Karen Harbaugh (20 page)

“Oh, my lady!” Annie wailed.

“Hush, girl!” commanded Lady Stoneham. “This may be the greatest inspiration I have had yet!” She searched in her workbasket and brought out a roll of pale yellow ribbon, worked in silver thread, and laid it next to the slashes on the dress. “Perfect,” she murmured. Swiftly she cut five pieces from the roll and stitched the ribbon to one edge of the cut dress. After some initial confusion, Annie swiftly followed suit and started stitching ribbons to the skirt and just under the bodice where the slashes began. It seemed but a few minutes before Lady Stoneham sat back and beckoned to me. “Put it on, my dear. Let us see if I have not totally ruined it.”

I put on the petticoat and slipped on the dress. The petticoat was fuller than I would have worn with this particular dress, and it caused the split skirt to widen more than it had in the beginning. I looked in the mirror and saw that it almost gave the effect of an overdress, except that there were two splits instead of one, which caused the front panel of green fabric to drape in an apron-like way.

Taking the ruffles from the neck and hem deepened the décolletage and lengthened the line from bosom to foot. It looked austerely Grecian with the wide swath of embroidered ribbon lining the edges and gave me an air of elegant sophistication.

“Oh, Lady Stoneham!” I breathed in awe. “It is even better than it was before!” Impulsively I hugged her. “You are a genius!”

She put me from her but smiled, pleased. “I am hardly that, but I will admit I do have a sense of style.” She beamed benevolently. “I cannot do this all the time, however, for it exhausts me. So you must give me your word you will not ruin any more dresses, young lady!” I hastened to assure her I would not. She rose and glanced at the mantelpiece clock. “Goodness! It lacks but half an hour until we must be at Lady Amberley’s! We shall be late, but not terribly. I must see to Amelia. Such a slow child sometimes!” She hurried out with Annie in her train.

An undermaid who had some ability at hair-dressing was called to assist me, and my hair was brought up in a Grecian knot to match my dress. A single pendant necklace was fastened around my neck and a thin chain of a bracelet about my wrist. Simplicity was the theme tonight.

I descended the stairs to the parlour, where Lady Stoneham and Amelia were waiting for me. At my entrance, her ladyship nodded approvingly at me, but to my astonishment Amelia gave me one surprised and frightened glance, then looked down at her feet, blushing furiously. I knew immediately that she had had something to do with the slashing of my dress. When she looked up again, I managed a sweet smile. That would teach her.

If Amelia was the only problem, I would have gone on as I had until Mama came back for me. But there was Caroline as well to deal with. The ball at Lady Amberley’s was quite a crush, and I was gratified to find that Lady Stoneham did indeed have a genius for fashion, for I had more compliments on my dress and requests for the direction of my dressmaker than ever before. It was apparent, too, that Caroline did not expect my appearance at the ball, for she was clearly startled when she saw me and glanced angrily at Amelia. I merely smiled. I gave her another especially sweet smile when Lucas came up to ask me for a dance.

I was less nervous than I had been before with Lucas—most likely because I was still angry about my dress, and he seemed more attentive than he had lately been. I tried not to think of what had gone on before between us, but as we danced around the ballroom, I could not help but think again of that carriage ride. I managed to smile at him, and it seemed a warmth came back in his eyes, and it was almost as if the old Lucas I had known had come back.

“You look beautiful, you know,” Lucas said abruptly after a brief conversational foray into last week’s weather.

“Oh, practicing our social flirting, are we?” I said. I felt my face heat suddenly, and my heart beat faster than our dance warranted.

Lucas grinned. “No, I think you know well enough how to do that. Besides, I am not really one for flirting.”

“No?” I said. “Then you pretend to do so quite well with that piece of flummery you just uttered.”

“Not flummery at all. We are friends, after all— no need to stand on ceremony with each other. You look beautiful.”

I laughed a little shakily. Friends. I felt comforted by this, but strangely wistful. “Really, how can you say so? You were in love with my mother, after all; you must know I shall never achieve her looks!” I could not look at him, and my gaze lowered to his neckcloth.

An exasperated sigh burst above my head and made me look up at him.
“Must
you bring that up?” said Lucas, looking harassed. “I really would rather forget that. It was a mistake, and I own I was foolish to be so infatuated.”

“Well, there! You see?” I returned. “You could not help it—and you have not been the only one so taken with Mama—because she
is
truly beautiful.
You
could not stop yourself any more than a bee could help stopping at a nectar-filled flower, and neither can any other man.” I sighed. “I shall never have that happen to me, I think.”

“Just as well if it doesn’t,” Lucas said cryptically.

I raised my brows at him, but he did not respond, for the dance ended, and we stopped not far from Caroline. He made me promise to give him another dance, and for Caroline’s benefit, I smiled brightly and agreed. I wanted to ask Lucas about his last comment, but his attention was claimed by a white-haired dowager who said she once knew his grandmother. He looked apologetically at me before he bent his attention to the lady.

I glanced at Caroline. She had a fair-haired man by her side, and I assumed she would ignore me, for she had little time for females when there was a man about. But she turned to me and smiled. “My dear Miss Canning, I would dearly love to introduce you to Sir Harlow Smythe. He has been desiring a dance with you this age, and here you are!”

Sir Harlow smiled at me. He was not nearly as handsome as Lucas, and his hair was blond rather than black, but his smile was most charming. It lit up his pale blue eyes in a laughing manner. He bowed and kissed my hand. “Enchanted to meet you, my dear. If I may beg the honor of this dance?”

I curtsied, half intending to refuse, but he still held my hand. Rather than cause a scene, I agreed. I felt uneasy about the familiarity of his address, but Caroline’s geniality and the fact that she actually introduced an available man to me put me off balance. I think I would have risked being rude if I had known the next dance was to be a waltz.

Though I felt I was well versed in dancing the waltz by this time, I felt uncomfortable with the way Sir Harlow danced it. It seemed he held me much too close for comfort, and his hand kept slipping up or down from where it should have been.

“Shall I felicitate you on acquiring an addition to your family?” he said.

I looked at him, a little puzzled at first. “Oh! You mean my stepfather, Sir Jeremy Swift. Yes, my mother married him not long ago.”

“I believe their . .. attachment. .. was of long duration?”

I did not understand why he was asking me about my mother and Sir Jeremy. “I suppose so, Sir Harlow. Though I cannot comprehend why you should be interested in such private matters.”

He smiled another charming smile. “I am sorry. It is just that I find you utterly captivating and cannot help but wonder about your own, ah, inclinations.”

Before I knew what was happening, he swept me through some curtains out to a side balcony. He still held me close, and I found my chin firmly held in his hand. Startled, I looked up at him. The light outside was dim, but I could still see his expression, for the moon was full and very bright in addition to the brightness from within the house. A hungry look flashed in his eyes. Suddenly he pressed his mouth to mine. I stood frozen, panicky, not knowing what to do. “Lady Caroline’s speculations were quite right,” he murmured against my lips. “You are exquisite.” His hand moved from my waist, and his fingers traced the edge of my décolletage.

At the touch of his hand and the sound of Caroline’s name, I felt an enraged strength course through me. I pushed him forcefully away. His eyes widened, he yelped, and to my surprise, he disappeared. I heard a large splash down below. As my eyes grew more accustomed to the dimness, I saw that I was next to a low wall that formed the edge of the balcony. I remembered that Lord and Lady Amberley’s house, which was just outside London, featured a wide moat around most of the building. Apparently Sir Harlow had fallen into it. I only wished Lady Caroline were here so I could push
her
in as well.

Shaking, I clenched and unclenched my hands, struggling for some control and composure. That wretched Caroline! How dare she! She must have told Sir Harlow something horrid about Mama and Sir Jeremy and no doubt hinted the same thing about me. Why else would he have taken advantage of me? I bit my lip in sudden anxiety. What
could
she have said about Mama and Sir Jeremy? And would it be something that others would think as well?

I looked over the balcony and watched to see if Sir Harlow would surface. He did. His blond hair reflected the light from the house and bobbed up and down as he swam to the edge of the moat. I breathed a sigh of relief. I would not want anyone hurt, no matter how angry I was. Then I stifled a laugh. Sir Harlow must have lost his coat in the water, for as he arose from the moat I could see his white shirt liberally striped with duck weeds. He was cursing dreadfully, if the half-inarticulate sounds from below were any indication. I saw Sir Harlow turning toward the balcony—no doubt to. shake his fist at me—and I stepped back, not wanting him to see that I was still there.

I did not know how long exactly Sir Harlow and I had been on the balcony together, but I had to return. I smoothed back my hair as best I could, adjusted my bodice, and took a deep breath.

I put up my chin and pushed aside the curtains. To my dismay, the first eyes that met mine were Lucas’s; the second, Lady Stoneham’s. Lucas’s expression was angry, and Lady Stoneham’s was full of consternation. After being assaulted by Sir Harlow, I did not feel at all like confronting them. I admitted to cowardice: I looked about me for an escape.

I saw I could reach the entrance of the ballroom before either of them could reach me, so I slipped out those doors. I intended to go down the stairs, but then the front door to the mansion opened. I shrank down behind the balusters. It was a good thing I did: Sir Harlow entered. He must have had a remarkable store of oaths, for he was still cursing, and what was quite marvelous was that he did it in three languages.

As he shouted for a servant, opening one door after another, I could barely keep myself from laughing. He was still dripping water, and a dark, muddy stream coursed from him to the door. His shoes were surely ruined, for they squished noisily when he walked. He had taken off most of the duck weeds, but some still clung to him. As Sir Harlow stormed around the entrance hall, I could see that a large water lily was stuck to his back.

That was my undoing, for I could not suppress the snort of laughter that forced itself from behind my hands. His head came up and he shot a look so full of heated rage at me that I was sure I should have been burned to a crisp had his look been tangible. He started to climb up the stairs, his shoes squishing emphatically with each step.

It was a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea, so I chose to plunge once more into the ballroom. There, Lady Stoneham pounced upon me and opened her mouth to speak. “Georgia, how could you have gone—”

My gaze lit upon Sir Daniel, whom I had met earlier at Samantha’s party, just two arms’ lengths away. I smiled brilliantly upon him, willing him mentally to ask me to dance.

“Oh, I am
very
sorry, ma’am, but here is Sir Daniel come for our dance,” I said hastily.

I thanked Providence that he
did
ask me. Our dance allowed me to gather some measure of composure, to where I no longer felt overwhelmed. I smiled gratefully at him at the end of the set, but then found that Providence apparently did not set much store in any of my mental utterances. For at the end of the music, I came face to face with Lucas.

“Our dance?” He did not look angry now, but he was still quite stern.

I quickly unfurled my fan, waving it in front of my face. “Oh, yes, I remember! But I fear I am overheated from the last one—perhaps we can sit this one out?” I looked at him hopefully over the top of my fan.

One corner of his mouth quirked up for a moment. “Well, as you wish. Perhaps some punch?” The stern look was gone. I sighed with relief. The thought that Lucas might be angry with me distressed me. After all,
I
had not done anything wrong—had I?

He led me to the punch bowl and put a glass in my hand. Then he turned to me. “Now, my girl, what were you doing—”

Suddenly a shock went through my elbow and cherry punch spilled over me. I stood still in horror as I watched the red seep like blood down the front of my dress, making the silk fabric cling indecently to my bosom. I turned to see who had done this. I could recognize the color of Lady Caroline’s hair anywhere. Her back was turned to me, but the swirl of her skirts told me she hadn’t been that way long. I yearned to tear out her carefully curled coiffure but knew I could not embarrass myself or Lucas with such a scene.

I turned again, this time facing Lucas. His eyes widened when he saw the stain and hurriedly brought me a cloth to dab at it. “It is of no use, Lucas,” I said. “I am sorry, but I do not think I can remain here in this state.”

He looked disappointed but said: “I suppose it can’t be helped. Perhaps I can take you back to Lady Stoneham ... ?”

Lady Stoneham. I must have grown pale, for he led me to a seat and bade me sit down. Not only had the dress she had chosen for me been slashed, but now the effort she had gone through to remedy that was also ruined. Then, too, she must have seen me leave the dance floor with Sir Harlow, and I suspected this was something she had not liked. I wished I did not have to face her, but that was the coward’s way out, and I could not take that way again.