Caroline’s heart sank as she looked at him. She didn’t care how much Lord Harkens was worth or how exulted his title was—he looked sweaty and disgusting to her. Plus he was a smoker which she couldn’t stand. How could the other mother possibly expect her to divorce the tall, dark, handsome Richard to be with a man twice her age?
“There he is, Lady Arrington!” the other mother hissed. “Would you be so kind as to make the introduction you promised?”
“Oh very well.” Lady Arrington sounded thoroughly disgusted but before she could lead them over to Lord Harkens, the exulted man himself came to them.
“Well, well, Belinda!” he exclaimed to Lady Arrington, using her first name and speaking to her in a familiar way Caroline wouldn’t have thought was deemed socially acceptable.
“Lord Harkens.” Lady Arrington inclined her head to him coolly. She didn’t seem to like him much either. “May I present Mrs. Lambert and—” she began but Lord Harkens was already talking over her.
“Yes, yes,” he said, barely glancing at the other mother. “But who’s this fresh-faced beauty?” He nodded at Caroline, who had a sudden uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. “I noticed her when she came in—she’s the only woman in this whole damn room who hasn’t got half a pot of paint melting off her face!”
“This is my daughter, Caroline, your Lordship,” the other mother fluttered nervously. “She’s very pleased to make your acquaintance—aren’t you, Caroline?”
“Oh, uh, yes. Yes, indeed,” Caroline said with all the enthusiasm she could muster—which wasn’t much.
“Such a charming young lady!” Lord Harkens exclaimed and seemed to be waiting for something.
“Give him your hand, Caroline!” the other mother hissed in her ear and elbowed her sharply in the ribs.
“Oh, uh…” Feeling like a fool, Caroline extended her hand to him, grateful for the fact that she was wearing gloves. They were a pair of short white lace ones that ended at her wrists, but they should keep her from feeling his Lordship’s sweaty palm when they shook.
But when he took her hand, the first thing Lord Harkens did was strip down the white lace glove and press a wet, clammy kiss to the inside of her wrist. For a moment, Caroline could even swear she felt his tongue on her bare flesh! The sensation made her skin crawl and she barely kept herself from yanking her hand away and slapping his round, sweaty red face.
When at last he released her hand, Lord Harkens smacked his lips, as though savoring the taste of her skin.
“Charming…a beautiful creature. Excellent bloodlines!” he exclaimed.
Just as though he was talking about some kind of horse he wanted to buy! Caroline thought indignantly. What a jerk!
Just at that moment, the pianoforte fell silent for the first time since they had entered the room and the girl who had been playing rose from the bench. A smattering of polite applause greeted this move although it was Caroline’s impression that almost no one had been really listening to the impressive performance.
“Oh—quick my dear—now is your chance!” The other mother grabbed Caroline by the arm and dragged her over to the front of the instrument. There were several other girls with sheet music in their hands, apparently waiting to perform, but the other mother pushed in front of all of them and sat Caroline firmly on the bench.
“Mother, please!” Caroline exclaimed under her breath. “I think other people were waiting for a turn.” She hated people who cut in line and hated the other mother for making her one of those people.
But the other mother was not to be deterred.
“Play!” she hissed in Caroline’s ear. “Hurry up—Lord Harkens is watching! Show him how accomplished you are!”
Caroline was at a complete loss. She looked around for music and the first thing her eye fell on was the incredibly complicated piece the last girl had just preformed. There was no way she could manage that—all the notes swam like black dots before her belladonna’d eyes.
Rifling through the stacks of music that had been left on the piano stand, she looked desperately for something that wasn’t too complicated—something she might possibly be able to play after not touching a keyboard for the past two decades.
“Hurry up, Caroline—what’s taking you so long?” the other mother exclaimed. She smiled brightly at the other assembled people—especially Lord Harkens who was watching with great interest. “She’s so picky, my Caroline. Always looking for the most advanced and difficult piece—nothing else challenges her, you see. She’s so accomplished.”
Caroline’s palms were sweating inside her white lace gloves and she felt like she might be sick to her stomach at any moment and lose the half cup of tea she had drunk earlier. Thank goodness she had eaten an extremely light lunch before her meeting with Commander Sylvan on the Mother Ship. She was certain if she’d eaten heavily, everything would have come up all over the pianoforte’s keyboard.
Speaking of Commander Sylvan, it seemed almost impossible to think that just a few hours ago she’d been speaking to him and Liv and Sophie and Kat in her very own, shiny new lab aboard the Mother Ship and now she was stuck in a whole other universe where she had to pretend to be someone else and play the piano to please a bunch of strangers.
What was happening to her life?
But she had no time to bemoan her strange fate—the show had to go on. At last her searching eyes fell on a piece of music that looked relatively simple. The title was, Darling, Where Art Thou? And the notes and lyrics were printed large enough for her to see, even with her blurry vision.
Setting her fingers on the keys, she took a deep breath and played the first chord—very badly as it turned out. She saw several people wince at the sour notes and felt her stomach clench.
Don’t puke, she told herself. Just don’t puke!
Trying again, she got her fingers right this time and somehow managed to fumble her way through the intro of the song. Then, however, she had to play and sing at the same time. Horribly aware that everyone in the room was watching her, she started singing in a wavering, breathless voice…
“The birds sleeping gently,
Sweet Luna gleaming bright.
Her rays tinge the forest
All are at peace tonight.
The wind sighing by me,
Cooling my fevered brow…
The stream flows as ever,
But Darling, where art thou?”
Oh God, she was making a mess of this, Caroline had to admit to herself. She kept hitting wrong notes and though she was doing her best to make up for her bad playing with her singing, she simply couldn’t get a deep enough breath to get much of anything out. Her voice sounded whispery and uncertain and she could feel the other mother glaring at her, though she didn’t dare to look up at her directly.
All around her, she could hear murmurs of derision.
“What’s wrong with her—what is she about tonight?”
“I don’t know but serves her right—she’s always pushing herself forward. Horrid girl!”
“I thought she was supposed to be accomplished but she plays very ill. Worse than my five-year-old sister, in fact.”
The comments were spoken softly but they were still perfectly audible to Caroline. She felt sicker and sicker—her stomach clenching like a slick fist. Panic was crawling up her throat like bile. Still, there was nothing she could do but keep on.
She opened her mouth to sing the second verse and was surprised when a deep baritone joined her whispery singing.
“One year past this evening,
Thou wert by my side,” it sang.
It was so powerful and smooth, that Caroline stopped singing herself and almost forgot to play. Daring to look up, she saw Richard striding towards her. He looked so tall and handsome in his severe black suit with a champagne-colored cravat at his strong throat and his blue eyes fixed intently on her, that her heart gave a strange double beat in her chest which made her feel faint.
He made a motion to her with
one hand, as though to indicate she should go on playing. Somehow, Caroline did and he continued to sing.
“Thou wert by my side,
Vowing to love me
‘Til one of us had died.
Yes, one year past this evening
Thou weren’t by my side.”
Caroline was struck by how apt the lyrics were, especially sung by the big Kindred to his wife—whom he still thought she was. Once again she almost stopped playing but she knew they had to finish the song. His piercing blue gaze was intense as he continued to sing to her—because it was to her, he was singing, Caroline realized. It was clear that no one else in the entire room mattered to him.
“The silver rain falling,
Just as it falleth now.
Can love be so faithless?
Oh Darling, where art thou?
I’ve sought thee by moonlight
I’ve sought thee by sun.
I’ve sought for your cold heart
But answers there are none.”
A blush of shame crept into her cheeks and even though the shame wasn’t really her own, she still felt it acutely. Here she was, in the other Caroline’s place, still married to the big Kindred, but looking to find another husband. Faithless was certainly the right word in these circumstances!
Her fingers were finding the keys more easily now and she was able to finish playing as Richard finished singing.
“I love thee forever,
Though you break your vow.
Come seek me as I seek you,
Oh, Darling, where art thou?”
She ended the song and looked up at him as he stood by the pianoforte looking down at her. Their eyes met and held and Caroline felt like her heart might thump its way right out of her corseted chest.
“Richard,” she said at last. “What…what are you doing here?”
“Looking after my wife. You’re still mine, damn it, though you don’t want to admit it.” His blue gaze was angry and intense. “I will not let you go until I am legally forced to.”
“I…I see,” Caroline whispered. God, she wished she really was the woman who had engendered such powerful emotions in the big Kindred! She wished it was her that he wanted with such intensity—that he needed so desperately.
“Richard, how dare you?” The other mother was suddenly there, glaring up at the tall Kindred. “Just when Caroline was exhibiting so well, too!”
“That’s not true.” Caroline surprised herself by speaking up. “I was butchering that song—Richard saved me by joining in.”
“Hush, my dear! You’re just a little out of sorts tonight,” the other mother exclaimed. “You’re normally such a superior player! You—”
“Well now, well now—what have we here?” Lord Harkens asked, coming up to them. He was eyeing Richard in a distinctly unfriendly way—looking at him like a man who had cut him in line when he was just about to get to a prize they both wanted.
“Oh, this? This is nobody, my Lord!” the other mother fluttered. “He’s only just—”
“Caroline’s lawfully wedded husband,” Richard finished for her, glaring down at the much shorter man. “Dr. Vii at your service, Viscount. But then, we’ve met before.”
Caroline noticed he kept himself between her and Lord Harkens, as though shielding her from a threat.
“But he’s not her husband for long!” the other mother exclaimed desperately. “She shall be free of him at the end of this week! And the marriage was never actually consummated, you know.”
This announcement, which was made loudly enough for the others in the room to hear, drew a gasp and murmurs of surprise and astonishment from some of the on-lookers but it was clear that the other mother didn’t care about anyone but Lord Harkens.
“Is that so?” The Viscount gave Caroline a frankly appraising glance which Richard clearly did not take kindly to. A low growl rose in his throat and Caroline saw his lips part as he bared his fangs.
“Oh—a Blood Kindred!” one of the young ladies around the piano gasped.
“He has fangs—how horrid!” another exclaimed.
“Come, Caroline, I hear a Mazurka starting in the ball room. Let us see if we can find you a partner,” the other mother said huffily.
She grabbed her by the hand and yanked her off the piano bench, pushing her out the door and towards the ball room before Caroline could protest.
Richard didn’t follow them—at least she didn’t see him in the crowd when she looked over her shoulder—but Lord Harkens did.
“Ah, a Mazurka!” he exclaimed, just as though they’d never been interrupted. “Such a fine dance—makes me feel like a boy again! Miss Caroline, would you do me the honor?”
He held out a hand to Caroline, who wanted more than anything to refuse. But the other mother gave her a sharp poke in the ribs and she found herself taking his sweaty, pudgy hand in hers and allowing Lord Harkens to lead her out to the large dance floor.
She knew at once that this was going to be a disaster. She had never even heard of a Mazurka dance before—it must be some obscure thing that had been lost in the sands of time or else it belonged only in this universe. But even though she’d never heard of it or seen it danced, it was obviously going to be complicated.
Men and women were lining up across from each other with all the women on one side of the dance floor and all the men on the other. The orchestra was already playing a flourishing intro and the other women in the line were making sweeping arm gestures in perfect unison, as though they’d practiced this.
Caroline kept stealing glances at her neighbors on either side and trying to copy their movements but she wasn’t doing a very good job. She was either too fast or too slow or waving the wrong arm at the wrong time—and then the dance began in earnest.
To begin with, every other couple in line danced towards each other to meet in the middle of the room. Caroline was a beat behind, since she hadn’t been expecting this, so she had to rush quickly to meet Lord Harkens. Her boots slipped and skidded on the slick dance floor and instead of daintily taking his hand like all the other dancers were, she ran into him and nearly knocked him over.
“Oh, I say!” he exclaimed, barely retaining his footing.
“Sorry—I’m so sorry!” Caroline babbled. “It’s these shoes—they’re so slippery and I just—”
But just then the dance moved on and all the women swayed away in graceful, ever-widening circles around their partners while the men stayed in place and stamped their feet and clapped their hands.
Realizing she was being left behind again, Caroline hastened to try and follow the other dancers’ lead. But she wasn’t sure which way she was supposed to go and found herself careening through their graceful ranks like a rogue planet smashing through an orderly solar system. She nearly ran into three of them and got into the way of a fourth as the other girl danced her way back to her partner.
This made Caroline realize she was supposed to be getting back to Lord Harkens—which she did. But by the time she reached him, he was in a line with the other men. Each man had his right hand on the right shoulder of the man in front of him and they were stomping up and down the ballroom like some weird Victorian version of a conga line.
Caroline saw that the women had formed a similar line. Quickly, and with whispered apologies, she found her place in it and began stomping as well, moving forward at a quick, measured beat, as she tried to keep up with the other dancers.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t looking where she was stomping and one of the little black boots Mary Ann had put on her landed squarely on the trailing train of the gown of the lady in front of her.
Caroline heard a ripping sound and then, to her horror, found herself staring at a huge rip in the dark blue ball gown.
Oh no! Oh my God! I can’t believe I did that, she thought, feeling sick.
The girl in front of her must have heard it too because she turned and stared first at Caroline and then at the rip in her dress.
“Y
ou clumsy girl, Caroline Lambert!” she exclaimed angrily. “How dare you?”
“I’m so sorry—it was an accident!” Caroline pleaded. The girl’s lacy white crinoline was poking through like an accusing finger pointed right at her and she felt terrible.
“Get away from me!” the girl exclaimed and quickly changed places in line with the girl in front of her.
This time Caroline was careful not to step on any hems but just then the dance changed again and everyone took hands and began spinning around in a huge circle.
Like a grown-up game of ring around the roses! Caroline thought as they whirled around and around. She was beginning to feel seriously light-headed at this point. All the physical exertion while her lungs were being constricted by the corset was wearing her down. God, but she wished she could take the wretched thing off and just get one deep breath!
But there was no stopping the dance and she kept getting tugged along in a circle, getting dizzier and dizzier and more and more light-headed. Soon she was gasping for breath and stumbling as huge black flowers bloomed before her eyes. Why was it so hot in here? She was melting and she couldn’t breathe…couldn’t breathe.
“Watch out—she’s swooning!” she heard someone beside her exclaim. But she couldn’t tell who it was because the room had turned a dim shade of grey and she couldn’t seem to focus on anyone.
Fainting…I’m fainting, she thought. How stupid and girly of me…
And then she felt herself falling and knew it was too late to stop.
Chapter Eleven
Caroline felt herself falling. She had a random thought that she hoped the other dancers wouldn’t step on her head when suddenly a pair of strong arms caught her and lifted her away from the giddy whirl of the dance floor.
Everything went black for a while and then a sharp smell like ammonia assaulted her nose and her eyes fluttered open.
Trapped in Time Page 10