A Woman Made for Pleasure (28 page)
Something his new love would never have or understand.
“Millie?” came a quiet voice from the other side of the door. The question slowly penetrated Millie’s sleep-fogged mind. “Are you awake?”
“Yes,” Millie moaned, loud enough to be heard. “I am now,” she muttered and buried her head under a pillow.
“It’s two o’clock in the afternoon. Jennelle and I were wondering if you are well.”
Millie jerked upright. She was never the first of the Three to rise, but two o’clock! What had happened? And then the memories came crashing back. Basil, Lily, Chase . . . Melinda.
Slowly Millie’s door squeaked open and her two friends entered. Millie shook herself and realized she still was wearing her robe from last night. Jennelle eyed the crumpled material with an arched eyebrow and moved to sit down on a nearby settee beside Aimee. Millie watched suspiciously as they both shifted nervously. Their worried gazes were leveled directly at her.
“What is wrong with you two?” Millie demanded. “You are both walking around as if I were an escapee from Bedlam.”
Jennelle let out a deep sigh of relief. “Well, you must admit you are acting like one.”
Millie felt her jaw slacken and then retorted, “I admit no such thing.”
Jennelle stood up with uncharacteristic animation. “Mildred Aldon! You refused to go out yesterday to play cards—which was understandable—but last night! Last night was the
theater
, and it was a damn good play you missed.”
theater
, and it was a damn good play you missed.”
Jennelle’s outburst shocked both of her friends. Aimee was the first to recover. “You have to admit, Millie, your behavior is odd. You oversleep. You go riding with a stranger to Green Park. You . . .”
Millie threw her hand up. “Wait . . . how did you know about that?”
Aimee walked over to the bed and very mischievously trailed a finger along the edge of Millie’s bed frame. “Charles. He came charging in right after he saw you, demanding Mother give him an explanation. He was yelling so loudly it was impossible not to hear.”
“That and Aimee’s ear was pressed to the door,” Jennelle said, coughing into her hand.
“That is beside the point. I knew
you
were involved when Charles came in spitting fire.” Aimee paused, pointing her finger at Millie. “No one can flap my unflappable brother like you. What were you doing, riding down Piccadilly in a man’s lap?”
you
were involved when Charles came in spitting fire.” Aimee paused, pointing her finger at Millie. “No one can flap my unflappable brother like you. What were you doing, riding down Piccadilly in a man’s lap?”
“Where did you get the idea I was sitting in Mr. Eddington’s lap?”
Jennelle produced three apples from her apron pockets and threw one to Millie. “From Charles, of course. And who is Mr. Eddington?” she asked, offering an apple to Aimee.
Aimee took the apple and added,”Is he really a madman unable to control a pair of horses?”
Jennelle leaned in and grinned. “Mostly we want to know just what you are up to now.”
Closing her eyes, Millie shook her head and reminded herself that having best friends was a good thing, not a torment. “He is a friend of Mother Wentworth’s. The team was new and spirited and he actually handled them exceedingly well. And as for what I am up to—a favor.”
Aimee paused just before she was about to clamp her teeth down on the red apple. “A favor? What favor? Why were we not told?”
“Mr. Eddington is in love with Lily Moreland, and after calling on her yesterday afternoon I have concluded that she is very much in love with him.” Millie took a bite of the apple, enjoying herself for the first time in days. “Thanks for this, by the way.”
Jennelle shrugged and leaned against the sturdy bedpost. “Thought you might be starving, and you are not leaving here until Aimee and I are satisfied. So, if Mr. Eddington loves Miss Moreland, and she feels the same about him, where’s the difficulty? Where does this ‘favor’ come in?”
Millie took a deep breath. “Well, to explain I have to go back to last Saturday night.”
“The night you dismissed us,” Jennelle said.
“I never dismissed you. . . .”
“Yes, you did,” Aimee scoffed.
“I believe I explained that I had to warn a friend about something. What I neglected to tell you was that it was your brother, Aimee . . . and that he is getting married.”
“Married? You are getting married?” Aimee asked, practically falling off her chair. “And you didn’t tell us?”
Seeing the unhappiness swimming in Millie’s eyes, Jennelle realized the truth. “You went down to warn Charles and somehow discovered he was getting married . . . to someone else.”
Millie swallowed heavily and continued. “Yes, uh . . . well, back to your original question about Mr. Eddington and Miss Moreland. When I went down to write a note warning your brother, I overheard his announcement and . . . he caught me. I was so shocked by his declaration of love, I blurted out some crazy comment about having an escort to Lady Castlereagh’s ball.”
Aimee’s eyes popped open. “And you went to Mother for help.” She clicked her tongue several times, her mind whirling as she visualized the resulting sequence of events. “Knowing Mother, she gave you someone who needed your assistance as well . . . hence, the favor you spoke of.”
Jennelle moved to sit on the bed beside Millie. “So it looks as if we have three problems to solve. One easy, one moderately difficult, and one dangerously complex. Let’s start with the easy one. What is your plan to get Miss Moreland and Mr. Eddington together? That is the favor, is it not?”
Seeing Millie nod, Aimee grimaced and joined them on the bed. “That might be more difficult than you think, Jennelle. At the last party, I overheard Lily’s father refer to someone—whom I now assume was Mr. Eddington—as a mushroom.”
Millie sat back, her mouth gaping. “He did?”
Aimee nodded. “He said a wealthy merchant can dress the part and act the part, but he will never succeed in becoming a member of the
ton
.”
ton
.”
“Funny, coming from him. I thought Mr. Moreland was the son of a trader,” Jennelle hummed.
Millie shook her head. “Grandson. It seems he has a very short memory regarding his ancestry and how the Morelands arrived at their current station in Society.”
“Well, he definitely does not want his daughter reversing all of his efforts. The man has spent great energy separating himself from his past and will not be easily persuaded to throw it away on a baseborn person who, as the
ton
say, ‘does not keep his place.’” Aimee bristled with personal knowledge about the cruelty of Society’s rules. The importance of Society’s good opinion may have forever prevented her from having a chance at happiness with Reece.
ton
say, ‘does not keep his place.’” Aimee bristled with personal knowledge about the cruelty of Society’s rules. The importance of Society’s good opinion may have forever prevented her from having a chance at happiness with Reece.
Millie stood up and put her hands on her hips. “That is ridiculous! Mr. Eddington is not a gate-crasher, and he certainly is not prone to curry favor. Quite the opposite, I assure you. He has a higher opinion of the people who live in the City than those who reside in Mayfair.”
Jennelle shrugged. “Well, be that as it may. Mr. Eddington’s station is considered beneath Miss Moreland’s.”
Millie frowned at Jennelle’s voice of reason. “So the real question is how do we persuade a prejudiced father he is wrong?”
“How do you persuade anyone to disregard Society’s rules? Especially if they believe in them?” Aimee asked despondently.
Jennelle looked at her blond friend. “You are referring to Reece, Aimee. Are you not?”
“I know he cares for me a great deal, but he refuses to follow his feelings.”
“He does it to protect you,” Jennelle said in defense. “You are the daughter of an earl. He is the youngest son of a lord. He has no title and lives on a ship. He knows your father would never have approved.”
“My father would have approved! He loved Reece as a son.”
“Maybe,” Jennelle conceded. “Mr. Hamilton has made quite a profit from his trips abroad. You just have to persuade him that his lack of title is meaningless to you.”
“Believe me, I have tried. That is why I think you are doomed. You will never change Mr. Moreland’s opinion. Why should he change it? He’s not the one in love.”
Millie suddenly stopped pacing. “That’s it! That’s the solution!”
“What?” Aimee asked, frowning.
“You just said it. We are appealing to the wrong person. It’s the oldest ploy in the book, but it will work.”
“What will? Will it work for me?”
Millie pursed her lips and shook her head. “Not exactly, as it is Reece who is your biggest obstacle. In Mr. Eddington’s case, Mr. Moreland’s prejudice is the key.”
“What is your plan?” Jennelle asked pointedly, unable to hide her curiosity.
“I plan to make Lily Moreland jealous.”
“How?”
“It is not the how, Jennelle. It is the
who
, and the who is me,” Millie answered, grinning.
who
, and the who is me,” Millie answered, grinning.
Aimee clapped her hands together. “Oooh, that is brilliant.
Your
approval of Mr. Eddington will get him accepted by most of Society and . . .”
Your
approval of Mr. Eddington will get him accepted by most of Society and . . .”
“. . . and if Lily genuinely loves this Mr. Eddington . . .” Jennelle murmured.
Millie took a bite of the apple she had been holding. “She does,” she mumbled between chews. “I met with her yesterday.”
“. . . then she will not take kindly to seeing him with you,” Jennelle finished. She stood up and grabbed Millie’s hands. “Oh, this is perfect. This may even solve problem number two.”
Aimee’s brows furrowed. “Yes, what were problems two and three?”
“Problem number two is Charles and Millie. And Millie, do not even try to persuade me that your feelings are those of a sister. I saw your face the day we saw Charles with Mrs. Brinson. You love him.”
Aimee jumped up and hugged her friend. “Why, that’s wonderful! Jennelle and I had guessed as much the other night when you told us you enjoyed his kisses.”
Millie took a couple of steps back and uncharacteristically began wringing her hands. “No, you do not understand. He is going to marry someone else and is planning on announcing the engagement this Saturday!”
Jennelle took in a deep breath and exhaled. “Do you have any idea who?”
“I only know what you do . . . and that it is
not
me. He only mentioned marriage once in my presence, and it was with extreme antipathy toward the idea of our forming a ‘permanent commitment.’”
not
me. He only mentioned marriage once in my presence, and it was with extreme antipathy toward the idea of our forming a ‘permanent commitment.’”
“But you kissed. Charles would not play with your feelings. He just wouldn’t. Mother and I would never forgive him.”
Millie shrugged her shoulders and sank into a chair by the hearth. “Those kisses can easily be explained away. One was at Vauxhall when he was trying to hide us from other couples.”
“Kisses? As in he has kissed you more than once?” Jennelle asked.
“Did you not just hear what I said? They are
explainable
. If it had been you he caught that night, Jennelle, then you would have been the one he kissed.”
explainable
. If it had been you he caught that night, Jennelle, then you would have been the one he kissed.”
Aimee drew a breath. “I don’t think so. And by the look on your face, neither do you. There is more than what you are telling us. You, of all people, would not fall in love with the most self-controlled man in England, based on a few ‘explainable’ kisses.”
Tapping her finger on her lips, Jennelle started thinking aloud. “In every book I read, when one lover gets discarded by the other, they try to kill themselves by throwing themselves off a cliff or drinking poison. Remember the play we saw last night, Aimee? You do not plan on doing yourself harm, do you, Millie?”
Millie looked at her friend and scrunched her nose. “Bloody hell, Jennelle. Your books do give you the most strange and bizarre ideas.”
“Of course she isn’t going to hurt herself,” Aimee said definitively. “Our Millie is going to find a way to get her man.”
“No, I am not,” Millie said, instinctively retreating farther into the chair. “If the dolt wants to marry someone else, then let him. I do not want a man who would even for a moment consider settling down with someone dull and unexciting. No. She may have Charles Wentworth,” she finished, wiping away a stray tear.
Aimee got mad. “Millie Aldon, you coward. You want something now more than you have ever wanted anything else in your life. Don’t try to deny it.”
Jennelle bit her bottom lip. “Aimee is correct. You are crying, and you never do.”
Aimee nodded. “That’s right. That proves my point. You want my brother, and instead of exhibiting your normal obstinacy when you are told you cannot have something, you are surrendering.”
“I am not surrendering. I’m being practical. I cannot win him now that he is . . . wants . . . is going to . . .” Millie stammered.
Aimee went over and clutched her friend’s hands in her own. “Millie! Do you not understand? With your plan, you are going to get Charles back at the same time and in the same manner that you are getting Lily for Mr. Eddington. You will make him jealous!”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Millie exclaimed, leaving her chair and heading to the window.
Aimee’s hands found a place on her hips. “Now, you may be the ringleader of adventures around here, but I know how to capture a man. I captured Reece, didn’t I?”
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