Dukes to the Left of Me, Princes to the Right (24 page)

He wasn’t that bright. His choice of gown revealed his intentions clearly.

He still wanted her.

She was glad for one thing—when she held the mask up to her face, she did feel mysterious and adventurous. And she’d be anonymous, which was a good thing.

But wait—

She read the note again. The ball was this evening, and she couldn’t very well—

She bit her lip. She’d have to go to
both
events. She could do it. She’d go to both, and Nicholas, when she eventually told him, would be amazed at her devotion to duty.

But should she tell him now, before the fact? He’d be so intrigued to know she’d be getting a glance at the Pink Lady.

She decided against it. He didn’t like Sergei. Who knew what would happen? She couldn’t risk his interfering and her not getting to see the portrait, after all.

It was going to be an even more exciting evening than she’d thought, but first she had some planning to do.

She flew down the stairs in search of one of the new stableboys. The Merriweathers lived only two blocks from Sergei’s apartments, but she’d need an escort. Going back and forth in a carriage wouldn’t be practical. There’d be an abundance of them outside the rout all night long.

No, the best thing to do would be walk between the two places with a stableboy armed with a pistol to protect her and hope for the best.

It could be done. She was sure of it. But before she did anything, it was imperative that she talk to her aunt.

*   *   *

Fifteen minutes later, Poppy was rolling out one of her father’s favorite pastries, one she regretted she hadn’t made in a good long while—a traditional English apple tart. And she’d invited her aunt to help her.

Aunt Charlotte sprinkled flour on the dough as Poppy rolled.

“I think things went well last night,” Aunt Charlotte said.

Poppy laid the dough in a pan. “Overall, they did, but”—she turned to look at her aunt—“why did you insist on that kiss between the duke and me?”

Aunt Charlotte blinked several times.

Her guilty look.

Poppy’s heart beat harder. “What is it?”

Aunt Charlotte bit her lip. “I’m afraid I might be giving you bad advice, my dear. I don’t know that I should be mentor to the Spinsters Club.”

Poppy’s hands grew clammy cutting up the apples, so she wiped her fingers on her apron. “Are you jesting?”

Aunt Charlotte shook her head. “I’m coming to the conclusion that I don’t want you to become
me,
you see.”

There was a long, dark silence. A sleek tabby kitchen cat meandered in and out of Poppy’s ankles. Her chin wobbled. “But I thought you were happy. It’s the whole point of the Spinsters Club, that it’s better to be alone than to be with someone you don’t love.”

“I
am
happy,” Aunt Charlotte said. “Yet years ago, when I was a young woman, there were romantic opportunities I neglected to pursue. I was too boxed in. I had a certain vision of what love was, and Poppy”—she shook her head—“I think I was wrong. Shortsighted. Too proud and too committed to a plan
I
had—instead of letting go and letting life lead me. I wasn’t open to the possibilities.”

Open to the possibilities!

Poppy felt her face pale. Those were the words that had come to her at the Golden Gallery and when she’d heard Keats’s poem. Nicholas, too, had used that phrase when they’d watched the gander at Lady Caldwell’s.

She didn’t know what to say.

“There was one man named Gerald Goodpenny,” Aunt Charlotte continued gently. “His ears stuck out and he didn’t like horse racing—which I loved—so I wouldn’t consider him as a beau. Yet he was funny and sweet and had quite a brilliant mind. He married my friend Dora, and now they have fifteen grandchildren. He’s gotten so much handsomer with age.” She chuckled. “It could be I think he’s handsome because—because he’s a good man with a sassy mouth. I saw him at a wedding recently, and he spanked me on the bottom, right in front of Dora, for being so silly as to never kiss him when he’d asked me.”

“And his wife didn’t object?”

Aunt Charlotte smiled. “Of course she did, but it was all in fun. Dora and I are good friends. She punched Gerald’s shoulder, and he kissed her and told her he loved her more than all the tea in China.”

“How lovely for them,” Poppy whispered.

Aunt Charlotte gave a little chuckle. “Yes, it is. He’s a good man, and Dora knows it.” She paused for a moment and began to cut up another apple. “There’s nothing more attractive than a good man,” she said, slicing through the fruit’s flesh and laying out a line of apple wedges for Poppy to place into the pastry shell. “Behind closed doors, good men are often more mischievous and exasperating than the truly bad ones. The difference is they’re naughty because they’re happy—boys at heart, no matter how many responsibilities they bear or how old they become.” Her eyes were dreamy. “I didn’t see that when I was young and rather wild.”

Poppy shook her head. “But Aunt, you know I intend to break my engagement as soon as possible. You embarrassed me in front of all the dinner party when you asked me to kiss Drummond.”

“I know.” Aunt Charlotte blew out a breath. “The thing is, Poppy, I can’t bear to see you leading a false life.”

“It’s only for the nonce.”

“Is it?” Aunt Charlotte laid down her knife and let out a weary sigh. “Are you sure you’re not letting your devotion to the Spinster bylaws blind you to what’s right in front of your eyes? Last night I had the sudden urge to see you wake up. I had this feeling the duke would be able to do that—quite the way the prince in the fairy tale woke up Sleeping Beauty.”

“I can’t believe in fairy tales anymore,” Poppy insisted. “Look what happened when I daydreamed away six years, all for Sergei.”

For too long she’d let her unfounded hopes about Sergei rule her reason, hadn’t she?

Never again. She wouldn’t allow fantasy back into her life. She would quit listening to Cook’s stories. She would be full of common sense and say, “Pooh,” if anyone even attempted to ignite her imagination in any way.

She was done with dreams.

Finished with fancy.

“Are you sure you don’t believe in fairy tales anymore?” Aunt Charlotte smiled knowingly. “Because I could swear, last night, Drummond
did
wake you up.”

Poppy felt herself blush—
did he
ever
wake me up!
she longed to exclaim—but she continued sprinkling sugar and cinnamon on the apples. “I don’t know what to say. I—I’m surprised, nay, shocked, at your change of heart. At everything you’re saying.”

“Are you angry?”

“Yes,” said Poppy, her vision suddenly blurring. “Because I’m afraid. I’m afraid to be fanciful. To go back to daydreaming.”

She looked down at the pastry.

Aunt Charlotte lifted her chin and pulled a curl off her face. “There’s no need to be afraid. The Spinster rules are an excellent guide. But a guide only … to keep your courage up, to give you support as you travel the road to womanhood. Your heart is the true guide. Let that lead you, above all.”

Poppy couldn’t help the tiny smile that tugged at her mouth. “That’s actually quite good advice. I suggest we keep you as the mentor of the Spinsters Club.”

Aunt Charlotte smiled back. “I withdraw my resignation.”

They worked for another five minutes, spooning the apples into the crust, pinching the sides into a pleasing scalloped pattern.

“He’s demanding,” Poppy said quietly, out of the blue, “occasionally irascible, and he doesn’t have half the charm of Eversly or his set.”

Aunt Charlotte nodded. “But he’s such a substantial presence. He’s making charm seem a rather flimsy virtue these days.”

He
.

They were talking of the Duke of Drummond, of course.

But they were also talking about the man she was falling in love with, weren’t they? She wasn’t quite there yet. But it was a distinct possibility.

Poppy surveyed their apple-and-crust creation and then popped it into Cook’s already warm oven. Nicholas was far from the typical polished London gentleman, but who cared?

He was substantial.

That was a very good word, she decided.

“I hope Papa likes it,” she said about the pie.

“I’m sure he will,” Aunt Charlotte replied.

They gripped hands, and for the first time in a long time, Poppy felt … happy.

CHAPTER 25

The morning after the dinner party at Poppy’s, Nicholas left Groop’s office rather stunned.

Groop had heard rumors—someone was trying to interfere with Nicholas’s engagement, but the spymaster hadn’t been able to give him any more details than that.

“Rumor has it that someone is annoyed,” he murmured over his spectacles. “Someone would love to see you two apart. And I have no idea how far they’re willing to go.”

That someone could be anyone from Frank, who would likely cast aspersions on Nicholas’s character and curse him in pubs around London, to someone plotting to kill him—or Poppy.

That was the rub. Poppy was involved now.

Working in the Service, one tended to develop enemies. Nicholas was used to living with a certain element of danger on a regular basis. He’d always been able to take it in stride.

But now Poppy’s safety could be in jeopardy.

He wished he’d considered that possibility more when he’d become engaged to her. But he’d been too bent on getting the job done. And he’d focused on the future—moving her out of London to Seaward Hall most of the year. He’d acted as if she were a pawn in a giant chess game, and she still was, in a way, but now he knew that pawn personally, had worshiped her body with his mouth, had laughed with her and argued with her, and—

He wanted to keep her safe.

In the carriage on the way to the Merriweathers’, there was a strange silence between them. Considering what they’d done together in her father’s library the night before, it was interesting.

“Are you all right?” he asked her.

She flung a shawl over her daringly low bodice. “Yes,” she said. “Are you?”

“Fine.” He felt a bit awkward. He wasn’t sure why, except that she looked extremely beautiful.

She gave him a tight smile. “We should have fun tonight. I enjoy the Merriweathers’ routs. Every year someone falls out a window into their bushes.”

“Different person each time?” he asked, jiggling his leg.

Why, he was like a nervous schoolboy. That kiss last night, followed by what they’d done in the library … he must admit it was getting more difficult to keep her at arm’s length.

She giggled. “Yes. Haven’t you been to one of their routs before?”

He shook his head. “I’m not big on parties. I find most of them a crashing bore.”

“Oh.” She nodded sagely. “That’s why most everyone in Town has no idea who you are.”

“Exactly. I have a small estate in Sussex, I frequently go north to check on Seaward Hall, and when I’m in London, I tend to hole up at my bachelor pad at the Albany or visit close friends, like the Traemores.”

He leaned forward suddenly and put a hand on her knee. “I must confess something,” he said. “I enjoyed last night. Very much.”

Her eyes widened. “I did, too.” Her grin was wide and bright. “I’m glad you mentioned it.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “I think we’re feeling better now, aren’t we?”

“I think so.” She looked down and back up at him.

But it wasn’t true. His confession had made things worse. Neither one of them said a word. There was too much tension between them, and now they were at the Merriweathers’. He got out and lifted her down, and when her feet touched the pavement, their lips were so close he could have kissed her.

But he didn’t.

He was afraid if he did, he wouldn’t be able to stop, and he had a job to do—to keep her safe in a place with hundreds of people and convince the world that he was about to marry her.

He grabbed her hand—she was silent again—and brought her into the crush that was the party. He loved feeling her fingers grasped in his and her body brushing up against him. She was his fiancée, and he wasn’t going to let her go. Not tonight, to any thugs intent on hurting her, nor later, when she tried to break off the engagement.

He was going to fight for her, convince her they should be married. The idea of the marital bed was no longer something he dreaded but looked forward to with great pleasure.

They also laughed together often.

What more could a man want in a wife or a wife in a husband than an ideal sexual partner and an abundance of laughter?

He wasn’t sure yet how or where the test between them would take place, but it would, and he vowed to be ready.

A half hour later, they’d walked through several rooms inch by inch. The noise was deafening. Many people stopped and grabbed them and begged for a few minutes’ conversation.

Nicholas noticed Poppy began to appear distracted.