Secret Brides [3] Secrets of a Scandalous Marriage

by Valerie Bowman

  “Colton made this? What is he, a bloody apothecary now?”

  Lily gave him a stern stare. “Be nice.”

  James reluctantly lifted his hand and took the glass. He stared at it. He sniffed it. “It smells worse than I feel.”

  Lily cracked a smile and plunked her hands on her hips. “That may be true, but do you doubt for a moment that Devon knows how to relieve a sick head?”

  James growled. “Unfortunately, for me and my palate, I don’t doubt it at all.”

  He slowly moved the noxious substance to his lips, took a sip, and shuddered. “Good God. I refuse to drink that.”

  “Oh, I nearly forgot,” Lily said, pointing one finger in the air and wagging it. “Devon said to pinch your nose and down it quickly all at once. Don’t taste it. Much easier, according to him.”

  James narrowed his eyes on her. “Thank you for telling me that after I’ve tasted it.”

  She affected a curtsy. “My pleasure.”

  James shuddered. Might as well get this unpleasant task over with. Colton of all people had probably invented this stuff. The man was a drunkard. Pinching his nose, James tossed the entire contents of the glass into the back of his throat. He swallowed, then coughed, and gagged. “Jesus. That was disgusting.”

  Lily winced. “Yes. Devon said you’d say that too.”

  James shook his head, doing his level best not to gag. He pounded his chest with the side of his fist. “I think I’d rather be sick.”

  Lily patted him on the foot through the covers. “It shouldn’t take long to feel better, according to Devon. We’ll have the coach brought round to take you home when you’re ready.” She moved back toward the door. “Just say the word. By the way, it’s nearly noon. Don’t forget that you must get ready for this evening.”

  James let his head fall back against the pillows again and shut his eyes. He scowled. “It’s nearly noon? No wonder I never took to drinking. Half the day is gone.” He paused and opened one eye. “Wait. This evening? What’s this evening?”

  “Why, Catherine Eversly’s New Year’s masquerade, of course. You cannot miss it. She’ll be devastated if you do.”

  James groaned. “I’m not about to go to any—” His voice rose, and he winced. Blast. He’d been too loud. That hurt.

  “Oh, you’re coming all right,” Lily replied in her most matter-of-fact voice. “Even if we must march over to your house and drag you there.”

  * * *

  The knock on her bed chamber door made Kate’s stomach clench. She couldn’t open it. What if it was James again? Seeing him yesterday, sending him away, had nearly killed her. She couldn’t do it again. If he were back with a pocketful of outrage, demanding that she marry him, she just might give in and forget her plans to go off alone to the Continent. But she had to be strong, for her sake … and for his.

  “Who is it?” she called tentatively.

  “It’s Lily and Annie,” came Lily’s voice through the wooden door. “We hope you don’t mind. Lady Catherine let us in.”

  Kate closed her eyes briefly and said a prayer of thanks. She hurried to the door and swung it open. She smiled at her friends. Lily and Annie hugged her one after another.

  “I was afraid you were…” Kate glanced away. “It doesn’t matter. Come in. Come in.”

  Kate stepped back and Annie and Lily moved into the room. “Please, sit, sit.” She gestured to the little seating area in the corner of her room.

  “Lord Medford came, didn’t he?” Annie asked, plucking off her gloves and taking a seat in a chair by the window.

  Kate nodded. “Yesterday.”

  Lily shook her head. She’d remained standing and had moved over to the window, looking out to the street below. “We didn’t tell him you were here, Kate. We promise. I have no idea how he found out.”

  Kate nodded. “I know. He told me. Seems he bribed his way through all the hotels in London. And then Lady Catherine paid him a visit.”

  “Medford giving bribes?” Annie’s brow was furrowed. “That doesn’t sound like him.”

  Lily turned to face Kate. “He was so upset when he found out you were gone, Kate. Truly. You should have seen him. He raised his voice at me.”

  Kate bit her lip. She didn’t want to hear this. She was barely hanging on to her resolve as it was. “I can’t … that is to say, I’d rather not talk about James if that’s all right with you.”

  Lily walked over and looped her arm through Kate’s. “Absolutely, we completely understand.”

  “Yes, we just came to see how you are doing,” Annie added.

  “And to ensure that you’re coming to the masquerade ball tonight.” Lily winked.

  “The masq—” Kate’s mouth dropped open. “Masquerade?”

  Lily squeezed Kate’s arm. “Yes, it’s here, tonight. Didn’t Lady Catherine tell you? She holds one every year at this time. It is the most fun. You simply must attend.”

  Kate pulled away from Lily and shook her head. “Lady Catherine mentioned it to me but I thought she was just being polite. She must know … You must know … I cannot come to a ton event. It’s impossible. I won’t be welcome.”

  “Ah, but that is the beauty of the masquerade,” Lily replied with a wink. “We’ve already spoken to Catherine, and we all agree. No one will know who you are. Annie and I can introduce you as our cousin on a visit from the country. Everyone will be drinking and toasting the new year. It will be perfectly safe.”

  Kate bit her lip. She adored parties and would love the opportunity to dance again. Once she went to the Continent, she wouldn’t have the chance, perhaps ever. If she made friends there at all, the odds of her being accepted into social events were fairly slim. No, masquerades were not in her future.

  “Besides,” Annie added with a wide smile. “Lady Catherine is our friend, and she insists you be there. She says she’s looking forward to it. And she’ll keep entirely quiet about your identity.”

  Kate threaded her fingers together. “I just don’t know if it’s safe.”

  “It’s perfectly safe,” Lily replied. “Devon and Jordan will be there, and Catherine and her servants will be on the lookout. You needn’t worry about a thing.”

  “But I’m leaving for Dover in the morning and—”

  “All the more reason why you should spend your very last night in London at a masquerade.”

  Kate squared her shoulders. Lily was right. All the more reason. “Very well.” She nodded and smiled at the sisters. “I’ll come.” She wanted so badly to ask if James would be there. Perhaps he would forgo the party. Perhaps he would assume she would be there and stay away. No, why would he assume the biggest outcast in the ton would be attending the grandest ball of the new year? Even if she was Lady Catherine’s houseguest. But he was friendly with Lady Catherine too, so it stood to reason that he would be invited. Wouldn’t he? Oh, Kate mustn’t think such thoughts. She would be in disguise regardless, and so would James, if he came. The ball was sure to be crowded. They probably wouldn’t even see each other. Though it would be nice to see him … one more time.

  “Oh, I’m so glad you’ve said yes,” Annie replied, jumping up from her seat and giving Kate a quick hug. “We’ll just go back to the coach and get your costume then.”

  Kate blinked. “My costume?”

  “Yes.” Lily winked at her. “We brought it with us as we were so hoping you’d say yes.”

  Kate couldn’t help her laugh. “By all means, then, go and get it. I cannot wait to see my costume.”

  CHAPTER 41

  Kate felt like a fairy princess. Perhaps because she was dressed like one. Her gown was a midnight-blue concoction with wide skirts and two tiers of underskirts, a fitted, nearly indecent bodice and long sleeves. Her mask was just as daring, a demimask also made of midnight-blue satin with two wide feathers, one blue and one black, sweeping above her right eye. Annie and Lily had assured her that she would be unrecognizable in the mask and they’d been right. Except for her hair and eye
s of course. She sighed. She supposed she had the element of surprise on her side. Who in the ton would expect the scandalous dowager Duchess of Markingham to be attempting to sneak into a masquerade ball?

  Lily was dressed in dashing jade green with an equally impressive matching demimask and Annie wore her favorite pink accented by a pink and white mask.

  Lord Ashbourne and Lord Colton were dressed entirely in black. The blackness of Lord Ashbourne’s mask set off the man’s intriguing silver eyes, making him look quite the rogue. Colton wore a silver mask that slightly relieved the darkness of his hair and eyes. Both men and their lovely wives looked positively splendid, Kate thought as their coach pulled to a stop in front of Lady Catherine Eversly’s town house. Lily and Annie had decided their ruse of introducing Kate as their cousin would be more plausible were she to arrive with them, so the two sisters had brought Kate to Annie’s house earlier to prepare for the ball. Now they were returning, all dressed up.

  They waited in the seemingly endless line to enter the ball and Kate couldn’t help but rise on tiptoes to see if she recognized James. Lily and Annie hadn’t said a word about James all afternoon. She’d asked them not to speak of him earlier so she could hardly make a show of asking about him now, could she? If he were here, he hadn’t come with his friends. Perhaps he wasn’t invited after all. Oh, she desperately wanted to ask Lily if that were true. But she held her tongue.

  If asked, Kate was pretending to be Lily’s cousin Althea. She could only hope that no one looked too closely. Apparently, Lily’s cousin lived in Northumberland and hadn’t been to town in years. Thankfully, she too had red hair. She pinched the inside of her arm. “Courage, courage, courage,” Kate whispered to herself.

  Catherine Eversly was dressed entirely in sparkling silver. The beautiful blond woman swept over to their little group soon after their arrival and hugged each of them individually.

  “Who have we here?” she whispered conspiratorially, in her lovely, sultry voice. “My, but you all look like a merry band of misfits.”

  She turned her crystal-blue gaze toward Kate and winked and Kate was suddenly quite glad to have come after all.

  “Thank you very much for the invitation, Lady Catherine,” Kate replied. “I am very honored to have been invited.” And then lower, “And I cannot thank you enough for all you’ve done for me.”

  “Yes, well, welcome one and all,” Catherine said. “But beware.” From behind her mask, she arched a brow at Kate. “We have a tradition here. We count down the seconds to the new year and when the clock strikes twelve and the church bells ring, we all remove our masks.”

  Kate bit her lip. She’d have to be gone by midnight.

  Catherine turned back to Lily and the others. “By the by, your friend Medford is already here. I must say, the man’s drinking more than I’ve ever known him to.” She looked off into the crowd. “He was over by the French doors the last time I looked. If I see him, I’ll send him over. I daresay he’d love to meet your cousin.” She gave Kate a little smile.

  Kate’s stomach lurched. James was here? Lily and Annie rocked on their toes and exchanged glances. Kate narrowed her eyes. Why did she have the feeling she was in the middle of a very large and carefully orchestrated conspiracy?

  She turned to ask Lily a question and something caught her eye. A flash of red, a laugh, a set of deep-set dark eyes on a woman across from them.

  Lady Bettina.

  Lily saw her too at nearly the same moment. She squeezed Kate’s hand. “Let’s go,” she said. “I’m sure we can find a more inviting place to stand.”

  “No,” Kate insisted, pulling away from Lily’s grasp. “I have something to say to her.”

  Lily shook her head. “Kate, you can’t. If she learns who you are, that you’re here—”

  “Don’t worry,” Kate added. But she wasn’t even listening to Lily any more. Instead, she found herself moving toward Lady Bettina as if her feet were not under her own control any longer. She walked straight up to the woman but didn’t remove her mask.

  “Lady Bettina?”

  The dark-haired beauty stopped laughing at whatever the man next to her had said and turned to look at her. “Yes?”

  It was clear she didn’t recognize whom she was speaking to. Thank God.

  “I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about the Duke of Markingham’s death.”

  Lady Bettina narrowed her eyes. “Who are you?”

  “It doesn’t matter. I’m merely an old friend of the duke’s.”

  The gentleman next to her laughed. “Yes, well, it’s too bad that Markingham got shot by his own valet, no less, but his loss is my gain.”

  Lady Bettina smiled at that and the man, whom Kate didn’t recognize, leaned down and kissed her on the neck. Kate sucked in her breath. Not only were the man’s words cruel but Lady Bettina had clearly already taken up with a new lover. Here she’d been feeling a bit sorry for her, thinking that she’d truly been in love with George, and all the while she’d been out finding a new protector.

  “Oh, you’re bad, Kingston, very bad,” Lady Bettina purred. Turning her attention back to Kate, she said, “Yes, well, dear, I’ve never been much for mourning, as you can see.” And she laughed, took a long sip from her champagne flute, and rubbed her hand possessively over Kingston’s chest.

  Kate felt ill. There was no reason to confront this woman, reveal her identity. She felt sorry too, actually, sorry for George. He’d believed the woman loved him and obviously she’d only been using him for his title and money.

  Without saying another word, Kate turned away from the sickening pair. She was through with them, through with her old life and everyone in it. Tonight she intended to have fun. She made her way back to Lily’s side. “I want to dance,” she whispered to the marchioness. “I want to dance and dance.”

  “Then dance you shall,” Lily said with a smile. She tapped Devon on the shoulder and soon Kate was whirling around the room with the handsome marquis, a glass of champagne in one hand and a smile on her lips. And suddenly it didn’t matter why she was there. It didn’t matter that she didn’t know where James was and that Lady Bettina was detestable. Kate was having fun again. And she intended to have a great deal more of it.

  After dancing with three more debonair gentlemen in a row, Kate made her way over to the refreshment table to retrieve another glass of champagne. The crowd had long ago separated her from Lily and Annie and their husbands. And with so many people wearing such elaborate costumes, it was difficult to know just who was who.

  She pressed her palm against her stomach. James was here. He was here in the crowd somewhere. But she’d never know him. Never find him. She had no clue how he was dressed. What color was his mask? Oh, it was better this way, not to know. If she knew what to look for, no doubt she’d be constantly scanning the ballroom, looking for him, searching him out, hoping to get a chance to see him, talk to him, hear his voice.

  Oh, who was she fooling? She was already looking for him. With every male voice that drifted to her ears, she strained to hear a familiar tone. With every male costume that crossed her path, she scanned the gentleman’s eyes, hoping to see the hazel she knew so well. She tossed back her second glass of champagne. That was it. She had to stop thinking about James. A London New Year’s masquerade ball was something she’d never been to before, and would never attend again. And she intended to enjoy herself.

  She turned to leave the refreshment table, to go in search of Lily and Annie, when a snippet of conversation to her right caught her attention.

  “I heard the duchess is leaving for the Continent as soon as possible,” said a shrill female voice.

  Kate glanced over her shoulder. She didn’t recognize the hefty woman dressed in a horrendous puce color or her older male counterpart dressed in bright peach, but Kate was rooted to the spot.

  “Yes, well, it cannot happen quickly enough if you ask me. She should leave this town as soon as possible,” the man answered.

&nb
sp; “I’ve heard she’s staying in a hotel,” the woman said in a disgusted tone.

  “Wouldn’t surprise me,” replied the man. “Some establishments will take in any riffraff.”

  The woman took a sip of champagne. “I, for one, shall never believe she didn’t kill him. The valet may have confessed, but I don’t believe it for one moment.”

  The man nodded and his jowls shook. “Neither do I.”

  Tears of anger stung the backs of Kate’s eyes. She turned to move away from the conversation, not wanting to hear a bit more of it. This was why she couldn’t come into London Society. Ever. Even if she were wearing a disguise. She wasn’t welcome here and she never would be. She would find Lily and Annie and give her regrets, and quietly slip upstairs to her guest chamber. She never should have come.

  She took her first step, just as a tall man wearing all black with a dark green mask pushed past her. He addressed his comments to the couple who’d just been speaking.

  “Please tell me, Lady Cranberry, that you were not just speaking of Kate, the dowager Duchess of Markingham,” the tall man said in a clipped voice.

  Kate’s breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t move. She knew that voice. Familiar and deep and wonderful. James. She hadn’t recognized him when he’d brushed past her, but now there was no mistaking it. He was here and he appeared to be coming to her defense. She moved to the side of the table again and picked up another glass of champagne, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, but a small crowd had already begun to form around the threesome since James had raised his voice.

  “Lord Medford, is that you?” Lady Cranberry straightened to her full height, which wasn’t very high at all.

  “It is,” he replied through clenched teeth.

  Kate moved into the corner behind a potted palm and clutched her champagne flute, her gaze darting back and forth. The group around the other three was growing and no one was paying a bit of attention to her, thank heavens.

  “What if we were speaking of the duchess?” Lord Cranberry cleared his throat. “Do you dare to defend that trollop?”