After a suitable time away from her, he approached, where she sat with some of the married ladies along one side of the dance floor. She still clutched the glass of punch he’d brought her during his last brief respite from dancing with blondes. The duchess had done a fine job of convincing their hostess to keep him partnered for every dance. Perhaps too good a job, his weary feet reminded him. But it was worth it to see the way Emme openly glared at him, just barely slipping a mask of serenity over her scowl when he was within a few feet of her.
He bowed in her direction. “Are you enjoying your evening, Lady Emmeline?”
She nodded. “Of course.”
Beside her, Lady Tessa watched them carefully. Daniel took the empty seat on Emme’s other side and dropped his voice. “I must thank you for heeding my wish. I believe I’ve danced with every eligible blonde lady under the age of thirty who is in attendance tonight.”
“Trust me, Mr. Hallsworth, I had nothing to do with it.”
“Didn’t you? Well then, what are the odds? You were the only brunette I danced with all evening.”
“Hm. That was so many hours ago, one hardly remembers.”
Ah, but that statement alone was proof of just how well she remembered. “I do hope you’ll forgive me for treading on your toes that one time. I’m afraid I am a bit out of practice.”
Emme refused to meet his gaze, staring instead at the dancers still on the floor. “It was three times, and I must say, you made a remarkable recovery. With every partner since me, it’s appeared as though you’re floating on clouds when you dance.”
Daniel leaned closer to her. “So, you’ve watched every one of my dances?”
Lady Tessa gave a little snort and quickly flicked her fan over her face.
“I’ve not watched.” Emme shook out the full skirt of her dress with undue force. “I’ve merely noticed. I noticed your dance with Lady Lucinda looked especially effortless.”
“Yes, well, how can one go wrong with such a divinely talented partner?”
The mark hit home, as evidenced by the flush of color to Emme’s cheeks. Lady Tessa reached for Emme’s hand. When Emme clamped down hard on her friend’s fingers, the lady winced behind her fan.
“That’s not to disparage your talent, my lady.” Daniel bowed his head slightly, as though begging her indulgence. “It might just be that we were both so woefully out of practice.”
Lady Tessa lowered her fan and extricated her hand from Emme’s. “I’m sure that’s it. Perhaps you should have another go of it, now that Mr. Hallsworth has had an opportunity to hone his skills.”
“Oh, I couldn’t possibly.” Emme shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
“Nor could I.” Daniel rose to his feet. “It seems I have the good fortune of having Lady Lucinda as my partner for the next set.” He leaned toward both ladies and whispered. “My understanding is her father entrusted her two older brothers to chaperone her this evening, but neither of them is half as attentive as her overly protective father.”
Emme gave the smallest gasp and covered it with a delicate cough. Daniel bowed to them again, then excused himself. Only when he’d reached the opposite side of the room and held out his hand to the lovely Lady Lucinda for the next dance did he allow himself a well-deserved chuckle.
* * *
Emme stopped just inside the entrance to her home and surveyed the havoc the muck-covered streets had visited upon her boots and hemline. Somehow, even her gloves and her oversized parasol had splashes of mud on them. But for all the dirt she carried, she walked with a lightness in her step she hadn’t felt in ages.
“Has my father asked about me?” she asked in a hushed tone to the footman who took her parasol, hat, and gloves from her.
“No, my lady. Guests arrived not fifteen minutes ago, in the company of your mother and brother. It was at that time that Lord Meriden reminded your father you were not due home from tea with your friends for another half-hour.”
Bless Edward. He didn’t hide his concern about her work with the Spinsters’ Club, but he’d agreed to create a cover for her, as long as she took either him or—when he was unavailable—James and Tessa with her when visiting Mrs. Billings and Mrs. Carter. His stretching of the truth would give her enough time to clean off the evidence of an afternoon spent at a more industrious enterprise than enjoying tea, even if it had meant missing a chance to her best friends.
“Please send my maid to my room, Harold.”
The footman bowed and hurried off into the bowels of the house while Emma flew up the stairs.
Fifteen minutes later, wearing a fresh skirt and satin slippers, she strolled into the atrium to find three men looking out through the bank of windows at the back of the house, taking in the garden. Edward and her father she’d expected. Daniel, on the other hand, never ceased to surprise her. Not so much his presence, perhaps, but her own happiness at discovering it.
They hadn’t spoken since the ball two days earlier, but when she hadn’t been annoyed recalling his boorishly flirtatious behavior there, she’d wondered when their paths would cross again. It would only be to plot their next move for procuring his redemption, of course.
Daniel separated from the other two men and met her halfway into the room. “Lady Emme, always a pleasure. I’d hoped to see you today to inform you that I’ve been moving forward with our plan.” Daniel bowed in her direction.
For all her hope of seeing him, she was suddenly unable to think of anything suitable to say in his presence, as he stood tall and solid and real in front of her, with his dark hair and wild blue eyes. And the truth of it hit her. She had missed him over the past few days. How had she managed without even knowing where he’d been for five years before that? She shook her head. She had no right to miss him.
“Are you all right, Emme?” he asked quietly.
“I’m fine.” But she wasn’t at all sure it was true. Perhaps she was just looking forward to the excitement of undertaking their scheme. She pressed a cool hand to the side of her neck. “You were saying something about our plan.”
He nodded. “The day after the ball, invitations began arriving from parents interested in having the future Marquess of Edensbridge court their daughters.”
“And you’ve accepted these invitations?” She focused on smiling to prove she was pleased with his progress.
“A few.” He observed her closely. “Are you sure you’re all right? You didn’t wear yourself out on your adventure, did you?” He touched her elbow.
It sent a shockwave through her flesh, emanating from the points where his bare fingertips had pressed against her exposed skin. She glanced at his hand, and he quickly withdrew it.
“Did Edward tell you about my afternoon?” she asked.
“He’d hardly be inclined to share your secrets with me. The Duchess of Wrexham, on the other hand...”
“The duchess is here? Is that what’s so interesting in the back garden?”
“Yes and no.” Daniel took a sip of port and glanced at Edward and the earl. “She’s here and is no doubt interesting, but your father is much more intent upon her son.”
“Her son. The duke is here, visiting my family?”
Daniel nodded. “So great is your father’s pleasure, he allowed me, with my questionable past, through the front door, based on the duke’s recognizance.”
Emme sniffed. “Don’t be so dramatic. My father is a fair man.”
Daniel didn’t offer an opinion on the matter. Instead, he changed the subject. “I gather you saw your charges this afternoon. How are the widow and her housemate and their children?”
“First, Mr. Hallsworth, I believe there’s something you need to tell me. Something about a factory you’re buying, and the labor changes you plan to make.”
She grinned when he raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“That’s not common knowledge,” he said. “How did you learn of it?”
“I have my sources,” she said.
She nearly had to
blink back tears, remembering how excited the women were by the prospect of improved conditions at one of the major factories, changes that could ripple out to other workplaces as well. She wanted to kiss him for his generosity. And for his kindness. And for the way a lock of his dark hair now fell across his forehead.
“Do you know just how many lives could see a positive impact from your decision, Mr. Hallsworth?” she asked instead.
“I suppose. I mean, I hope so.” He held out his arm to her. “Enough about that. Shall we take a turn in the garden? You can tell me how the widow’s miniature portrait of you is coming, and at the same time, we can delay the fate of meeting your suitor by fifteen minutes or so.”
She rolled forward on her toes as she remembered the joy on Mrs. Billings’ face just hours earlier, when Emme had brought more paintings for the woman to recreate into miniature portraits, as well as the down payment on the fees for the work. “Not just a portrait for me, but for three other ladies as well. Mrs. Billings has almost completed—” She turned abruptly toward Daniel. “Did you say suitor?”
Emme’s hands shook and she willed herself to stay calm. What was the duchess about, bringing her son here like an offering to her father’s fevered dreams of Emme’s future married state? The betrayal cut deep, followed by horror as her mind leapt forward to a wedding night with a powerful duke who had just learned his virginal bride was, in fact, no virgin.
Daniel dropped his proffered arm. “Emme, it’s fine. No one other than your father expects that the duke will court anyone this Season. Granville has designs on his time, and the duke seems only too happy to indulge him.”
She let out a long breath. “Thank you, Dan—Mr. Hallsworth. That could end badly.”
He bent his head close to her and spoke in a low tone. “I won’t let anything end badly for you, not again.”
She wanted to hug him for saying it. They now shared secrets. If they couldn’t be lovers, perhaps they could be friends.
Until he finds a blonde who strikes his fancy.
He was well on his way to courting someone who could help him bring honor to his family name. The plan was working. The thought left her cold again, and she excused herself, flashing a smile that she hoped covered the pain in her heart, a pain she had no right to claim.
She stepped away from Daniel without saying another word and walked toward her brother and father. They would discuss more details of his plan later, when she had the strength to deal with it. Perhaps she’d worn herself out on her visit to Mrs. Billings and Mrs. Carter after all. In the meantime, it seemed she would have new plans—these laid out by her father—to foil. And it occurred to her that she already knew how to do it and—at the same time—to turn the whole unfortunate circumstance to her advantage.
4 April, in the Year of Our Lord 1870
To Mr. Daniel Hallsworth, son of the late Marquess of Edensbridge:
Pursuant to the request made of you by the Committee of Privileges in correspondence dated 29 March 1870, we are pleased to see your progress toward courting the daughter of a peer in good standing in the House of Lords. However, it has come to our attention that several young ladies are under the impression that you intend to court them. Please be advised that the Committee would find it unacceptable of you to mislead such fine women with a promise of marriage you do not intend to keep. The Committee therefore recommends you settle upon a respectable match before our next scheduled correspondence on 25 April, and court one lady with the intention of proposing marriage in short order.
Respectfully yours,
The Hon. Mr. Charles Alby
Clerk of the Committee for Privileges
House of Lords
London, England
Chapter 12
Emme walked slowly toward the breakfast room, surprised at how bright the hallway was at such an early hour. She couldn’t determine whether it was the early hour or the remnants of her disturbing dreams that made her head ache so this morning. Whether the dreams had affected her head or not, the essence of them lingered enough to leave her agitated. She’d dreamt of Daniel, which wasn’t so unusual. But this time, he hadn’t even known Emme was there watching him as he’d stood in the center of a ballroom surrounded by blondes. Blonde country maidens. Blonde debutantes, asking him to court them. Blonde brides in their wedding finery. Blonde babes being handed into his arms.
But Emme would be damned if she’d let that ninny of a man and his lust for blondes ruin her waking hours as much as they had her sleeping ones. She tucked a stray tendril of her own disappointingly auburn hair behind her ear and steadied her step until she was practically marching into the breakfast room. There, she found her father sitting alone at the table, his breakfast dishes long since cleared by attentive servants, poring over the morning paper. With Daniel’s quest for a blonde-haired, ninny wife well underway, the duchess would be amenable to helping Emme with her own quest, and Emme had to be prepared. She threw back her shoulders and pasted on a smile.
“Good morning, sir.” She gathered toast, cheese, and jam from a sideboard while a servant poured a cup of tea for her.
The footman left Emme and Father alone in the room, but Father didn’t notice, as he had yet to lift his eyes from the pages in front of him. Emme took her seat to his right and audibly sipped her tea. He glanced at her with a half-smile, then lifted his head and removed his readers.
“You look well this morning, Emmeline. London air agrees with you, after all. It’s good to see color in your cheeks.”
She widened her eyes, unable to hide her surprise, quite sure the choking London air had no positive effect on her health. But her father was in a jovial mood, and she was happy to use it to her advantage.
She chewed and swallowed her first bite of toast, then smiled at him. She longed to mention Mother and the happiness of being back in the bosom of her family, but she feared the mention of it would sour Father’s mood. “It’s lovely seeing Tessa and Luci nearly every day.”
“They’re a good influence, getting you out and about town. And the duchess—I had my doubts about her at first, but now I understand her motives.” Her father winked as though they shared a secret.
“Motives, sir?”
“Her search for a new daughter-in-law.”
The one bite of toast she’d eaten seemed to have stuck in her throat. She gulped down half her cup of tea to clear it. “Oh, I hardly think that’s her interest.”
She slowly set down her teacup, pondering how to steer the conversation away from the Duke of Wrexham. “Lady Tessa and Mr. Alcott have been giving me poetry recommendations, so I’ve been expanding my repertoire of verses.”
“That’s splendid.” He patted her hand, the way he used to pat Eleanor’s when she’d done something to please him. “And I noticed the needlework on the kerchief you carried yesterday. Your improvement is nothing short of miraculous.”
In fact, it was quite short of miraculous, as the handiwork he praised was attributable to Mrs. Carter. But basking in the glow of his approval, she couldn’t see the harm in letting him believe his only remaining daughter had finally done something to inspire his pride.
Her father beamed at her. “It’s been such a welcome change, Emmeline, seeing you smile when you leave the house to attend an event.”
“Do I?” Perhaps it was true, although it doubtless had more to do with the anticipation of telling Daniel about her adventures than with any proclivity for interacting with the ton.
“Yes, and I think I know who’s behind it.”
Emme’s heart skittered, fearing he’d read her thoughts.
“Don’t think I haven’t heard the duke has started turning up at events you attend.”
“The duke? But we’re not—”
“No need to play coy. I couldn’t have found a better match for you myself.”
Emme, for her part, couldn’t think of a worse match than any of Daniel’s friends. Not to mention the shame that would be visited upon her entire family if a duke
were to discover he’d married damaged goods. But she’d been expecting this conversation since the duke had visited their home, and had planned how she’d redirect it.
“There’s something else I’d hope to discuss, Father, besides the ton.” She took another sip of tea while her father watched and waited. She couldn’t remember ever holding his rapt attention this way. “I’d like to do good works. Help those less fortunate. Many of the most respected ladies are so engaged these days.”
Her father nodded. “I think that’s a fine idea, Emmeline. The duke might appreciate a wife who patronizes a charitable cause or two.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to patronize charities. And the duke has no interest in courting me.”
He patted her hand again, then checked his pocket watch and jumped to his feet. “I must get to the House. Tell your mother…Never mind.” He kissed Emme on the top of her head. “This was lovely. I hope you’ll join me for breakfast again soon.”
“Yes, sir. But can’t we discuss—”
“I was going to make this a surprise,” he interrupted her, “but I might as well tell you now.”
Emme’s heart raced in anticipation. Would he pledge his support of her good works? Announce he was proud of her for wanting to help others? Tell her he loved her?
“Your mother and I are going to escort you to the duke’s soiree next week. She’ll help you choose a new gown for the event. Something cheerful.”
“But I can’t—”
Her father left the room before she could finish.
Emme hunched over her toast, her appetite flagging. Their talk hadn’t gone at all as planned. Instead of securing her freedom, she might have just convinced her father he was about to become a father-in-law to a duke.
One Kiss From Ruin: Harrow’s Finest Five Book 1 Page 13