Authors: Denise Patrick
Then he was gone, leaving Gregory staring after him and wishing him to Hades.
Chapter Sixteen
The local magistrate and doctor both agreed that Mrs. Lemmons died from consumption and there was no foul play in her death.
Joshua Smythe, detective, to Marcus, Earl St. Ayers
Marcus’s mouth went dry at his first sight of Corinna dressed for the evening. He had left the suite earlier to go down to the library to discuss the renovations being carried out at St. Ayers Place with Brand while Corinna finished dressing. Now, as he entered the drawing room, he could tell she was nervous because her hands were clasped tightly together before her, her gaze uncertain as it searched his. She need not have worried.
The cloth of gold gown over an underskirt of ruby red silk was a modified copy of the dress his grandmother had been wearing in the family portrait, and it set off her skin and hair as nothing else could have. Swept up into a knot at the crown, a few curls had been allowed to escape and settle against her bare shoulders. Around her neck she wore the ruby-and-topaz necklace, the matching bracelet on her wrist, and the coronet in her hair. Under the chandeliers, she would sparkle with brilliant fire. If she produced the same fire in her eyes, the
ton
would be utterly captivated.
Brand and Felicia stood before the fireplace basking in the warmth, but she was standing near the large windows. She looked at him expectantly. Crossing the room to her side, he took both hands in his and raised them to his lips, noting she seemed chilled. “Do you know how beautiful you are?” he asked in a low voice meant only for her ears.
“Truly?” she asked in wonder. “Do you really think so?”
“Yes, I truly think so,” he answered. “You will be the belle of the ball.” Reaching into his waistcoat pocket, he withdrew a ring and slipped it on her finger next to the plain gold band she wore. Obviously designed to match the jewelry she was already wearing, she stared down at the topaz-and-ruby ring before lifting inquiring eyes to his.
“There was a ring to go with this set?”
He smiled. “No. I had this one made just for you.”
Her smile lit up her face, the clouds in her eyes dissipating in the warmth. “Thank you. It’s beautiful.”
And so was he, she thought. In simple black and white evening attire, he, like his brother, was an undeniable presence. Tonight he was wearing a ruby stickpin in his cravat. For a moment she wondered what she had done to deserve such a wonderful husband. She did not doubt his love for her. He might not realize it yet, and he might never bring himself to say the words out loud, but she knew in her heart that he did.
He bent his head and brushed his lips against hers.
“You’re welcome,” he replied as Wharton opened the doors to the drawing room to announce Eliza and Trent.
With them arrived the McQuarries. Not far behind them came Lord and Lady Althorpe with his sisters and mother.
Felicia’s brother Jonathan, the Earl of Wynton, arrived with his wife, accompanied by the Marquis and Marchioness of Thanet. A few friends had been invited to round out the numbers so that a complement of thirty sat down to dinner.
Felicia informed Corinna that as theirs was the first event of the season, and a special one too, she did not expect anyone not to attend, unless they were not in town yet. Which meant she fully expected the rest of Corinna’s family would be in attendance at the ball. They had not been invited to dine.
The evening was a huge success. With both families insisting they be part of the St. Ayers’ introduction to society, attendees were greeted by an unusually long receiving line.
There had been an awkward moment when Viscount and Lady Dryden came through. Unaware of Corinna’s presence, the viscount had greeted Brand and Marcus heartily. Corinna wasn’t even sure he had recognized her, but she knew his wife had. Manners and breeding won the day, but Lady Dryden had looked back at her with narrow, accusing eyes once they cleared the line.
When the line slowed to a trickle, Felicia decreed it time for Marcus and Corinna to open the ball. The first set was to be a waltz, led off by Marcus and Corinna.
Corinna discovered that, like so many other things she enjoyed with Marcus, waltzing with him was pure delight. He danced divinely and she felt light as a feather as he whirled her down the room. By the end of the dance, she could feel the flush in her cheeks and knew her eyes were sparkling.
The only truly unpleasant moment during the evening occurred when Lady Dryden spoke to her. With the ball well underway and an accounted success, Corinna found herself momentarily alone. She had been conversing with Charity when Angus had appeared to claim his wife for the next set. Sending them off with a smile and assuring them she would be fine, she had stood for a short time alone, absently watching the dancers glide across the floor as she tapped her foot to the music.
“Well,” a sharp voice interrupted her woolgathering, and she turned to find Lady Dryden had approached. “Poor Gregory has been looking all over England for you.”
Corinna could not hide her shock.“I have no wish to question your veracity, ma’am,” she said evenly, “but I sincerely doubt Gregory or Ellen has given me a moment’s thought except to hope I would never reappear.”
Lady Dryden’s mouth opened then closed with a snap. “Why you ungrateful child!”
“Ungrateful?” She could think of nothing that she should be grateful for in connection either with the Drydens or her own family. Moreover, she thought, Lady Dryden ought to be grateful she hadn’t turned her back on her and walked away.
“You have made no effort to contact your family,” she continued archly, “to let them know you are safe.”
Corinna knew she should not laugh, but the humor in the situation suddenly hit her. Lady Dryden was trying her best to create a basis for a connection, and Corinna wondered how far she was prepared to go to do so. Would it extend to declaring an affinity for her Corinna knew had never existed?
“I’m afraid, Lady Dryden, you are laboring under a severe misapprehension.” Drawing a breath, she continued sweetly, “I sat down to dinner this evening with all the family I have. Any other distant connections are unimportant.”
Felicia suddenly appeared beside her. “Corinna, I believe Marcus was looking for you just a moment ago. Oh, hello, Lady Dryden. I hope you are enjoying your evening.”
Lady Dryden’s brittle smile did not falter. “I am, Your Grace, thank you.”
“I’m afraid, though, I must steal Lady St. Ayers away from you.” Felicia was all that was gracious and soon Lady Dryden was left behind in the crowd. Corinna let out a sigh of relief.
“I hope that encounter wasn’t too unpleasant,” Felicia commiserated as they strolled toward the opposite side of the room.
Corinna giggled, and Felicia looked at her inquiringly. “I don’t think I have ever been more tempted to laugh in someone’s face before,” she confided. “Mama would have surely despaired of me ever being a lady.”
“Let me guess,” Felicia mused, “she declared you were such a sweet child or niece, or something similar?”
Corinna shook her head. “I don’t think even she could have gone that far, but I did wonder how far she was likely to go in order to claim a connection.”
“Did she swear she knew all along that your mother was not an adventuress?”
“No, not that either,” Corinna grinned. “No, she insinuated Gregory had been scouring the length and breadth of England looking for me. She didn’t actually say he was sick with worry, but that was the impression she tried for.”
Felicia sputtered, but kept her laughter under control.
“Then she had the nerve to say I was an ungrateful child for not letting my family know where I was.”
“I hope you told her all the family that needed to know, did.”
“But of course,” Corinna replied as they came upon Marcus, Brand and Trent in the crowd.
The rest of the evening was anticlimactic after her encounter with Lady Dryden. Felicia told them later that Lord and Lady Houghton had arrived late, otherwise Corinna and Marcus would not have known they had been there at all. Felicia had not made any effort to find and introduce them.
“I’m sure,” Corinna told Marcus as they entered their suite, “Lady Dryden repeated everything I said to Gregory.”
“Let’s hope they take the hint, and do not attempt to presume on any connection,” Marcus remarked as he pulled her into his arms. “And now you are the
ton
’s newest star, Lady St. Ayers, will you at least allow your poor husband to bask in the glow?”
She slipped her arms up around his neck. “It is not necessary, for without you there would be no glow.”
“You did not find yourself even a little lost this evening?” he asked. “I could swear before dinner, you weren’t certain about finding your way.”
She smiled slowly. “I was only lost once,” she parried, “but Felicia found me and brought me back. Now, I’m exactly where I belong.”
“I wish I knew,” he said in a deep voice, “what I did to deserve you.” The statement warmed her as she remembered thinking nearly the same thing when they had met before dinner earlier in the evening.
Then his lips covered hers and all conversation ceased.
Miss Diana Houghton watched through narrowed eyes as the
ton’s
newest darling descended the stairs into the Cullerton’s ballroom. With her husband at her side, Lady St. Ayers seemed not to have a care in the world. She stopped briefly to speak to their hostess then continued on her way, melting into the crush. If her husband hadn’t been so tall, no one would have been able to mark her progress across the room. But all had observed in the last fortnight, that the earl rarely left his wife’s side.
“Careful,” a voice said beside her, “or someone might just think you were jealous.”
Turning, she found her brother, Phillip, beside her.
“Of what?” she asked waspishly.
He grinned, his dark eyes challenging hers.
“Of our dear baby sister, of course,” he taunted. “Oh, I’ve forgotten, you don’t have a baby sister, and as for the rest of us, well we are finally getting our comeuppance as she has begun to see things as we have all along, and is ignoring our existence.” He laughed shortly. “Poor Uncle Dryden is beside himself. All these connections and he cannot claim any of them.”
“If you are not going to be civil, go away,” Diana snapped, turning away from him.
“I will, eventually,” he assured her, moving to stand beside her, “but right now, I’m enjoying the spectacle.”
“And our family’s discomfort, no doubt.”
“That most of all,” he agreed. “We should have learned from all the stories Nurse used to tell us.” She said nothing. “Don’t you remember? The poor, unwanted, mistreated relation always comes out on top.”
They stood watching the dancers whirl by to the strains of a waltz. Corinna went by in her husband’s arms, laughing up at him, her eyes reflecting the hundreds of candles overhead. She exuded happiness and Diana, once again, felt the bitter taste of jealousy, as a seething hatred burned inside.
“Ah, but you haven’t lost nearly as much as Gregory,” Phillip continued in a teasing voice. “Ellen was nothing short of furious when Gregory had to turn over all that lovely jewelry. I think our dear brother may have to go into debt to appease her.”
“You sound as if you are delighted at the family’s misfortune,” she said. “Yet, you were slighted as well as the rest of us,” she goaded. “And to think that your dear papa not only purchased an estate for his stepson, then poured nearly a fortune into it in renovations, leaving it almost in better shape than Houghton Hall.”
“I prefer not to think of it as misfortune,” he replied. “It’s more like being repaid in kind.”
Her eyes narrowed at his tone. “What do you mean?”
His voice changed, trading the teasing for seriousness. “From the first day Father brought Christine and Douglas home, we did everything possible to make their lives miserable. You were only three years old, so you don’t remember. Christine was obviously delighted with us, but you in particular. She used to hold you, and sing to you, and play with you. Gregory wouldn’t let her near him. He didn’t want her to replace Mother. He was too stubborn to see that she never tried.” He paused for a moment, watching the dancers move around the floor. “I remember him telling us that she wasn’t our mother and we didn’t have to listen to her.”
“He was right,” she defended her oldest brother. “She wasn’t our mother. Father should have never married her. We would have been fine without her.”
“Possibly,” Phillip allowed. “But perhaps he was lonely.”
Diana made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort. “With five children?”
He shrugged. “A child cannot warm a man’s bed.”
“If that’s all he wanted, he should have just made her his mistress,” she snapped.
“There was more between them than just that,” he said. “Obviously something he never had with our mother.”
Diana did not answer, preferring not to think of the blow they’d all been dealt.
Phillip watched her for a few moments, wondering what she was thinking. He knew that she felt she had been treated worst of all. He also knew it wasn’t true. It was unfortunate Christine hadn’t been allowed to care for her. She might have been a very different person. But their sister, Anna, had taken Gregory’s words to heart and, at eleven, set herself up as Diana’s protector. That Diana hadn’t needed protection from their stepmother was obvious, but Anna had done her best to keep Diana away from Christine and, in the process, had turned Diana into an angry and resentful little girl. By the time Anna had been sent off to school at fourteen, it had been too late to save Diana.