Gayle Buck (18 page)

“We are on our own today, madame,” said Michele with a smile. “And we have come on a special quest. Miss Davenport wishes to attend a masquerade at Vauxhall and we shall each require a domino.”

“Ah! The masquerade! It is a
divertissement
incomparable. Of a certainty I shall assist in discovering for you the most enchanting of silks for the dominoes,” the modiste said enthusiastically. She begged the ladies to be comfortable and began to bring bolts of silk for their inspection. Lydia was dazzled by the rich colors and the fluid feel of the fabrics. She was unable to make up her mind which shades she preferred, and the modiste, smelling an opportunity to guide a client into a particularly dear purchase, bent her efforts in guiding Lydia to a decision of mutual satisfaction.

For several minutes Michele was left to her own devices, and in short order she chose a silk of shimmering slate blue. She brushed her fingers over the cool fabric, a faint smile of remembrance on her lips. The last time she had attended a masquerade it had been in the company of a rakish gentleman who had taken liberties of her very willing lips. Michele sighed and shook her head, able to laugh a little. Her memories seemed always filled with enchanted moments. It was a pity that the gentleman in question no longer cared for her in just that way.

“A most marvelous shade, mademoiselle. I salute your cleverness, for such a blue shall blend with whatever your escort may choose,” the modiste said, coming to Michele’s side.

Michele flashed a smile, her eyes twinkling. “And I had thought that I chose it to complement my coloring,” she said humorously.

“Certainly it does. What do you think of my selection?” asked Lydia.

Michele looked at the delicate rose pink that her cousin indicated and she said sincerely, “You will be perfectly adorable in it.”

Lydia flushed with pleasure. “Handsome indeed, cousin! We have been quite successful in our outing, I think. Indeed, if we had done nothing else all the morning, I would be satisfied.”

“What, and give up that monstrous hat of yours? Fie on you for your caprice, Lydia,” Michele said. Her cousin owned that she had forgotten the hat. With a few more words to the modiste, the price of the dominoes that were to be made up from the silks was settled upon, as well as a time of delivery, and the ladies left the shop.

Lydia cast a glance up at the blue sky. “Michele, it is such a beautiful morning. Let’s not waste a moment more of it tooling about to the shops, but instead let’s go for a promenade in the park.”

“I admit to a liking for the notion. Very well, you know best where to direct the driver, Lydia,” Michele said, settling herself in the carriage amidst the various packages that had accumulated.

Lydia happily did so, and for the few minutes it took to reach the park, she chattered in her former sunny way. Michele was content to allow her cousin to carry the livelier end of the conversation, finding simple enjoyment in Lydia’s return of high spirits. Indeed, Lydia’s eyes had brightened almost to stars, and the becoming color had returned to her cheeks. Michele thought she had not seen Lydia look so lovely in some weeks.

The carriage stopped and the driver handed the ladies down. Lydia and Michele started down one of the green walkways that meandered under the arching branches of the trees. With each passing moment Lydia appeared to become more animated. She spoke in breathless accents and her eyes darted constantly ahead as though in anticipation. Michele became concerned about her cousin’s barely suppressed excitement, but she did not have long to wonder at the reason for it.

A gentleman detached himself from a wide tree trunk and stepped out of the deep shade. Michele instantly recognized him. She glanced quickly at her cousin’s face, which was registering radiant gladness. “Oh Lydia!”

But Lydia was deaf to her cousin’s-tone of dismay. She ran quickly to meet Captain Hughes, who caught her hands and reverently raised each in turn to his lips. They spoke briefly before closing the distance between themselves and Michele, who stood watching the meeting with disbelief and anger. Her eyes were darker than normal with her outrage. Michele found it difficult to accept that Lydia had used her to cover a rendezvous with Captain Hughes, especially when she had assured Lady Basinberry not two hours past that this sort of meeting would not take place under her aegis.

Lydia was not insensitive to the anger in her cousin’s flashing eyes. She said quietly, “I do apologize, Michele. It was not my intention that you be involved. My maid was to have been with me today, you see, and there was not time before we left the town house to send a message to Bernard.”

“Of course. I understand perfectly. I am the red herring,
en effet,”
Michele said coolly. Her nod for Captain Hughes was barely civil. “I had not expected this of you, sir.”

Captain Hughes reddened, but his frank gaze did not waver from her accusing stare. “Believe me, I acquiesced in this abominable subterfuge with the utmost reluctance. But Lydia was obviously in such dire need of my ear that I could not gainsay her.”

Michele was unmoved. “You are a man of little backbone and less honor, sir.”

“I shall not allow you to insult Bernard in such a fashion, cousin,” said Lydia, her own temper rising. At Michele’s swift negative gesture, she realized that she could not afford to further antagonize her cousin. With an effort Lydia caught back her anger and tried a faltering smile. “Pray try to understand, Michele. I am not allowed to see Bernard. I have been perfectly distracted at the pain of not seeing or speaking with him. Can you not allow me just a few moments? I beg you, cousin.”

Looking into Lydia’s tearful eyes, Michele was shaken by a sudden surge of sympathy. It was true, Lydia had been torn from the man she claimed to love and had been forbidden his company. Never mind that she had managed to be in some sort of communication with him; it was hardly the same as seeing his face or hearing his voice. Michele thought she more than anyone else must appreciate the importance of such small joys. She sighed, nodding in defeat. “I shall wait here for you, Lydia. But pray do not leave my sight. I should not like to be obliged to chase you down.”

Lydia flashed a heartfelt smile. “I do thank you, cousin!” Her escort nodded his thanks as well, and the couple turned to walk slowly up the path, their heads close together and their conversation low. They stopped several paces ahead and turned to face each other, conversing still.

Michele pretended an inordinate interest in a patch of flowers, but she kept one eye on her cousin and Captain Hughes. Her sense of duty would not be still, voicing the insidious suspicion that Lydia and her lover meant to fly for a destination unknown. She shuddered when she envisioned returning to the town house without Lydia and attempting to explain to her uncle how she had been hoodwinked and that his daughter had eloped with the one man above all others that he held in abhorrence. But her imaginings came to nothing after all, as Lydia and Captain Hughes parted at last, he to walk quickly away in the opposite direction while Lydia rejoined Michele.

“Thank you, cousin. I can never repay you for your faith in me,” Lydia said.

“Can you not? I will tell you, then. Promise me that you have not made arrangements to elope with Captain Hughes.’’

Lydia stared at her in astonishment and gathering hurt. “Michele! As if I could ever contemplate such a scandalous thing. Why, it would go against everything that I have been taught.”

Lydia’s obvious surprise both relieved Michele and made her ashamed of her base suspicions. “I am sorry, Lydia. Of course you would not. But I was so taken aback, and, yes, angered, at being used as your unwitting confederate that I did not think clearly. Lydia, since you have reassured me that this meeting was harmless, I shall say nothing about it, for the knowledge of it would surely hurt you in my uncle’s eyes. But I do not wish to be a party to any such thing again.’’

“You have my word on that, cousin. Shall we return to the carriage? I am certain that it must be coming on luncheon,” Lydia said.

Michele agreed that the hour had become late, and as they returned to the carriage, they spoke on indifferent topics. The rendezvous with Captain Hughes was never referred to again.

Chapter Seventeen

Lydia celebrated her freedom by diving into a whirl of social functions. The long-awaited trip to Astley’s Circus in the congenial company of the young Hedgeworths and the Murray brothers was but the first and most sedate of her outings. She insisted upon accepting as many invitations as she possibly could, and when Mr. Davenport remonstrated with her, saying that she was attempting too much, Lydia, with an unusually mulish look in her blue eyes, said, “I have no intention of letting any more of the Season pass me by, Papa. Especially since it is expected of me to make a brilliant match!”

Mr. Davenport was silenced. He beat a bewildered retreat, not at all understanding the new streak of firm determination in his formerly sweet and biddable daughter. “It is all the fault of that Hughes fellow,” he muttered.

Lady Basinberry was less astonished than her brother by Lydia’s behavior. “I do not know what Edwin expected. Anyone else with the wit God graced him with would have been unsurprised by this rebelliousness of Lydia’s. But that is Edwin all over. He never looks past his own nose,” she said.

Michele did not reply to Lady Basinberry’s irritated observation, keeping her own counsel. She also had thought it unrealistic of Mr. Davenport to assume that his relationship with his daughter would remain the same after the manner in which he had treated her. But Lydia’s present course was becoming extreme, and she observed Lydia’s almost feverish intensity with growing concern. Even now as she watched from across the ballroom, Lydia was flirting outrageously with every gentleman who came within her vicinity. Her cousin was swiftly becoming touted as a dreadful flirt, Michele thought. She glanced at Captain Hughes, who made up one of Lydia’s circle of admirers, and she saw from the stoniness of his expression that he at least was not enjoying Lydia’s newfound popularity. Michele started making her way unobtrusively toward her cousin with the object of whispering a word of advice.

Lydia’s change in character when she reentered society had at first been viewed with astonishment and had quickly become something of a minor scandal. Not all were disapproving, however, for Lydia sparkled with laughter and her quick teasing glances had served to attract several new admirers. When Michele approached her, she stood laughing amidst half a dozen gentlemen who vied for the favor of her hand in to dinner.

“Why, sir! How very witty of you, to be sure. You almost persuade me,” said Lydia. She glanced archly toward a gentleman who stood slightly apart. “And you, Captain Hughes? Do you not also have any witticisms to put forth on your own behalf?”

“I fear that I am not of the same caliber of wit,” Captain Hughes said quietly. He excused himself from the group. An expression of acute disappointment flitted across Lydia’s face as she saw him walk away, but she turned a determined smile on another of her suitors.

Captain Hughes saw Michele and approached her. “Mademoiselle du Bois, good evening.”

She gave her hand to him. “Captain Hughes, it is always a pleasure to speak with you. I have been hesitant in attempting to capture your attention, not wishing to call you away from Lydia.”

Captain Hughes smiled, a shade of grimness entering his eyes. His glance traveled to his beloved, who had apparently made her choice of escort and was bestowing her hand upon the winner amidst the good-natured complaints of the rest. “I do not think that Miss Davenport shall much miss me,” he said.

Michele looked up at him with earnest concern. “You must not think so, sir. Lydia is still very much in love with you.”

Captain Hughes turned his gaze on her. He shook his head, though his smile did lighten. “You are loyal and softhearted, mademoiselle. But I do have eyes in my head. Miss Davenport has learned to care less for me, and the most honorable course left to me is to perform a graceful exit from her circle of intimates.”

Michele caught at his sleeve. “Captain, you must believe this when I tell you. Lydia has played the part of the flirt these last weeks because she hopes to punish her father for his shameful conduct. Believe me, Mr. Davenport has been made much bewildered and anxious by these tactics, but I do believe that Lydia honestly means nothing by her actions.”

Captain Hughes covered Michele’s hand with his own and smiled rather sadly. “I wish that I could believe you, mademoiselle. But Lydia—Miss Davenport—vouchsafes me the veriest commonplaces when we meet. I am not allowed to call, and she will not come apart with me for even a few minutes at a ball to grant me a few private words. What am I to think?”

Michele realized that the case was more desperate than she had known. Apparently Lydia had not chosen to tell her beloved of the close watch set on her by Lady Basinberry, who had insisted that Lydia should not encourage Captain Hughes by the least sign. “Captain, allow me to explain—”

He interrupted her, saying softly, “It would be of little use. I cannot continue as I have, with but a glance from her or the slightest pressure of her fingers on mine when I greet her . . .” His voice shook, and he paused to gather his control. He said gravely, “I think it best that I withdraw from the lists. Pray convey to ... to Miss Davenport my eternal admiration and my regrets.” He bowed and quickly walked away, despite Michele’s entreaty to remain and hear her out.

Michele was on the point of following the captain, but she was frustrated in her decision by the appearance of Sir Lionel Corbett, who commented as he observed Captain Hughes’s hasty retreat, “Now, what is the matter with our dear captain? He was wearing the gloomiest expression that I have ever chanced to encounter on his bland countenance.”

Michele forced back a sharp retort, knowing better than to offer anything that might be food for the gossip mill. She gave the slightest of shrugs and said in an indifferent voice, “Is he? I had not particularly noticed. Sir Lionel, have you come to take me in to dinner?”