“No one seems to know much about Wolfram’s affairs,” whispered Eliza.
*****
Ivy found her mother Petunia who seemed piqued as the night was fun. “Mother—.” Ivy hugged Petunia, her spirit aglow.
“Darling, Ivy. It is good to see you,” said Petunia. “Did you arrive safe? Yes, I see you are getting lovelier every time I see you.” Petunia looked into the dancing crowd, her brow furrowed.
“Mother, what is it?”
Ivy saw Marguerite and Minerva and tried to wave them over to herself and Petunia.
“It’s your sisters,” huffed Petunia. “This is their day to present to London Society. Yes, the evening cannot compare to that of the royals. Still, this is entertainment they should leverage to implicit advantage—.”
“Good evening.” Ivy and Petunia curtsied to a rotund officer at the gala.
The officer smiled longingly at Ivy. She bowed and smiled, feeling her arm dragged by her mother. “See. He was pleasant. A little long in the tooth, but an officer of rank all the same. He certainly fancied you.”
“Considering we are at a gala to present eligible maidens to the formidable calls of marriage is hardly a fete to win,” smiled Ivy.
“Shh. Bite your tongue,” said Petunia. “If either of your sisters win a promise this evening it will be a smidgen of the attention you draw to yourself.”
Ivy stopped swinging her dress to the music. “Mamá, what do you mean?”
Petunia sighed. “Forgive me daughter. It is just, your card is filled with late night dances, and look at your sisters. They are 19 and 20 between them. Oh, they must find a gentleman so their lives will not be filled with such spinster roles and contention. Ivy, go. Accept the next man who offers you, and tell him you will dance.”
Ivy stared. “But, mamá—.”
“Go, child. Do as I say!”
Ivy looked at Petunia and she entered the crowd. She saw Petunia wiggling her lace handkerchief at her. “Go!” Ivy saw her mother pantomime.
“May I enquire you would like to dance?” Ivy looked into the eyes of a very tall, and handsome gentleman. He had a mole on his left check, and his eyes were the color of cornflower, unlike hers that were brown. His smile was kind and the way he looked at Ivy, made her want to run to Clarissa to ask what she should do, and stand where she was at very same time, to see where fate would lead her.
Ivy couldn’t see her mother Petunia or her aunt Clarissa anymore from inside the dancing crowds.
Ivy smiled, and curtsied. The man was her rescuer from outside when she had slipped from the carriage.
*****
Ivy took Cedric’s hand and they began to twirl in the dance crowd.
The man gripped Ivy securely at her waist and she felt her face burn red. Ivy turned her head, bemused by how she felt hot in the most sensitive place in her body. What was happening to her?
“You are on the brink,” her handsome rescuer said. Ivy gazed into his eyes and found he was gazing back at her. She felt as if he could see into her thoughts, fretting more that he was able to read her mind.
Ivy looked away, surprised.
“What’s this? A beautiful temptress like yourself is dismayed by gentlemanly compliment?”
Ivy heard the barb and was slightly riled. “Easy for any simpleton. I prefer genuine conversation to the niceties of the day.”
Her consort stared as they twirled. “I meant no opportunity for insult, for you or I, assure,” the man replied.
“Certainly,” Ivy said “Only a mere brazen woman would admit to enjoying being compared to a temptress.”
There. Her aunt Clarissa told her she should speak only when she was spoken to, and she had. She had let the assuming rogue make a donkey out himself. How dare he suggest she was as common as a courtesan? If she was, she would ne’er be as roguish as he, or as impertinent!
Ivy and the man danced with the crowd to an andante tempo as they twirled faster.
“Please, I meant not to offend thee,” the gentleman led himself and Ivy into another spinning couple. “Oh, I am sorry,” he apologized.
Ivy smiled at the couple too and she looked at her gentleman as she pursed her lips.
“I see we may be getting off on the wrong foot,” the gentleman smiled. “I am Cedric. May I enquire your name?”
“You may—.” The dance stopped abruptly and Ivy broke hers and the gentleman’s grasp.
“Whether or not I intend to tell you is an entirely different matter.” Ivy left the floor without the man’s escort and she flew by her mamá and into an entry way near the band. She could hardly breathe when she realized, she had just flirted with a man!
*****
“Well, this certainly is not, France,” Jane said behind her fan.
“A short rapport, perhaps, given your father’s latest turn of event,” Wolfram implied.
“Oh, yes. The governess.” Jane said.
“Rycroft has sent me to accompany you. You know now he seeks a new consort.”
“You are here to retrieve her?” Jane sat at a chair perched high atop a dais.
“I am.”
Wolfram and Jane bowed toward the crowd.
The crowd bowed, and the festivities in the gala, continued.
“And, why am I here?
“Because you cannot resist the hint of scandal.” Wolfram scanned the gala, looking for the young girl he was to retain.
“Wolfram, you know me too well.” Jane grabbed Wolfram’s hand and squeezed.
“Yes, truly,” Wolfram said. “I see the doe of your father’s affection. I leave you to retrieve the creature, and to return her to Greystone by your leave.”
Jane tugged on Wolfram’s hand. “And what am I to do, when you whisk said coquette off into the Avondale night?”
“Why Jane, you have nothing to fret. You will be staying at the inn, where I have arranged a jaunt with a companion.”
Jane sat up with a start. “Wolfram, you didn’t. Who is it? Tell me straight away.”
“Straight has much to do with it. I believe you know him. Spencer McCallum, of the Hennesseys?”
“Spencer McCallum Hennessey. Oh, Wolfram, you are a heel. I will meet with my old friend and think of you whilst we remember old times,” Jane wickedly smiled.
“As you wish, and as His Grace, desires. Then we will meet again at Greystone within a fortnight.” Wolfram entered the dancing crowd.
“Don’t wait up, my staunch, loyal Wolfram,” Jane slid her face behind her fan, haughtily smiling.
*****
Ivy ran to find sanctuary. She closed a door to a tiny entry and flung her hands over her face, desperate. She had never acted so wild or so brazenly.
She’d come to a party on her sisters’ behalf and somehow she had managed to flirt with more than half of the male gentry.
Oh why had she listened to her mamá Petunia? Now she would bring fire and brimstone onto the family because she had been so wanton. How could she go back and show her face to everyone?
The door pressed open and Ivy scurried to the opposite wall in the room.
Cedric stepped inside; he smiled as he closed the door.
“Cedric? What are you doing?”
“I had to see you,” Cedric wrapped his arms around Ivy. “You are so bemusing. So beautiful, I am compelled to declare my love for you, heart and soul.”
Cedric enfolded his arms around Ivy as he gave her a heart-pounding, kiss.
*****
Ivy’s mind spun. Her breasts swelled as her body reacted to Cedric’s with an inner knowledge. Ivy felt her skin heat again as her hips curled into the crook of Cedric’s groin.
They held one another as Cedric tore at Ivy’s mouth with his lips. He nipped and gnawed on Ivy’s tongue, driving her senses into a firestorm of heat and rapture, taking her body higher into the clouds, while Cedric awakened to desires Ivy dared to know!
Ivy broke free.
“Ivy, wait—.”
Ivy ran from the tiny room searching with her m
ind to find safety. She knew what she had experienced would happen again if she let it. Ivy was torn. Her body had acted on its own and it had betrayed her first chance she gave it.
She realized she had flirted indeed with her rescuer. Worse, it was the same man who had saved from gossipy ridicule once before. Now he had turned her salvation into sin, declaring his love for her and promising an offer of his hand. The turn of events would thoroughly scandalize the Castleberry family and hurtle Ivy into unmitigated shame!
Oh, what had she done!
*****
Wolfram Valentine strode through the dancers nearing the young femme. He recognized her easily from the Duke’s description. The only part Rycroft had left out was the woman’s countenance. She was breathtaking. A strikingly handsome young woman on the cusp of feminine maturity. She was a sight; a near lusty nymph, ready to explore the hedonistic lure of her passions.
Wolfram wanted her the instant he saw her sweet smile.
He saw the nymph running from another’s grasp. It was a scene Wolfram found uncomfortably familiar. Seeing the instigator rankled him. He had to stop this malediction and prevent the poor treatment of the young woman, at any cost.
Yes, that was what Wolfram knew. He would do it. He would win the woman’s heart. That would stop the Lankenshires from suffering another untoward scandal. The woman was young, and fine. He could provide for her in ways other men never could. He would make her a fine husband, and his virility was certain to keep her with child, and blissfully satisfied.
Yes, He would have her. He would shift the firmament and ground to make the nymph his.
When Wolfram spied the young nymph after she had run from her dance partner and he turned into the crowd.
Wolfram approached to enquire where the woman had gone. “Your father did not say you would be in attendance here,” said Wolfram.
“Why would I not?” Cedric said. “Just because we are brothers by marriage does not mean I have to report my every single dalliance to you—.”
Wolfram neared her stepbrother, his height outshining Cedric’s by a full head. “Do not mistake my manners for complacency. The young woman you were with. Where is she?”
“Ah, my father has a part in this—.” Cedric ran his fingers through his dark blond hair. “Tell me, what does the Duke of Lankenshire want with a little waif with no money, no title, and a pair of sisters whom would give the lustrous Sappho a run for her visage of homeliness?
“Rycroft seeks a governess,” said Wolfram.
“And you always do what my father says?” Cedric pushed himself in front of Wolfram. His blue eyes feral with anger.
Wolfram saw the nymph hiding behind a stage. She was looking out into crowd, and no doubt wondering why the man she danced with was talking to him.
“It is the Duke’s express desire. I will leave you to your dalliances, Cedric,” said Wolfram. “Sappho was a fine woman, and not to be compared with those with lesser attributes.” Wolfram pressed by Cedric, who frowned.
*****
Ivy couldn’t dance another step. The dashing Cedric had bewitched her, heart and soul. He’d dragged her into a waiting room at the gala, and his kisses had seared her thoroughly that she thought she might burn.
She had to flee. If anyone learnt what had happened, she would be embroiled in another scandal that the Castleberrys always seemed to make. Oh, what could she do!
Ivy jumped when she heard her name.
“Oh, I thought you might be the angel Gabriel coming for me with shield and sword!” Ivy breathed.
“Who is speaking with the mysterious Wolfram Valentine this time?” Eliza brought Ivy a glass filled with rum punch.
“What is that?” Ivy said looking at the fiery red concoction.
“I think it is rum punch. Laced with more kick than citrus and sugar,” said Eliza. “Try it.”
Ivy had sampled her share of wine and spirits. She was a daughter of a parishioner who had anointed his congregation weekly on the Sabbath.
Eliza was Ivy’s one and true friend. She had stayed by her family’s side when her eldest sister Solette had run away to marry a Cossack, gotten pregnant, and had the child at an abbey without her family knowing where she had gone. They had discovered Solette had later married, but she’d come down with consumption and passed before Ivy or the Castleberrys knew what had really happened.
Ivy thought about how much she missed her sister as she stared into the glass.
“Go on, try some,” Eliza said. Ivy looked at Eliza. Did Eliza really think she should?
Ivy admired how bold her sister Solette was. She never would have kowtow to societal pressures. She believed in sharing work with the men and elevating the female role from baby farming to equality in education, factory working, and political beliefs. It was all the more reason why Ivy found herself wanting to eschew marriage and coming out altogether.
Ivy believed if her free spirited sister Solette faired so tragically, what possible hope could any modern female have in finding true love, or romance?
*****
Behind Ivy and Eliza stood Wolfram Valentine. He greeted Lady Clarissa and he gave her a handwritten note. Lady Clarissa bowed her head following Wolfram’s nod, as she read the cursive handiwork.
She closed the paper and tucked it beneath the bodice of the evening dress. Lady Clarissa was visibly piqued and dismayed.
*****
Ivy looked at the libation and she tipped back the glass. Life was for the adventurous.
“Oh, it burns,” Ivy said swallowing.
“Land sakes, you are a hellion in the making, Ivy, aren’t you?”
Ivy saw the gentleman she had met on the dance floor coming towards her and Eliza. Suddenly Ivy realized her friend Eliza may be more right than Ivy dared reveal.
Ivy decided to throw caution to the wind. “Eliza can you keep a secret?”
Eliza spit onto her palm and she made an “X”. “Cross my heart, will die,” she whispered.
“See that gentleman?” Eliza looked where Ivy gestured.
“I see him. That is Cedric. Ivy, you didn’t—.”
Ivy looked at Eliza, suddenly pale. “Why, Eliza? What is it?”
Eliza quieted when Lady Clarissa appeared.
“Auntie,” Ivy beamed.
“Never you mind that,” Clarissa said. “Oh, hello dear. Congratulations on your engagement. Nice rock,” Lady Clarissa complimented.
“Thank you Lady Clarissa,” said Eliza. Eliza turned to Ivy who looked back at Eliza pantomiming an enormous, ‘What’?
“You have an offer to meet with the Duke’s behest, care of special messenger,” Clarissa led Ivy outside of the gala. Ivy protested she hadn’t had a chance to speak with her mother more, or her sisters.
“There will be time for that later. Into the carriage,” said Lady Clarissa.
“Auntie, what has happened,” Ivy asked, her mind and boy reeling from the night’s soiree.
“You have been requested with an offer as a governess,” said Clarissa.
“A governess?” Ivy stared. “Who would promise me above all things, as a governess?”
“Why, your mother, naturally” Lady Clarissa said flatly. “Honestly, I don’t know how a girl your age could grow up so smart in physique and grace, and be so naïve as to believe your mother would cart you off if it served the family’s interests. Driver carry on,” Clarissa swatted the cabin with her fan.
“I don’t understand,” said Ivy.
“You, are about to enter a world of unique privilege,” said Clarissa.
“Auntie, what do you mean?” Ivy pondered.
“Just like your elder sisters. Always getting into some kind of trouble. Luck and providence shines on you, this day, young siren,” said Lady Clarissa.
Ivy shook her head, bemused.
“You are going to be a governess in the care of Duke Rycroft Lankenshire of Avondale. You will teach his family the romantic languages, the arts, and the social graces.”
; Ivy’s mouth flopped open wide. “But I haven’t revisited the French and Italian tongues since boarding school,” said Ivy.
“Shush, my child. From the news I hear you are already in the center of a billowing scandal. Nevertheless you will succeed,” said Clarissa.
“What scandal. Oh! You know about the dance!” Ivy’s face paled.
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