"Very well," Brie muttered. "I'll spend more time with Caroline. But please don't expect me to entertain her. I would be at a complete loss."
"She would be better off with some company. Perhaps you could introduce her to some of the young gentlemen in the neighborhood."
Brie shrugged, but then a mischievous gleam began to sparkle in her eyes. "Would Rupert Umstead suffice?" Rupert was the local squire's eldest son. His flowery speeches and general inanities always drove Brie to distraction, but she suddenly realized that she could pawn Rupert off on her mopish cousin and be rid of two problems.
Katherine didn't seem to approve of the idea, however. Seeing her frown, Brie laughed. "How you do like to manage other people's lives, Katie! Very well, I will dress and be down in a moment. Do you still want me for a fitting?"
Katherine shook her head in exasperation. "Brie Carringdon, I will never understand you as long as I live. But yes, I need you. Two of your evening gowns are almost finished and I want to pin the bodice of the amber walking dress. I will expect you in an hour."
Brie smiled in agreement, yet as soon as she was alone again, her smile disappeared. Katherine's comments had been too accurate and pointed for comfort.
It was true, Brie reflected as she began to undress, that she had paid little attention to her cousin. Caroline had been nothing but an irritating nuisance since her arrival. In all fairness, though, the girl wasn't totally at fault. For over a fortnight, Brie herself had been overstrung and restless, and more than once she had snapped at her cousin for some imagined fault. The denial she had given Katherine had been just short of an outright lie, however. Brie knew well the cause of her own ill temper. The problem was she couldn't forget a certain dark-haired lord or what had happened between them. He plagued her thoughts constantly and caused her to start at shadows.
Brie's spirits plummeted as she recalled her last confrontation with Stanton. Even being attacked by her fiancé hadn't frightened her as thoroughly as that look on Dominic's face. Brie shivered, remembering the ruthlessness she had seen in those unforgiving gray eyes. She almost hoped she would never see him again.
She had stayed close to home since that day, just in case he decided to return, and the self-imposed confinement had worn on her nerves. But even more disturbing was the bewildering discontentment she had been experiencing for the past two weeks. The feeling had started when Dominic first kissed her, but the burning restlessness had soon spread, leaving her soul smoldering in its wake.
Wondering if her encounters with Dominic Serrault had left any mark, Brie found herself glancing in the cheval glass. There was no outward sign that she could tell. Her face, with its high cheekbones and forehead, was perfectly composed.
Critically, she studied her other features. Men called her beautiful, but she could see nothing remarkable about the slim nose, the coral mouth, or the pointed chin. The eyes were an unusual shade, though. They looked large and luminous in her face, framed as they were by long, thick lashes. Her complexion was smooth, a pale cream tinged with ripe apricot, but she knew her skin would be unfashionably tanned in summer. Her dark hair was her most noticeable feature. Neither strictly brown nor red, it flowed down her back in thick waves, curling at the ends and glowing with a life all its own. More than one man had expressed a wish to touch the silky locks. Dominic's long, lean fingers had played in her hair, twisting and stroking. . . .
Brie flushed, realizing that her mind had again wandered to that evening he had tried to seduce her. He hadn't been the first man to attempt it, but no one besides he had ever made her the victim of such turbulent emotions. His searing lips and invading tongue had made her experience sensations she had never felt before. His passion had almost overwhelmed her for that brief instant of touching and tasting and feeling . . . but at the last moment she had drawn back, frightened of her own abandon and of him.
Almost wistfully, Brie wondered if she would ever meet anyone who could stir her blood the way Dominic had. Someone who could make her feel desire without making her lose herself so completely.
Stripping off the rest of her clothes, Brie stood before the mirror and curiously studied her naked reflection. Her height was about average for a woman, but there was none of the stylish plumpness in her face or figure that had been the fashion for years. Her breasts were high and pointed, but the narrow waist and gently flaring hips made her slender frame look almost boyish. Her slim, tapering legs made her seem tall when she wasn't.
Her figure wasn't voluptuous enough to appeal to most men, Brie thought with a sigh. But what did it matter, anyway? She did not expect to marry. She had passed her twenty-third birthday and had not as yet found any man with whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life.
Giving herself a mental shake, Brie reached for her chemise. She had been a fool for responding to Stanton's advances—and she was still one for not being able to dismiss that arrogant, insolent man from her mind. In that respect, she was no better than her cousin, letting a man she hardly knew affect her so.
When she was dressed, Brie sat down at her dressing table and pinned up her hair, leaving a few loose curls framing her face. Katherine was right, she decided. She needed a new focus. And her cousin Caroline needed a friend. Perhaps taking the younger girl under her wing would help dissipate her own restlessness. If so, they would both benefit.
Determined to find her former sense of equanimity, Brie added the finishing touches to her appearance and then made her way downstairs to the dining room. She found her cousin staring gloomily at her plate.
Caroline Langley was a pretty girl with brown curls and eyes, and a round, rosy face. Normally her disposition was lively and animated, but her expression today was as glum as it had been for the past two weeks. Brie wanted to shake her.
"Good morning," she made herself say instead.
Caroline looked suspicious of her show of warmth. "It is afternoon, not morning."
"So it is. I must have let the time get away from me." She served herself from the sideboard, then took a seat at the table. "Did you find something to occupy your time while I was riding?"
Caroline relaxed somewhat. "Actually I did. I've been exploring the attics. I came across this." She pulled an object from her pocket, dangling it between two fingers.
"Mama's pendant," Brie said, recognizing the chain with its gold medallion. "I thought it had been lost. Wherever did you find it?"
"In one of the trunks. Katherine remembered seeing a fichu of blond lace among Aunt Suzanne's clothes and asked me to look for it. I found this caught in the lace. It has an inscription on the back, but my French isn't very good. Can you read it?"
She passed the necklace to Brie who studied it carefully. The gold disk was encircled by delicate filigree and one side was engraved with tiny letters. "I had forgotten," Brie remarked. "I used to be fascinated by this as a child, but Mama would never let me wear it. Not even when I had been a very good little girl."
"Which, to hear Katherine talk, wasn't often," Caroline interjected.
Brie ignored her teasing and translated. '"Eschewing weakness, abandon to dust this heinous flesh.'"
"How morbid. Why would anyone want such a thing?"
"I believe it was a gift from her mother."
"And?"
Brie shrugged. "And nothing. I don't know anything more about it. Mama's parents died before I was born. She rarely spoke of them, though she did tell me once that I resemble her mother."
"Perhaps there was a deep, dark secret in Aunt Suzanne's past," Caroline intoned with relish. "Here, let me have the necklace and I'll put it away in your jewel case."
"Your imagination is becoming excessive, Caroline," Brie said as she handed the pendant back. "I expect you've been reading too many gothics."
"I have not! Mama won't let me read gothics. I have to sneak them into the house. And you needn't laugh, Brie. You don't know what it's like, living with Mama. I'm eighteen and she still treats me like a child. And now she has sent me away from
all my friends. Banished to the country!"
With effort, Brie kept her expression sober. "Your mother was only concerned for your reputation, Caroline. Eloping with a half-pay officer is hardly the thing, you know. And besides, I understand perfectly what it is like to live with your mother. And how it feels to incur her wrath. Aunt Arabella sent me home in disgrace my first season, remember?"
When Caroline merely pouted, Brie regarded her with exasperation. "For Heaven's sake, will you quit feeling sorry for yourself? You only have to stay here for a few weeks. Soon you'll be back in London and everyone will have forgotten all about the scandal. I'll take you home myself. We'll go to the theater, if you like, and I hear there is a new opera—"
"But what do I do in the meantime? It is so boring here."
"Perhaps we could do some shopping in the village. The milliner in Oakham is quite talented. And Julian has invited us to join him for tea at the inn this afternoon."
Caroline brightened perceptively, but then her face fell again. "I don't think Julian likes me. He was beastly to me the whole time we were stuck in that ghastly inn. You would have thought I caused all that snow. It wasn't my fault his coach lost a wheel or that my maid contracted a cough and had to be treated as an invalid."
"Of course not," Brie soothed. "I'm sure Julian doesn't blame you for that unfortunate storm. Indeed, it rather surprises me that he took his ill humor out on you. Julian is always the perfect gentleman."
"Well, he was forever reading me a scold." Caroline paused in her denunciation in order to glance speculatively at Brie. "He is handsome, isn't he?"
"Julian?" she asked, wary of the question. "Yes, I suppose he is."
"Mama thinks you should have married him."
"Your mother and I disagree quite often, Caroline. Julian and I are good friends, but we argue like siblings. I think even he is beginning to realize how lucky he is not to be saddled with me for a wife. I would drive him to distraction in the space of a month."
"Surely not. You aren't that bad, Brie."
"Why, thank you," she said wryly. "Well, would you like to comer
"Yes. But must we ride? I'm not very fond of horses, you know. Couldn't we take the gig?"
Brie repressed her smile. "Of course, if you wish. But that may interfere with Katherine's plans. She usually uses the gig in the afternoons to visit our tenants. And you will disappoint John Simms. He has been saving Fanny especially for you."
Caroline sighed in resignation. "All right, I'll try. But I don't promise to like it. Every horse I try to ride either bites me or tries to throw me."
"I don't think you'll have any trouble with Fanny. Besides, even good riders fall now and then. I did myself when I was schooling one of Julian's horses the other day."
"Oh, were you hurt?" Caroline said in dismay.
Brie's eyes kindled as she remembered that incident in the meadow. "Only bruised and shaken a bit," she replied. Then she banished the unpleasant memory and smiled at her cousin. "Perhaps you will even want to hunt next week. Squire Umstead is allowing novices to join us on Monday and John has volunteered to ride with you so you wouldn't have to keep up with the others."
"I suppose I could," Caroline said doubtfully. "Will Julian be there?"
Brie laughed. "Julian miss a chance to hunt? He would far rather break a leg."
They discussed the upcoming hunt for the remainder of the meal, then Brie rose from the table. "I promised Katherine I would try on the new dresses she has been making for my stay in London," she said. "If you like, you may watch her stick me with pins."
Caroline nodded eagerly. "Oh yes, please. I always love to see your gowns, they are so beautiful. Does Katherine make them all?"
"Nearly all. She doesn't trust me to stay in fashion. She says that were I left to my own devices, I would wear breeches all the time. Actually, though, Katherine enjoys sewing now that she doesn't have to earn her living at it. She was a seamstress before she became a companion."
"How romantic!"
"Good heavens, whatever makes you think that straining one's eyes in poor light for fourteen hours a day with raw, bleeding fingers could possibly be romantic?"
"I never thought of that."
"No, I don't suppose you did," Brie murmured as a smile touched her lips. Her cousin was proving to be more diverting than she had expected.
After the fitting, Brie and Caroline changed into riding habits and warm cloaks, then made their way to the stables. John spent some time instructing Caroline on how to handle the small gray mare he had chosen for her, but shortly the two cousins were cantering along the lane to the village, a groom trailing unobtrusively behind.
Brie critically observed her cousin at first, but she soon relaxed. Caroline was in no danger of falling off, and while she didn't seem particularly delighted to be riding, at least she was no longer complaining.
Brie's own mount, another gray, was more spirited and required more attention, particularly once they reached the village of Oakham. They made their way slowly along the cobbled streets, avoiding the square where crowds of people, attracted by market day, shopped and mingled and exchanged gossip.
They stopped first to buy some lace of a particular shade for Katherine, before going on to the milliner's. Caroline exclaimed joyfully over the profusion of bonnets on display in the shop and spent her money freely, and by the time they left the shop, she was all smiles. She was chattering to Brie about her new bonnets, not minding where she was going, when she literally ran into the gangling young dandy who happened to be passing.
"I say!" he protested, trying to untangle himself.
Brie winced when she recognized the high-pitched voice, for it belonged to Rupert Umstead. As usual, Rupert was dressed in an outlandish fashion. His cravat and shirt-points were so high that he had difficulty turning his head, and the bright colors he wore made him resemble a strutting peacock. Brie had considered pawning Rupert off on cousin, but seeing him now, she was no longer certain Caroline deserved such an ill turn.
Rupert was obviously delighted to see Brie, however, for he exclaimed over seeing her, acting as if her presence in town was a unique occurrence. Brie ground her teeth at his inanities, but when he turned and made Caroline an abject apology, she had no choice except to present her cousin.
Rupert made Caroline a sweeping bow. "I am honored to meet such a beautiful creature," he said solemnly. "I am at your feet, my dear lady—"
"There is no need for that, Rupert," Brie responded. "You can grovel at her feet some other day. For now, I'm afraid you must excuse us. We have another engagement." She firmly refused Rupert's offer to escort them and escaped with her cousin in tow.
Caroline said nothing until they had walked some distance down the street. "What was that all about?" she asked.
Brie smiled, her eyes sparkling. "I've repented."
"What?"
"Never mind. You don't want to know Mr. Umstead, believe me. He would have spoiled our tea and probably invited himself to dinner as well. The man is an utter fool. Come, Julian will be expecting us."
Caroline was unconvinced, for she had enjoyed being called a beautiful creature, but she decided not to argue.
The Viscount Denviile had indeed already arrived, they discovered when they entered The Blue Fox Inn. Brie and Caroline were led upstairs to a private parlor where he was waiting for them.
A handsome man, Julian was a few years older and a good deal taller than Brie. He had blue eyes, blond hair, and a ready smile, and his friendly open charm made him extremely likable. Dressed as he was in a dark brown coat and buff leather breeches, he looked every inch the sporting gentleman.
He rose when Brie and Caroline entered. "You are both looking beautiful today," he said pleasantly as he bowed over Brie's hand.
Caroline blushed at the compliment, but Brie laughed. "It sounds far more pleasing coming from you, Julian. Rupert Umstead just said the same thing, only he positively drooled."
Julian clasped his hand to his
breast in mock horror. "Brie, you have wounded me mortally. How dare you compare me to that oaf?"
When they were all seated at the table, enjoying the delicate finger sandwiches and dainty iced cakes the inn had provided, Julian asked Caroline how she was enjoying her stay. He listened politely when she described the shopping she had done, but his eyebrows rose when he learned she had ridden into town. "You rode? I thought you didn't care for horses."
"Oh, I didn't," Caroline stammered, "but I do." She blushed at Julian's grin, but then her expression became quite serious. "No one has ever taught me before, like Mr. Simms and Brie did. What to do and say, I mean. And I rode the nicest little mare. Fanny was wonderful."
Julian laughed. "Take care, Caroline. If your cousin has you talking to horses, you'll soon be eating oats. Speaking of horses," he said, turning to Brie, "I've been meaning to ask about your progress with Jester. What do you think? Is there hope for the beast?"
It was Brie's turn to color. "Some," she replied, trying to sound composed. "He still has a tendency to shy at unfamiliar sights and sounds, even though we've kept him around activity as much as possible. But I'm not willing to give up on him yet. Will you let me hunt him next week?"
"If you think it best, of course. By the way, I have a friend who is looking for some broodmares to expand his stable. Do you suppose John might be interested in parting with one or two of your Arabians?"
"He might," Brie said cautiously. "It would depend on the buyer."
"I can vouch for Stanton. He knows about horses and wouldn't mistreat them. I expect you will be green with envy when you see his stallion. A huge animal, black as coal. Spanish, I think."
Brie hardly heard his praise of the stallion. At the mention of Dominic, she paled visibly.
"What is it, Brie?" Julian asked when she threw a darting glance over her shoulder.
"Nothing," she prevaricated. "Tell me, is your friend here now?"
"No, but I expect him any day now. He was at the Lodge a few weeks ago during that fierce storm we had, but he was called away before I arrived. So then, do I have your permission to speak with John about the mares?"
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