The Mysterious Governess (Daughters of Sin Book 3) (16 page)

Right now, Araminta felt that charm and boyishness were a good deal more preferable than dangerous good looks. Not to mention lovelorn swains with clammy hands and breath like the grave. She swung back to Mr. Woking, feeling very vulnerable right now. “My sister set out to ruin me,” she said, her voice wavering. “To humiliate me. And she has succeeded.”

“I believe you have everyone’s deepest sympathies, Miss Partington,” said her dance partner with unctuous civility. “I believe it’s their delicate sensibilities which account for the fact you are finding yourself less...popular than usual. Indeed, I would have stayed away too for the very same reasons, had not my uncle told me I should be kind to you.”

He cleared his throat and added, hurriedly. “That is to say, you are hardly a charitable case, Miss Partington. Oh no, I did not mean it in that way.”

“How did you mean it, then?” Araminta glared at him, stepping back with relief now that the waltz was at an end. She shook her head and held up her hand as he began to speak. “Pray, do not trouble yourself to answer. I have no interest, and I wish to be returned to Mrs. Monks.”

She ignored his heartfelt gaze as she rejoined the redoubtable widow, and was hardly soothed to see Lissa looking more striking than she could have imagined in the apple green and cream ball gown Araminta had discarded the season before.

Larissa, catching Araminta’s eye, acknowledged her across the room with a nod and, Araminta was certain, a narrowing of the eyes. Was she, like everyone else, thinking Araminta diminished on account of Hetty’s shocking behavior? Had she noticed that Araminta was not surrounded by admirers as she usually was? The idea was insufferable.

Still focusing on the handsome young man at Larissa’s side, she swept over to greet her and to gain an introduction. “You have done a fine job making my old dress look less last year,” she said with a smile intended to be friendly and disingenuous. It was decidedly galling to see her gown looked better after its rejuvenation than it had when Araminta had worn it new. Well, if their papa lost all his money, Araminta could employ Lissa to be her dressmaker for a fraction of what she paid to have her new gowns made, she decided.

Araminta’s interest in Mr. Ralph Tunley took on a keener edge when she learned he was Lord Debenham’s secretary, the young man in whom Larissa had confessed her interest. And when their circle was joined by a dashing brown-haired gentleman who greeted Mr. Tunley with easy familiarity before introducing himself as Lord Ludbridge, Mr. Tunley’s eldest brother, Araminta was in silent transports. Especially when he gazed upon her with such blatant admiration that had not an edge of pity or censure for the fact that her sister’s scandalous elopement had all but consigned Araminta’s marriage aspirations to the fireplace.

This was her gift from heaven. It was a sign that she need not cry herself to sleep every night on account of Hetty’s betrayal.

Here were two charming, eligible young men she’d never met, right before her. True, the youngest was penniless despite his excellent lineage and therefore not a prospect in the immediate sense. However, there were six brothers, at least a handful of them unmarried, she quickly gathered, and the eldest, titled one, was smiling at her warmly.

Yes, her star was again in the ascendant.

***

W
hen Lord Ludbridge—or Teddy, as Ralph affectionately called him—had excused himself to dance with Araminta, Lissa gazed with surprised wonder at her companion.

“You never told me, Ralph,” she whispered, fiddling with her fan.

“I told you I’m as poor as a church mouse, and that’s the truth.” He grinned. “I didn’t think it relevant to add that my eldest brother has a title and a daily battle to ameliorate the damage our grandfather wrought upon the family fortunes, due to his fondness for the gaming table.”

Lissa shook her head. “That doesn’t matter. Whether you’re drowning in the River Tick is nothing compared to birthright. So you’re Lord Ludbridge’s younger brother, and I am...stained and beyond redemption.” She tried to sound forceful when really she felt like crying. “For my own self-preservation, I can’t see you again after tonight, Ralph.”

“No, Lissa!” He clutched her hand, dropping it quickly as he glanced about the room.

But the throng of people seemed too occupied by each other to notice the young couple on the edge of the dance floor.

“Lissa, I know what you’re saying, and it doesn’t matter to me that—”

“That my parents aren’t married?” She couldn’t look at him, though she stared, stricken, about her. “Why has the room not gone silent? Why have I not been struck by lightning and told to leave?” she wondered aloud.

“Because no one knows and they won’t care. Besides,
I
don’t care a jot, and once my mother meets you, she won’t be able to help but love you.” Ralph’s soothing voice eased her feelings a little though she knew it was not true. He indicated their fellow revelers. “You are not the only one, my love. Look at Miss Claremont over there. Yes, quite respectable and set to make a fine marriage, despite the fact she has been left two sizeable inheritances by two different men claiming to be her father.”

Lissa put her hand to her mouth. “Or because of it,” she said with a wry smile. “I have not a feather to fly with and no father listed on my birth certificate. No, Ralph, there is no future between us.”

Araminta chose that moment to waltz by in Teddy’s arms, smiling her most engaging smile, and Lissa was assailed by an unexpected wave of grief. Her half-sister had the lineage to be entirely eligible for Ralph’s brother. With her beauty, she could navigate that path if she chose, though Lissa wasn’t sure if she should warn Ralph that Araminta had a less charming side.

And then she heard Mr. Crossing’s name and remembered why she was here.

Ralph patted her shoulder at the obvious panic in her voice when she reminded him of her mission. “Lady Smythe will have seen her if she’s arrived. She invited her. Ah, there is the good lady. Allow me to introduce you to her for, of course, you were added to the guest list at Teddy’s behest.”

It was clear why Lord Debenham employed Ralph, for he was a charming diplomat, Lissa soon realized. The boyish charm was a façade that put his quarry quite at ease as they supplied him with the information he sought. Lissa had thought him shy and diffident but, it seemed, that was only with her. And it was a ruse, besides.

“Why, there she is, and looking as pretty a picture as the day she married.” Lady Smythe pointed across the room to a petite young lady who resembled a piece of Dresden china in an exquisitely embroidered gown of pale blue net over a white satin underdress. The tiny pearls sewn into the swathes that trimmed the hem were reflected in her flaxen hair, which was swept into a high topknot with tendrils curling down her neck.

Lissa had captured her prettiness in the sketch she’d done of her, though at the time, Mrs. Crossing had been tousled and anxious-looking with a high color. Now she looked the epitome of serenity beside her florid-looking husband, who towered menacingly over her. Lady Smythe murmured the word “doting” but Lissa thought “possessive” was a more appropriate adverb.

“Newlyweds?” Lissa asked innocently.

“You might think it, the way her husband never lets her out of his sight, but they were married in the spring four years ago, in fact.” Lady Smythe was still smiling at the harmonious-looking Crossings when Lissa and Ralph made their excuses and left.

“How are we going to get them apart?” Lissa asked, suddenly panicked when she saw Cosmo advancing upon her.

“Leave it to me.” With a nod, Ralph went smoothly up to Mr. Crossing and engaged him in conversation.

Lissa did not wait to hear what he was saying, and she certainly didn’t want Cosmo to notice her engaging Mrs. Crossing before he reached her. Fortuitously, Miss Maria Lamont chose that moment to tug at her brother’s arm, and Lissa swept up to her quarry, almost hissing, “Mrs. Crossing? Yes, I thought so. I have an urgent message for you. Do you have a moment?”

The flare of terror in the young lady’s eyes was very real as she glanced at her husband. But he was so engrossed in conversation with Ralph, he did not notice her follow Lissa into a darkened corner of the room.

“A message? What message?” She fiddled convulsively with her fan, and Lissa replied in a rush, “There is a picture of you and a...gentleman at Vauxhall Gardens. A sketch that was commissioned. I wanted to warn you before it was handed to your husband.”

“What...do you mean?”

For a moment, Lissa feared the young lady would faint clean away. She’d never seen anyone so white before. “You know what I mean. In the supper box at Vauxhall Gardens. Your husband commissioned someone to follow you and sketch who you were with.” There was no time to mince words. “That sketch is to be handed to your husband tonight.”

Mrs. Crossing put her hands to her face and her shoulders began to shake. Lissa quickly moved in front of her to block her obvious distress from appearing too public.

“Oh, dear Lord, no. He’ll kill me,” she whispered. “I knew he would one day. I should never have imagined I’d get away.”

“Please, all is not lost!” Lissa gripped her wrist. “There may be a way.”

“But the sketch reveals my companion? Yes? And it is a good sketch? Recognizable?”

“It’s a good sketch,” Lissa agreed. “The truth is, I was forced to do it. I have it with me but I’m playing for time because I want to help you. I didn’t realize the...situation in which we’d find you. Anyway, I hoped you had a brother, someone with whom it was plausible you were with that evening. If you described him—or someone else—I could try and amend the sketch before I hand it to the man who insists that it will be given to your husband during the ball.”

“I have a brother,” she said shakily. “He is distinguished by his red hair. Wild red hair. Yes! Could that work? No, but the sketch will be charcoal.”

“Thin? Portly? Tell me. Quickly!” Lissa could see Mr. Crossing detach himself from Ralph. He was now making his way across to his wife, who saw him too, and Lissa had to remind her in a low voice not to lose her courage.

“Rake-thin,” she whispered, already turning with a shaking smile for her husband. “Square jaw, and he has a favorite waistcoat embroidered in half-moons. He’s an eccentric, to be sure,” she added in a rush.

Lissa excused herself as Mr. Crossing arrived. Quickly she made her way to Ralph’s side. “I need a red crayon or pencil. Now!” she whispered. “Oh Ralph, if I ever needed something from you, it’s this.”

Ralph’s initial surprise turned to fondness. “If only all your desires were so easily acceded to. Come, I shall ask Lady Smythe, and as I see Master Cosmo coming in our direction, I shall have a word in Teddy’s ear. Ah, I say, wonderful timing. Here he is. Teddy, can you waylay that gentleman there and ask questions later?”

“Gosh, but you do have an amenable brother,” Lissa remarked as she followed Ralph to the supper table where Lady Smythe had stationed herself with a garrulous old dowager.

“Teddy is far too kind for his own good, and quite fair game. I’m only surprised he’s reached eight and twenty without getting himself hobbled. Faithful chap, though. Never got over his first love.” He clicked his tongue. “Sad, sad affair. I’ll tell you about it someday. Still, he has a remarkably stoic and cheerful nature, so you’d never guess at his heartache. But then sentimentality runs in the family, as you can tell.

“And here is Lady Smythe, only, much as I would wish you to cleave to me like glue I think it’s dangerous, and I should release you into the care of your chaperone for a moment while I elicit the necessary tools.”

Reluctantly, Lissa returned to the matron into whose care she’d been supposedly placed to preserve appearances for tonight’s entertainment. She’d arranged to meet Ralph in the corridor outside the ballroom, later.

True to his word, he was waiting for her with a red crayon, which he handed to her, together with a piece of charcoal and a larger folded piece of paper, saying, “I know you didn’t ask me for both, but I thought they could be useful, if not necessary. Once you’ve amended the sketch, you can seal it in this parchment. I’ve brought wax for the task, since I thought you’d not want Mr. Lamont to see how you’d changed things. ”

“You have saved the day, Mr. Ralph Tunley,” Lissa declared on a sigh of relief. “And now I must send you away, because we cannot be seen together like this.”

And because it was too tempting to throw her arms about him and show her true gratitude in a most unseemly manner.

***

A
raminta had never expected to enjoy the evening so much. It had given her a marvelous sense of superiority to dismiss Mr. Woking in such a belittling manner. He was quite repulsive, and the idea that Lord Debenham imagined she’d throw herself away on such an inferior piece, even if Mr. Woking was his nephew, was insulting in the extreme.

Now here she was, in the arms of the most handsome gentleman in the room, making them quite the most head-turning couple as they waltzed around the dance floor.

Not only was Lord Ludbridge handsome, he was also titled and, it appeared, charmingly pliant. He’d fetched her lemonade after their first dance and then promptly invited her for a second twirl.

“I cannot believe that your brother is secretary to Lord Debenham,” Araminta remarked as they navigated a couple who lacked their finesse. “It is the most remarkable of coincidences, for I recently became acquainted with your brother. A most charming young man.”

“Far too charming for the work he’s doing.” Lord Ludbridge lowered his head to speak with greater intimacy to Araminta. His sweet breath stirred the tendrils of dark hair that fell from her elaborate, feathered coiffure, and her heart thundered with anticipation and the keenest desire. Goodness, this didn’t happen often. Not since she’d sized up Sir Aubrey as a likely prospect before Hetty had stolen him. She decided not to think of her exciting, bruising encounter with Jem, or the danger-edged kiss she’d shared with Lord Debenham. These men were, as of right now, consigned to the past.

Strange that meeting Lord Ludbridge seemed to have entirely dispelled her despair over losing Sir Aubrey to Hetty. It only confirmed that the irresistible man with whom she was dancing must assuredly be her destiny.