Improper Ladies (34 page)

“Or they did—until recently. My publisher says that sales are falling, and they do not want to publish a planned second edition.”

Georgina sat back on her heels. “So that is why you came to London. To investigate.”

“I did hope perhaps I could discover something that might be of use,” Rosalind admitted.

“And you found it is Lord Morley who is breaking your rules!” Georgina’s eyes sparkled, and her lips curved in a grin. “And that is why you were with him in the corridor. To make him confess.”

Rosalind could see she just had to nip this in the bud. Georgina was much too fond of intrigues, schemes, and romances. She read too many horrid novels. She was quite capable of making all of this into some grand drama. “Now, Georgina, listen . . .” she began.

“Here you are, ladies!” the duke’s voice interrupted. Rosalind turned to see Georgina’s husband standing in the doorway, a tray with a bottle of fine brandy and some glasses in his hand. “I thought after such a strange evening a brandy might be in order.”

“Alex, my darling, you are an angel,” Georgina said. She sat back in her chair, but tossed Rosalind a glance that promised this discussion was not finished. “You have read my mind yet again.”

Rosalind usually did not imbibe brandy. But tonight, it sounded exactly what she needed. “Thank you, Your Grace,” she murmured, and accepted the glass of lovely amber liquid.

“Now, Mrs. Chase, I have asked you many times to call me Alexander,” he said, and sat down on the arm of his wife’s chair.

“Of course—Alexander,” Rosalind said, though it still did not feel quite right to call a duke by his given name!

“Very good,” said Alexander. “And you will be happy to know that your brother is safely asleep in the Green Room. No worse for wear, though he will have a demon of a headache in the morning.”

Rosalind gave him a grateful smile, and sipped at her brandy. For now, for this one moment, it felt so very good to let someone else help her, to let at least a tiny portion of the burden drop away.

She would have to pick it up again soon enough.

 

Allen was already tucked up in bed when Rosalind looked in on him as she made her way to her own chamber. He looked exhausted and wan against the clean white linens, but he sat up smartly enough when she entered the room, pulling the blankets up to his chin.

“Rosie!” he cried. “For heaven’s sake, I have retired. You shouldn’t be in here!”

Ordinarily, Rosalind would agree. It was against the rules for a lady to enter a man’s chamber, even that of her brother. Tonight, though, after everything that had happened, such niceties seemed faintly ridiculous. She had to talk to Allen, and she had to do it now.

She waved away his sputtering protests and sat down on a chair by the bed. “Allen, please do not be missish. I watched the nursemaid change your nappies when you were two months old; it scarcely matters if I see you in your nightshirt now.”

“Oh, Rosie,” Allen muttered miserably, sinking down against the pillows.

“I wanted to talk to you now,” Rosalind went on, “but I promise I will be quick. I am very tired, as no doubt you are. It was a most
turbulent
evening.”

Allen looked even more miserable, if that was possible. “I never meant for you to find out about that. If I had known you were there ...”

“I know you are sorry now, Allen. And I am sorry, too.”

Allen’s bloodshot eyes widened in surprise.
“You,
Rosie? What are you sorry for?”

“I have only just now realized something, and that is that I still think of you as that baby in nappies, and not as the young man that you are. I was so much older than you, eleven years old when you were born, that I have always felt I had to look after you. Now I see that I need to help you look after yourself.”

“What do you mean?” Allen appeared profoundly confused, and really, Rosalind thought, who could blame him? He had never had to take care of himself before, as Rosalind had always swooped in to do it for him. But she was tired now, so very tired. She could be his caretaker no longer.

“I mean that I have done you a disservice. I have lectured you about your careless behavior, and exhorted you to cease your gaming. But I have not told you of our true situation, which would have helped you to see the right path for yourself.”

Rosalind closed her eyes, took a deep breath—and told her brother the truth of their financial situation. She told him about
A Lady’s Rules
, the expenses of the school, the letters from the bank. She told all this in the shortest, sparest language she could find, but when she was done she still felt drained. She slumped back in her chair and opened her eyes.

Allen had left the bed in silence and knelt on the carpet beside her chair. He looked so very young, with his overlarge borrowed nightshirt and tousled hair. But his eyes—his eyes glowed with a faint light that was years older.

“So you see, Allen, that there is enough money for your education,” she told him. “Indeed, I am happy to give you that. But there is not enough for any more debts. It cannot go on, or we will be ruined. That is as plainly as I can say it.”

Allen shook his head, his jaw working as if he
wanted
to say something but could not find the words. Then he said, “I am sorry, Rosie. So sorry. I should have realized—should have known. You always said . . .”

“I tried to protect you, as our parents wished.”

“You do not need to
protect
me! I am a grown man now. I should be protecting
you.”

“All I want is for you to return to school, to prepare for a career. That is all I ever wished for.”

He clasped her hand between his. “I will, Rosie. I will go back tomorrow, and will make up things with my tutor. I swear it.”

Rosalind smiled at him wearily. “Thank you, Allen dear. That is all I could ask for.”

“Never make a glutton of yourself in public. Sip daintily at tea, and only take small nibbles of the lightest of foods.”

-A Lady’s Rules for Proper Behavior
, Chapter Eight

 

M
ichael drew his phaeton to a halt outside the Waylands’s townhouse, and stared up at its white marble facade. In its way, it was even more grand than Bronston House, with its classical pediments and multiple chimneys and sparkling windows. By all rights, it should be twice as forbidding, since it housed a ducal household. But the bright green draperies at the first floor windows, the potted topiaries that lined the front walk, and the redheaded moppet of a child who peered down from one of the upper story windows, gave it a life, a welcoming air, that Bronston House could never hope to possess.

He feared that one of the residents of the house would not be nearly so welcoming, though. In fact, he would be quite fortunate if Mrs. Chase did not toss him down those front steps on his backside. He was not her favorite person in the world—he knew that from the cold stare she had given him in the Portmans’ ballroom last night, but that did not change his own feelings. He wanted to see her; he
had
to see her, no matter in what state he found her this morning, even if she shouted at him and
did
throw him out.

The image of the dainty, proper Mrs. Chase pushing him onto the pavement like some avenging etiquette goddess made him smile. That smile faded when the front door opened and a black-coated butler appeared. Michael would
have
to go in now that he had been spotted.

He handed the reins to a footman who appeared beside the phaeton, and jumped down to the walkway to enter the house.

“Good morning, sir,” the butler said, holding out a small silver card tray.

“Good morning,” Michael answered. He dug out a card from inside his coat and deposited it properly upon the tray. Even Mrs. Chase would have to approve. “I am calling to see if the duchess and Mrs. Chase are at home.”

“I will endeavor to ascertain that, Lord Morley.” The butler bowed, and retreated into a room off the foyer, shutting the door behind him.

Michael was only alone in the marble and satin silence for a moment. He had tilted his head to examine a painting on the wall, a sweeping Italian landscape bearing the duchess’s own signature, when a voice said from behind him, “Who are
you?”

He turned to see the redheaded moppet he had glimpsed in the window. Now she stood on the grand staircase, peering down at him from over the carved balustrade. She could not be more than about four, a tiny doll with long curls and freckles. She picked up the trailing streamers of her pink satin sash and popped them into her mouth.

Michael grinned, and gave her his lowest, most elegant bow. “I am Viscount Morley. And to whom do I have the great honor of speaking? A fairy princess, surely.”

The little sprite giggled. “I am Lady Elizabeth Anne.”

“How do you do, my lady.”

She took a step down. “I have a brother. His name is Sebastian, but he’s only tiny and can’t talk. Mama says it will be a long time before he can play with me.”

“I am sorry to hear that.”

“He is utterly useless.” She gave a deep sigh.

Michael laughed. Surely it was the story of brothers everywhere, to be found useless by their sisters. He had the feeling that Violet would agree with Lady Elizabeth Anne. “I am certain he will prove more, er, useful when he is a bit older. Infants do grow quite quickly, you know.”

She shook her head, her curls bouncing. “No. It will not be soon enough.” She took another step, and gave him a speculative glance that quite belied her tender years. She was the very image of the duchess. “You look as if
you
could be useful. I need someone to tie a rope from that chandelier.”

“Why?” he asked suspiciously.

“So I can swing from it, of course.”

Michael tilted back his head to stare up—
far
up—at the Venetian glass chandelier that hung from the domed ceiling.
The little minx
. She had only known him for two minutes and she was already trying to break his neck. It was surely a harbinger of what he could expect from the ladies in this house.

Before he could answer her, the door the butler had disappeared behind opened. Michael turned, expecting to see the man there now.

Instead he saw Mrs. Chase herself. She stood in the doorway, one hand braced on the wooden frame. Gone was the sea green clad siren of the night before; gone was her wealth of red hair, the sheen of pearls against white skin. She again wore one of her caps, a hideous white muslin affair, and a morning gown of gray and black striped muslin. A plain white chemisette was tucked into her neckline, and covered her almost to the chin.

Michael almost groaned at the acute sense of loss that pierced him at the sight. For one moment, one sublime second, in Lady Portman’s corridor, he had glimpsed the
real
Rosalind, a woman of great allure and an untapped fire that could burn as bright as her glorious hair.

At least, he had hoped,
desired
that that was the true Rosalind. But perhaps this woman before him now was truly her, the woman who stared at him with no expression at all on her face. Her gaze was cool.

“Lord Morley,” she said, her voice equally expressionless. Her gaze slid past him, and a warm smile curved her lips, illuminating her pale face. “Elizabeth Anne, whatever are you doing here?” She swept past him and up the stairs to take the child by the hand.

“I wanted to see our visitor,” Elizabeth Anne said, hugging close to Mrs. Chase’s skirts. “He is going to tie a rope to the chandelier for me to swing from.”

Mrs. Chase shot him a hard glare, as if she believed him capable of hurtling infants through the air. “I am sure he is
not
, dear. Now, why don’t you go into the drawing room and see your mother and Aunt Emily. I will be there in just a moment.”

“Is
he
going to stay, too?” Elizabeth Anne asked. “When there is a caller, cook sends up tea and almond cakes.”

“We will see, dear. Now run along, and remember—no more nonsense about swinging from ropes.”

Elizabeth Anne peeped up at Mrs. Chase. “Because it would be against
A Lady’s Rules
, Aunt Rosalind?” Before Mrs. Chase could answer, the child hopped down the remaining steps and dashed across the foyer to disappear into the drawing room.

Michael stared after her, stunned. So now
babies
had to follow the rules? It was too much. Surely even swinging from a rope would be preferable.

But he could not think of that now, could not allow himself to become angry. He had come here to apologize. Arguing with Mrs. Chase about rules would not smooth his way at all.

She still stood there on the stairs, looking down at him. The glow that had animated her features when she spoke to the child had faded as if it had never been.

“We did not expect to see you today,” she said, ever so politely. “If you would care to come into the drawing room, I am sure the duchess would be happy to receive you.”

“I actually came to see
you
, Mrs. Chase,” he said.

Her eyes widened. “To see
me
?”

“Yes. I wanted to apologize.”

.“Apologize? For encouraging my brother to make some sort of drunken raid on the Portman ball?” Her eyes were not ice now—they burned with a deep blue fire. She stepped gracefully down to the foot of the staircase, her fingers clenched on the stone balustrade. “For urging him once again to behave in a most irresponsible manner?”

Michael could feel the entire situation slipping out of his control. Of course he had wanted to inquire after Lucas after his little “adventure” last night, but really it had not been such a great thing. When Michael left the ball, Lucas’s escapade had been all but forgotten. And he had certainly never
encouraged
such a thing!

“I fear I had no prior knowledge of your brother’s plans at all, Mrs. Chase,” he said tightly. “You can be assured that if I had, I would have done everything in my power to discourage him.”