quite different from the
quiet life to which Jane was accustomed—working in the vicarage
gardens, sewing for the ladies of village, reading to Mrs.
Zachariah. It was all so glittery and flashy and entirely unlike
anything she’d ever in her lifetime experienced, or even dared to
dream she might have the opportunity to someday come
across.

Splendid, the lot of it.

Before she knew what was happening,
Jane had been introduced to a dozen or more gentlemen and young
ladies in likely double that number. She also had secured a partner
for most of the nearly a half dozen dances before supper that
night. Good gracious, she would certainly be footsore the next
day.

Another gentleman, a dashing character
with golden hair and brown eyes full of devilry, was making his way
through the crowd toward them. He’d been standing near where His
Grace was talking with Lord Sinclaire and a number of other
gentlemen.

When he drew near enough, he pulled
Cousin Henrietta aside and they talked in hushed voices for a
moment.

Sophie motioned for Jane
and Charlotte to draw nearer so they could form a closed circle.
“Oh, goodness,” she whispered, “I hope Lord Utley isn’t requesting
an introduction to you, Jane. And if he
is
, I pray Mama is shrewd enough to
deny him. Why, he’s an utter rakehell if I’ve ever known one. I
don’t know
how
Lady Bodham-Smythe could have granted him an
invitation.”

“
Surely Mama wouldn’t,”
murmured Charlotte, blue eyes as wide as saucers. “I can’t imagine
she could have forgotten all of the scandals the man has caused. He
would be a most dreadful connection, to be sure.”

“
No one can be that bad,
can they?” Jane asked, looking over her shoulder at the man. He
looked rather innocuous, all things considered. Amiable, even.
Agreeable.

But before anyone could answer her
question, the dowager interrupted them. “Jane, I’d like you to meet
Viscount Utley. It seems His Grace suggested he come to meet you,
my dear.”

Lord Utley oozed ingratiating charm as
he bowed low before her. “How very charming, Miss Matthews.”
Perhaps she had overestimated him somewhat, if his sycophantic tone
was any indication of his true character. He raised one of her
hands to his lips and placed a kiss upon it, so softly she almost
didn’t feel it apart from the frisson of menace passing over her
body, gone almost as soon as it arrived. She must have imagined it
because of Sophie and Charlotte’s warnings.

“
The pleasure is mine, my
lord.” Jane executed a hasty curtsy, all the while doing everything
possible to avoid glimpses of the shocked looks upon Sophie and
Charlotte’s faces.

“
Might I request the honor
of penciling myself in to your dance card, if I’m not already too
late? I’d be devastated if I missed my chance at dancing with the
most delectable Miss Matthews.” His smile, while ever present,
never touched his eyes, rather remaining only in the vicinity of
his mouth.

After the Hardwicke sisters’ warnings,
she hesitated. But if Cousin Henrietta had introduced them, and if
Somerton, himself, had suggested the introduction, there really
couldn’t be anything to worry about with him. Could there be? She
tried desperately to convince herself of as much. But, after all,
it was simply a dance. Nothing more.

“
Of course, my lord. I
would be delighted.” She held out her wrist, and he selected his
set, scrolling his name with a flourish.

Utley bowed again and backed away, a
dodgy twinkle in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. “Until
later, Miss Matthews. I’ll look forward to our dance.” Then he was
gone, as smoothly as he arrived.

“
Mama!” Sophie whispered
fiercely as soon as he was out of earshot. “Oh goodness, what have
you done? I hope you haven’t embroiled our Jane in scandal on her
first night out in society.”

“
Well,” Cousin Henrietta
said, “Peter
did
send Lord Utley over for an introduction. Surely if he
approves of the introduction, things can’t be as bad with the
viscount as the gossips would have us all believe. Something is not
automatically a fact simply because Lady Plumridge and Lady
Kibblewhite say it is, you know. You’d do well to remember that a
bit more often.” At Sophie’s feigned pout, the dowager pressed on
with an imperious brow lifted high. “They are rather correct on
some other matters, however, such as your hazardous proximity to
the shelf.”