by Jaimey Grant
“So I’ve heard,” the duke agreed. “You would do well to remember that.”
~~~~~~
A week later, Aurora still suffered the ill effects of the Duke of Derringer’s well-chosen and completely hateful words. Many shunned her despite her remarkable lineage and some gentlemen had been forward enough to offer her carte blanche. Ladies tended to avoid her company altogether.
Aurora didn’t care. She was more worried about the duke’s whispered words to her. It was nothing more than a man’s name, but that man’s connection to her would destroy her reputation as assuredly as Derringer had destroyed Miss Weatherby’s.
The gossip surrounding her name now would stop just as soon as someone provided the ton with something even better to talk about. If they discovered her secret, nothing short of a royal scandal could replace the gossip. And although the royals were quite willing to make a byword of themselves, lately, they had been rather circumspect.
Aurora endeavored to give the gossips nothing more with which to fuel their spite. She spent more time with her sister and with Ellie. They were often seen in the park by anyone up early enough—or late enough—to chance upon them.
That was how her acquaintance with Miss Raven Emerson started. Aurora stood in the park with Ellie and Rhiannon, watching the ducks one week after the contretemps at Almack’s. The little girl was exclaiming in delight over the antics of the ducklings and begging Ellie to catch one for her so she could pet it. Ellie, of course, did nothing of the sort and merely tugged the child along the bank of the Serpentine so Rhiannon could get as close as possible without actually touching the small birds.
Aurora was watching with fond amusement when she happened to look up and see the most beautiful woman she’d ever beheld. The woman’s hair was black as pitch, long and glossy and even straighter than Aurora’s own blond locks. Her dark eyes were slanted, giving her an exotic look. She glided across the grass in the latest of French fashions, a little maid at her side. The woman was easily a whole head taller than Aurora.
She wondered who the beautiful lady was. She had not yet been to the theater and so did not know that she was looking at one of the best actresses to tread the boards since Sarah Siddons. And she would never know unless someone happened to tell her; Raven had quit the theater right after Levi Greville had dropped her.
Aurora nodded her head in acknowledgment of the woman’s friendly smile and returned her attention to her friend and sister. She was surprised when the lady stopped.
“How do you do?” she asked in a husky voice that captured Aurora’s complete attention.
“I’m very well, thank you. And you?” Aurora replied politely. Heavens! The woman was even more beautiful up close.
“I am well,” the woman said with a sweet smile. “I wonder if you’d mind if I introduced myself? I have few friends in Society and you appear to be a kindred spirit.” She gestured for her maid to join Ellie and Rhiannon and then gestured towards a bench situated not far from the water. “Will you join me?”
Aurora pondered in what way they were kindred spirits as she settled herself as comfortably as possible on the hard bench. She arranged her pale blue muslin skirts around her and waited for the woman to speak.
“My name is Raven Emerson,” she said as she smoothed an invisible wrinkle from her skirt. “I am recently become independent and I am determined to make a respectable life for myself.”
These words warned Aurora that perhaps she should not be speaking with this woman. Was she a member of the fashionable impure?
“I am Aurora Glendenning,” Aurora offered with a wary smile. “I am currently shunned by the high-sticklers and even some not so high.”
The look Raven leveled on her caused a distinct uneasiness in Aurora’s chest. Something was not right in the other woman’s expression.
Raven smiled. “So you are here to enjoy the Season, nonetheless?”
“I suppose,” Aurora shrugged. “I have been everywhere and nowhere, it seems. I had always envisioned London as exciting beyond words but I have to say I am disappointed. I have been to the Royal menagerie and Astley’s Amphitheatre and Westminster Abbey as well as every park London has to offer. I have been to the opera but not the theater. I have heard that there is an actress who is worth seeing but I have not yet been.” She paused with an embarrassed flush. She seemed to have developed into a veritable magpie.
Raven chuckled. “You have definitely seen just about all London has to offer. I am sorry to disappoint you in regard to this wonderful actress in Drury Lane but she has retired from what I have heard, so you have missed your chance to see her, I’m afraid.”
“Oh, well,” Aurora murmured dismissively. She looked towards the gates of the park and saw Lord Connor enter with Adam Prestwich and a very tall, very large, and very handsome redheaded gentleman. Judging by the gentlemen she’d met so far, one would think all the gentlemen in London were huge.
“I have to go,” Raven said suddenly. She rushed off, calling to her maid as she went.
Aurora watched her go, perplexed. What an exceedingly odd encounter, to be sure.
With a shake of her bonneted head, Aurora returned her attention to the approaching gentlemen. She studied the one unknown to her. He stood a bit taller than Sir Adam and fairly towered over Lord Connor. He had a pleasant expression and smiling eyes. She judged him to be somewhere in his mid-thirties.
“Miss Glendenning, what a pleasure,” Lord Connor said with a smile and a bow. She rose and curtsied to him, then did the same to Sir Adam. The baronet solemnly mimicked his friend’s bow. Then Northwicke turned to the third gentleman. “Aurora, allow me to introduce Dr. Garrett Steele. Garrett, Miss Aurora Glendenning.”
The gentleman bowed and Aurora smiled brightly at him. Then she gestured for Ellie and Rhiannon to join them. “This is my very dear friend, Miss Psyche Ellison and my sister, Rhiannon.”
Within moments of the introduction, Northwicke had managed to maneuver Garrett and Ellie to take a walk together, the young maid of Aurora’s to take Rhiannon for a walk behind them at a respectful distance, and Aurora to return to her seat on the bench. Then one gentleman sat on either side and leveled stern looks on her. The young lady’s confusion grew.
“What did Raven have to say?” Lord Connor asked with an indifference that Aurora could tell was feigned.
Adam said nothing but watched the emotions flicker over Miss Glendenning’s face, waiting patiently for her answer.
“I don’t understand,” Aurora said as her welcoming smile was replaced by a frown of worry. “Do you know Miss Emerson?”
“Yes, we know her,” Northwicke replied with a blank look.
Adam leveled a curious look on Aurora. “How well do you know her, my dear?”
“I have only just met her. Is she not comme il faut, gentlemen? Have I furthered the damage to my reputation?”
“Provided no one saw you, your reputation should be at the same level it has been since Derringer’s comment,” Adam returned dryly.
“No one saw us,” Aurora assured them. “Who is she?” She twisted her hands in her lap, dreading what they would tell her. She had so hoped for a new friend and Raven had seemed so very pleasant, if a little odd.
“Do you want to know everything about her or only the pertinent facts?” asked Adam.
“How well do you know her?” Aurora asked as her brow furrowed.
“Better than anyone,” was Adam’s instant response. “Except perhaps Levi. He may actually know her better,” he added thoughtfully. “But now I am not so sure any of us really knew her at all.”
“What has Lord Greville to do with Raven Emerson?” Aurora demanded with rising indignation. “And what was she to you? And why are you turning my happenstance conversation with the woman into a Cheltenham Tragedy? Tell me what you are hinting at before I lose my temper and box your ears!”
Lord Connor chuckled at the angry little fury that was Aurora Glendenning. Even Adam laughed at her furious counten
ance.
The former laid a hand on her arm and begged, “Please calm yourself, my dear. We simply wanted to be sure that you were not one of tender sensibilities. What we tell you is not exactly something that should be mentioned within hearing of the gentler sex, you see.”
Aurora turned a minatory glare on Adam Prestwich. “You explain,” she said with deadly quiet.
Adam’s grin disappeared. He frowned heavily. “Very well, Miss Glendenning. That woman was an actress on Drury Lane until a few weeks ago. She was my mistress at one time and more recently, Levi Greville’s mistress. Her appearance in the park at this hour was more than just happenstance, little Aurora. She was seeking you out because of your relationship with Levi.”
“What relationship? Lord Greville is nothing to me,” she lied, more than a little shocked by what she’d just learned. “And why should his mistress seek me out even if there was any truth behind the rumors?”
“For one thing,” Northwicke inserted, “she is no longer his mistress. He dropped her shortly after meeting you. Second, we don’t think she took the separation well. She quit acting the day after Levi dropped her. He is worried about her, but she refuses to see him. The most troubling thing is she refuses to see Bri as well. She’s never done that before.”
Aurora looked at Adam again. “Why would your wife wish to see the woman who was once your mistress?” she asked with a searching look. She tried to ignore the warm little glow that started when Connor told her of Levi’s dropping his mistress right after meeting her, Aurora.
“They are friends,” Adam replied dryly.
“Oh.”
“Yes, well, that is neither here nor there,” said Northwicke. “If you want to befriend Raven, that is your decision, my dear. Just be careful.” He stood as Garrett returned with Ellie, Rhiannon and the maid trailing behind.
Adam rose as well and offered his arm to Aurora. “May we escort you home?” he asked gently.
Aurora nodded and placed her hand on Sir Adam’s arm. Lord Connor fell into step with little Rhiannon and the maid. Garrett continued as escort for Miss Ellison.
Adam allowed the rest of the party to get ahead of them. “I am sorry to have distressed you, Miss Glendenning.”
“Think nothing of it, sir,” Aurora responded automatically. “I needed to know. And please call me Rory.”
“That would not be acceptable, you know. Can your reputation withstand it?”
Aurora shrugged. “It matters little at this point, I think. Lord Derringer’s actions probably ruined my chances for marriage.”
A moment passed in which Adam said nothing, having nothing to say that would refute the truth in her belief. “And will you continue to see Raven Emerson, little Rory?” he asked curiously, an engaging half-smile tipping his lips.
“I do not yet know,” she answered honestly. “She was very pleasant to be with and she did hint that she is not acceptable in Society. But she is a woman, Sir Adam, and needs friendship just like any other woman. I will have to think about it, I suppose.”
“Wise decision, my dear,” Adam said pleasantly. “And I do hope that she is not out to cause trouble. She is a very good friend when one has need.”
Aurora looked up at her tall companion. There was something in his voice that suggested Raven had been just such a friend to him on more than one occasion. She filed this away in the back of her mind to ponder later.
*
Chapter Seven
Levi burst through the drawing room door of Lockwood House. “Hide me, Bri!”
Bri leapt up from her place next to her husband and Adam leaned back against the sofa with a look of supreme annoyance. He glared at Levi as though he could make the importuning young man disappear by doing so. Levi was too busy drawing the drapes and peering through the resultant crack to notice Adam’s behavior.
“Vi, what the devil is the matter?” his cousin demanded tersely as she beheld his daft actions.
“Mama is coming,” he replied without turning around or relaxing his vigilant search up and down the deserted street.
“Oh, Lord,” Bri murmured as she sank back down on the sofa next to Adam. He placed a casual arm around her shoulders and lifted one dark brow in silent inquiry.
“Levi’s mama is very difficult,” Bri said tactfully as Levi switched to the other set of windows and continued his odd actions there.
“Difficult, how?” Adam inquired with deceptive mildness.
Levi answered him, again without turning or easing tension. “She is a shrew, Bri, no need to smooth over the truth. She is a shrew with a penchant for spending money faster than I can win it. And since I have quit gambling, I have stopped sending her money and she has now written to tell me that she will arrive this morning in order to discover why.”
“Heaven help us,” Bri said piously.
Adam sat up with an arrested expression on his face. “You were gambling to support your spendthrift mama?” he asked in amazement.
“In part,” Levi admitted. He bit his lower lip and stared up the street, his brows drawn down in concentration. “I do enjoy playing cards, Adam. Well, I did, at any rate. I got bored with that and started losing.”
“And you were playing with Percival Winters,” Adam remarked.
“What?” Bri exclaimed. “Is this true, Vi?”
The earl glanced at his family. “Yes, it is true. I know the blackguard is not always aboveboard, but he made for an interesting game.”
“And every time you lost, was it to him?” Adam inquired calmly.
The earl returned his attention to the scene outside. “I suppose it was,” he admitted after a moment of intense thought. He swiveled his head to regard Adam. “Do you think he was cheating?”
“I know he was.”
“I guess it is a good thing I quit playing, especially with him.” He stared out the window again, straining his ears for the sound of his mother’s arrival.
Silence reigned for several minutes. Levi’s attention never wavered from the scene outside the drawing room window and Adam sat back with his arm around his wife trying to calm her. Her agitation couldn’t be good for the baby.
“And if you did not want to be disturbed, why the devil did you even get out of bed this early?” Levi asked as he finally turned to his relatives with an impish grin, proving that he had been fully conscious of the situation before he had started enacting his little scene of terror.
Bri blushed and hid her face in her hands. Adam scowled at the earl and retorted, “Why are you in my house? My house, Vi. Not yours, not Bri’s, mine. I can do what I please within these walls, where I please.”
Levi shrugged. “Then lock the door,” he said pleasantly as he glanced out the window again. His grin disappeared as the sound of carriage wheels reached him. “Damn, she is arrived.”
“And why is she coming here?” Adam asked dangerously.
“Because I’m staying here,” Levi replied in a tone that suggested Adam should have known that.
“I mean,” Adam said from between clenched teeth, “why does she not stay at Bri’s house in Mayfair?”
Both Bri and Levi looked at him as if his wits had gone begging. “You expect Mama to live in Mayfair?” Levi asked, astounded. “That is hardly a respectable address anymore. Raven even lives in Mayfair now.”
The countess glared at her cousin. “And what has that to do with it?”
“She is a member of the fashionable impure and an actress, love,” Adam pointed out reasonably.
“If Mama found out she was sharing her street with such a person, she would have my guts for garters.”
“That is disgusting,” Bri commented, her mild tone at odds with her words.
Adam laughed. “That is tame compared to the filth I heard out of your mouth not too long ago,” he told her as he pinched her arm.
“Hush,” Bri admonished.
“Very well, my love,” Adam replied equably.
Adam’s butler entered the room with a forbidding
expression on his normally wooden countenance. “Lady Greville,” he announced in sepulcher accents.
Adam rose to his feet along with his wife. Levi edged closer to them with a look of fear on his boyish face that was at definite odds with his size.
Lady Greville moved into the room like a warship in full sail. She stopped on the threshold and studied the room’s occupants with the air of someone studying a new and not-so-fascinating species of insect.
Anyone with eyes could see that Levi got his massive size from his mother. Nearly as wide as her son and taller than average, Lady Greville’s size owed nothing to the muscle her son could lay claim to. Only a few streaks of gray marred her dark brown hair and her small, dark eyes looked like over-ripe currants in a mound of pasty-colored dough.
Her gown—a garish monstrosity of chartreuse silk striped with pinkish orange and embroidered with brightly colored fruits and flowers—was of a cut more suited to a young girl than a mature matron. A plump, rouged and painted face peeked out from an equally garish bonnet.
Taking in the glory that was Lady Greville, the room’s occupants might be forgiven for thinking she was not Lady Greville at all but the famous clown, Grimaldi, come to entertain them. Or perhaps an escaped attraction from Astley’s Circus.
“Well, are you going to greet your mama, boy?” she demanded in a gravely voice that had her audience gritting their teeth.
Levi moved forward and kissed her hand. He was thankfully able to repress a shudder at the smell of musk and unwashed body that emanated from her person. Lady Greville did not believe in this new-fangled nonsense of bathing regularly. She personally thought that Brummell, who started the fashion of bathing all over with regularity, was a nodcock and anyone aspiring to his sartorial elegance and manner was a loose screw as well.
She turned her attention to Bri and Adam. The duo smiled pleasantly enough but said nothing.
Bri nudged her husband none-too-gently in the ribs. “Say something,” she hissed through clenched teeth and a smile only a half-wit would believe was sincere.