Deceiving the Duke of Kerrington (Ladies of Deception) (7 page)

            Hope moved to sit at the
small worn table in the center of the room while her mother set about brewing a
pot of tea to warm her up with. When the tea was finished and the scalding
liquid set before her, Matilde sat and looked at her daughter expectantly.

            Hope allowed herself to take
a long sip of tea to warm her chilled body before speaking, “I find myself in
the most horrible predicament and I’m distraught at what to do so I came
seeking your advice.”

            Matilde’s eyes widened in
horror, “You are not with child are you?”

            It was Hope’s turn to look
horrified, “Of course not, mama! No, my trouble is with my mistress, Lady
Noelle.” She watched as her mother visibly bristled at the mention of Noelle’s
name.

            “What sort of trouble Hope?
Tell me now.” Her voice was firm and demanding.

She wasn’t exactly
sure what her mother was anticipating but she knew she surprised her when she
said, “Lady Noelle thinks she has fallen in love with an American gentleman and
insists that she is fleeing to the continent with him to become his bride by
the week’s end.”

“So you will
lose your position, is that what all this fuss is about?”

“No, that is not
all—she has this crazy idea in her head that I resemble her,” Matilde let out a
strangled gasp, “and she wants me to impersonate her, to take her place and
marry the Duke of Kerrington so that her family will not face scandal and ruin
because of her actions.”

She had expected
her mother to react as passionately as herself at the news so she was surprised
when all she did was sit there silently, mulling the news over in her head.
Hope watched her in silence, noting how much she had aged since she saw her
last. Her skin appeared more wrinkled than before and hung loosely on her face
and neck and hands. She realized that she had lost a significant amount of
weight as well. For a moment her concern for her mother overshadowed her
concern for herself.

“Mother, have
you been feeling unwell? You have lost some weight since I saw you last.”

Matilde waived
her hand impatiently as if dismissing her concern, “Hush child, I’m thinking.”
It was obvious to Hope that she didn’t want to talk about her own apparent
declining health so she just sat there in silence as her mother continued to
think.

It felt like hours
before Matilde finally spoke by way of command, “You will do as your mistress
wishes.”

Hope felt like
she had had a bucket of cold water thrown upon her, so startled she was by her
mother’s decision. “What? But I’m no lady and if the earl were to find out of
my deception he’d have me thrown into Newgate, or worse!”

“Once you are
wed you will no longer be the earl’s concern so you will just have to ensure
that the duke never finds out of your deceit.”

“But I cannot
possibly marry a duke mama, he would never believe me to be a real Lady, I am
but a mere servant. And if I became Lady Noelle I would no longer be able to
see you, have you thought of that?”

Matilde’s
expression looked pained as she reached one wrinkled hand across the table to
cover Hope’s, the skin covering her bones was paper thin. “That would be the
greatest hardship of all, for I love you dearly my daughter, but think of the
life you would live. You’d be able to enjoy so many things that I have never
been able to give you, things that you deserve, and you’d never have to work or
worry about how you were going to provide for yourself for the rest of your
life. This is a remarkable opportunity and you’d be a fool not to take it.”

Hope just sat,
staring slack jawed at her mother not sure what to say. She hadn’t known what
she’d expected her mother to do or say when she had decided to come see her but
she certainly had not expected her to side with Lady Noelle.

When she finally
spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper, “Do you really think I should go
through with this?”

Matilde spoke
boldly, “I don’t simply think you should do this, I know you must. It’s the
only way. If you refuse than you will be left without a position and the
chances of you finding another will be slim.” Hope nodded her head solemnly,
she had already come to that conclusion on her own.

She decided to
try out one last idea on her mother before accepting defeat, “I could always
come home to live with you and find work here—if nothing else I can always take
in laundry and mending to make a few extra shillings. The money I have saved up
would last us for a good time to come.”

“Absolutely not,
that isn’t any kind of life for you. You were born for something better and now
is the time for you to accept that.”

            “Oh mama, I’m so
frightened.” Hope confessed.

            “It’ll all be well, you’ll
see.”

Matilde managed
to maneuver her frail body out of the chair and hobble over to her bedroom and
slip out of sight. Moments later she returned and came to stand behind Hope.
Hope felt something cool touch her neck as she looked down to see a ruby
pendant slide between her breasts. She reached down and captured the charm,
lifting it for inspection. It was a fairly large round ruby surrounded by
sparkling little diamonds. The flickering of the candles illuminated off the
jewels many facets giving it a glittering appearance.

“What is this?”

“It is something
I have been meaning to give you for some time now—something for you to have of
your mother’s.”

When the
necklace was clasped into place, Matilde shuffled once more to her bedroom,
this time returning with a folded piece of parchment aged and worn with the
passage of time and sealed with a drop of red wax. She handed it to Hope but
before taking her hand from it she said, “You must give me your word that you
will not open this letter until the time is right for you to do so.”

She nodded, “But
how will I know when the time is right?”

“You will know
my child, now promise me or I will not give it to you.” Though she was puzzled
by the oddity she agreed and not until then did Matilde’s hand release the letter
into her own.

“Now as much as
I hate to see you go, you truly must be on your way.” Matilde pulled her
daughter into a fierce embrace, both of them getting choked up knowing it would
be the last of its kind that they would ever share. Hope pulled back, tears
streaming down her face. She looked into her mother’s face as if she could
memorize every last detail and commit it all to memory. Her heart was breaking
at the thought of leaving her mother forever to embrace an uncertain and
fearful future.

Matilde placed a
soft hand on Hope’s cheek, “Godspeed child. I have loved you with all of my
heart and will do so until my dying breath.”

“I love you too,
mama.” And with that Hope turned and reluctantly left the small cottage and the
only family she had ever known.

Matilde watched
in agony as her only daughter mounted her horse and galloped off into the
night, waiting until she was no longer in view before whispering, “God be with
you Lady Hope.”

Chapter 8

The ride back to
Mayfair was a complete blur to Hope. She barely remembered talking to Geoffrey
as she returned Tabitha to the mews before sneaking silently back into the
house and to her room. Her body and mind were exhausted and as she slid into
bed the last thing she remembered thinking about before falling into a fitful
slumber was how curious it had been that her mother had never questioned her
about how much she truly resembled Lady Noelle. Matilde had just accepted that
the plan would work, having never laid eyes on Lady Noelle for herself—odd.

When Hope finally
awoke she felt as if she had never gone to bed at all. She had tossed and
turned and fretted the whole night, never allowing her mind to shut down fully
to allow her body peaceful sleep. She got ready for the day unhurriedly,
dreading the moment she would see Lady Noelle and tell her that she had agreed
to go along with her plan. She knew that Noelle would be ecstatic but she
herself could only feel apprehension and dread.

When she heard
the tinkling of the brass bell, it was with great trepidation that she entered
Noelle’s bedchamber. Noelle was sitting propped up in her bed, looking as if
she had just awoken refreshed from a long nights slumber. Hope was irritated
that she could sleep at such a time as this and did nothing to mask that
irritation.

“Good morning
milady, what can I do for you?” she spoke through ground teeth.

Noelle yawned
and stretched, her dainty hands reaching high above her head, “Oh don’t be
silly Hope, you know exactly what you can do for me. Have you finally come to
your senses and decided to do as I proposed?”

Though she knew
that it was highly unlikely that Noelle would change her mind, her heart still
plummeted in her chest at the affirmation. She clenched her jaw tightly for a
few long seconds before finally answering, “Yes, milady.”

Noelle sprung
from her bed, “Really? Look at me Hope,” she grabbed Hope’s shoulders and shook
her. “You are going to be so happy, we both are.” Hope highly doubted she would
but she wasn’t about to argue with her mistress, it was futile.

“Oh, we have so
much to do before I leave and not nearly enough time to do it all in. I have to
teach you all there is to know about being a lady so that you can assume your
new role gracefully.”

            Hope wasn’t optimistic about
anything going gracefully but she didn’t say so. She felt unusually grumpy and
knew that the lack of sleep contributed greatly to her mood, for she was rarely
ever out of sorts.

            “Let’s start by getting you
all dressed up as if you were attending a ball so I can see how you look as me
once more.” She moved to her closet and began shuffling through the surfeit of
ball gowns. It was odd for Hope to see her doing something that she usually did
for her, and as she moved to assist her she stopped herself, figuring she
better get used to it if she were going to assume her role permanently.

            Noelle strode back to where
Hope was standing holding a bronze gown in her arms, “Hurry and strip down so
we can get you dressed. Isn’t this fun?” Hope ignored her and began undressing.
Moments later she was ensconced once more into the rigid corset and Noelle was
soon slipping the gown over her head. The bronze color of the dress served to
draw even more attention to the unusual amber shade of her eyes and was much
finer than the day dress she had worn last time she had posed as Noelle. Next
Noelle instructed her to pin her hair up elaborately while she herself insisted
on dressing once more in Hope’s garb.

            “Though I plan on staying in
the privacy of these chambers all day while I train you to become a lady, I’d rather
be safe in case somebody decides to come looking for either one of us.” It made
sense so Hope didn’t argue.

            Once Hope had her hair
dressed, Noelle came over to sit at the vanity to help apply the rouge and lip
salve and to darken her lashes for her. When the primping was complete Noelle
hummed in appreciation, “It’s peculiar how much you resemble myself, don’t you
find it a little unnerving?”

            “I find it more than a
little unnerving and more than a little inconvenient.” Hope muttered, wondering
how much Noelle really cared about her opinion.

            “Well stranger things have
happened I suppose.” Then pushing her musings aside she continued, “Now, where
shall we begin?” She tapped one finger thoughtfully against her cheek.  

            “I suppose we should start
with dancing, for I know not a single thing about it. I feel much more
confident in the other areas, having been your lady’s maid long enough to have
a fairly good understanding of the other components of being a lady. I’m almost
positive I could work my way through a multi-course meal and I am as versed in
the social proprieties as you are, but I have never had the occasion to learn
to dance, never needed to know how.”

            “Perfect, let’s begin there.
I suppose I’ll have to act as the gentleman and the orchestra seeing as how we
have no music.” She thought for a minute, “I guess I’ll just have to hum a tune
and hope you can pick up on the rhythm of the dance.”

Oh dear, she
hoped this would work, for dancing was an integral part of being a Lady. She
knew that masquerading as Lady Noelle would require her to attend multiple
balls a week and that there was no way she could get away with not dancing at
every single one of those balls. Both girls worked to move a few stray pieces
of furniture out of the way, clearing a space for the lessons.

“The first dance
we will start with is a country dance. You’ll just have to imagine there are
more couples dancing along with us.”

Noelle began
humming a lively tune as she led Hope in the steps of the dance. There was much
fumbling and stepping on toes but Noelle was persistent and insisted that they
try again and again.  Eventually that persistence paid off and Hope felt as if
she could satisfactorily dance a country dance. She was glad that she was a
quick learner and fairly agile.

After taking a
break to rest their feet Noelle stood once more and gestured for Hope to do the
same, “Next we will work on waltzing.” Noelle stood directly in front of Hope and
placed one hand on her back before taking her other hand in her own, “Now I’ve
noticed you’re rather good at following my lead so if you can continue to do
that, this should come quite easily for you. First, step back with your right
foot.”

Hope kept her
gaze down as she struggled to watch their feet amidst the billowing skirt of
her gown, trying to get in rhythm. She stumbled on Noelle’s toes frequently and
finally she figured Noelle had had enough of it when she decided once more that
it was time to rest.

“I’m not sure I
can learn to waltz, is there any chance that I can avoid this particular
dance?” she asked hopefully.

“Hardly, it’s
all the rage and I’m sure the duke will insist upon waltzing with you.” The
thought of being in a man’s arms stumbling around a ballroom unnerved her. She
knew if she were ever going to pull off this charade she would need to master
the waltz and so after a few minutes of rest they were practicing once more.  And
so the remainder of the day went, practicing one dance after another until
Hope’s feet ached from wearing the unfamiliar ball slippers.

Finally Noelle
called it a day, much to Hope’s relief, and sat down with a huff, “I must
confess, dancing with you is more tiresome than dancing with half the ton, and
not nearly as pleasant.” She reached down and pulled off one slipper and began
rubbing her toes, “and much more painful.” Hope grimaced, her confidence not at
all bolstered by the comments.

“Let’s hope we
can improve your dancing abilities drastically in the next few days or we could
be in trouble. Now, we have to discuss how this will all work out. I hate to
have to tarnish your name but we have to come up with a credible story for your
sudden and impromptu departure and it won’t reflect well on you I am certain.”

Hope already
knew that and offered a suggestion, “Why don’t we stick as close to the truth
as possible. Let’s just tell your father that I left a note behind saying that
I have run away with a gentleman I have fallen in love with and plan to flee
the country. Please, no more lies if we can help it.”

“Perfect. He’ll
be perturbed and insist on getting you a new lady’s maid post haste, but there
should be no further ramifications and this way Hope Hillburn can just
disappear into the unknown indefinitely.”

Hope flinched at
the casual way Noelle talked of her demise as if it would have no effect on her
life whatsoever. Maybe it wouldn’t but it was certainly affecting Hope’s own
life to vast extremes. The thought of putting her identity completely in the
past made her feel sick to her stomach. She just hoped that she could retain a part
of who she was and not lose herself completely in this new life she was
embarking on.

Suddenly it all
weighed her down and felt like more than she could bear: saying her final
goodbyes to her mother, having to dress in fancy clothes, having to learn to dance,
and worst of all, having to eventually become a duchess.

She rose
quickly, “Please unhook my dress, I suddenly feel fatigued and need to lie down
for a bit…it was a long night.” An understatement if there ever was one. All
she knew was that she wanted to get back into her own familiar clothes and away
from Noelle where she could enjoy whatever she could of her final days as plain
old Hope Hillburn from Shepard’s Bush.

The minute the
bronze satin gown fell to the floor and her corset was unlaced, she insisted
that Noelle remove her gown so she could redress before stealing away to her
own quarters to be alone where she could write and transport herself away into
another world. A world that would always be there for her, a world where she
could imagine anything she pleased, be anything she chose.