Scandal at Dawn (A Regency Rhapsody Novella) (4 page)

“Emily was escorted by respectable young men who were approved by us. Lord Norbury is neither respectable nor approved!”

“He behaved with perfect courtesy.”

“I am relieved to hear it. But believe me, Olivia,” Uncle Dillon went on, “I know more about his past than you ever could. His reputation is of the worst kind. He has no respect for anything and regards women as…” Her mother coughed loudly. “…mere diversions,” he concluded lamely. “You could not know this, and I realize he of course would keep you ignorant of his sins.”

“I only thought it would be a change from my daily life,” Olivia said quietly. “I do not usually have the opportunity to do such a simple thing as what he offered.”

Her mother sighed, now saddened. “I know, dear. Your lapse in judgment is understandable. I’m sure he was persuasive. You are forgiven this time. But I forbid you to speak to the Baron again, nor is he to be received at this house. Should he encounter you in public, you must not acknowledge him.”

“I should cut him, then? Me, cut a baron?”

“A proper young lady need not acknowledge a rake, no matter his title.”

“He has done nothing to me to warrant such cruelty.” Olivia did not know how else to phrase it.

Her mother snapped, “That is my final word, Olivia! You do not know your own mind. This seducer has already poisoned you against your family, I see.”

“That is not true!”

“Emily, take Olivia upstairs. Neither of you are to leave the house again today or tomorrow.”

“Yes, Aunt.” Emily’s voice was subdued, and Olivia felt she had just fought a battle, and lost.

Upstairs, Emily embraced her cousin. “I’m so sorry. When we came home and you weren’t here, Alice spilled the whole thing—about yesterday too. Papa nearly had a fit.”

“Lord Norbury never…poisoned me.”

“I know. I tried to explain, but, well, he
is
a rake.”

Olivia sighed. “And now I’ll not be able to talk to him again.”

“I’m not so sure of that,” Emily murmured, squeezing her cousin’s hand. “I don’t think Norbury is the type who is easily discouraged.”

* * * *

Emily proved to be correct in her assessment. Though Adrian did not call at the house again—he was experienced enough that he knew how her guardians would react to her only outing with him—he showed no sign of quitting the field. Gifts began to arrive at the house every morning, and as they were unsigned, Mrs Blake had no satisfactory way to return them to the suspected sender. The first day it was freshly-cut roses, heavily scented and still damp with dew. Olivia smelled them and smiled. On touching one stem, she found the thorns had all been carefully removed. Mrs Blake, however, regarded them with horror.

“Throw those out on the rubbish heap, Alice!” she ordered the housemaid.

“Aunt, is that really necessary?” Emily asked mildly, after seeing Olivia’s face fall. “They’ll only last a few days, and it would be a pity to waste them.”

“They could be from anybody,” Olivia added hopefully.

Her mother sniffed, declaring, “I have my suspicions.” But she reluctantly allowed the roses to remain.

On the next day, a boy delivered a cardboard box addressed to Olivia, again with no name attached. Alice asked who had ordered them, but the boy just shrugged. “They tell me where to drop the box off. That’s all I know.”

The box proved to hold candied ginger, something Olivia had always enjoyed. Her mother had a weakness for it as well, and thus permitted her daughter to keep it, after she herself sampled a portion of the fiery, exotic treat.

“Let’s go to Vauxhall this evening,” Emily said suddenly, looking up from a letter she had been reading. “We’ve been cooped up here for days. Livvie is looking a little pale, isn’t she, Aunt?”

“I feel fine…” Olivia began.

“No, I think you need fresh air,” her cousin insisted.

“We will all go,” her mother said, perhaps chagrined she had been confining the girls inside.

* * * *

Vauxhall Gardens was a popular destination for the
ton
, especially in spring, when the flowers bloomed everywhere and the newly leafed trees provided a glorious canopy overhead. The gardens were lovely by day, but evening made them enchanting, with glowing lanterns to illuminate the park. It also helped that not all the paths were so well-lit. Many a couple had found a spot in Vauxhall where a few kisses, or more, could be shared out of the view of others.

For her part, Olivia was glad just to get out of the house. This night, she wore a simply cut dress of dark green silk, pale yellow gloves, and a lace shawl. Emily always selected the colors she wore, but Olivia chose the fabrics themselves, so she could revel in the textures and weights of them all. This particular gown fit closely around the bust, and then fell loosely below the empire waist. It felt pretty, and her cousin assured her it also looked so.

Mr St George ordered a large coach to accommodate the four of them. They alighted at the entrance to Vauxhall, hearing the rustle and murmur of many people. On such a warm spring night, it was no surprise the gardens were crowded.

The whole family took a turn around the main garden. Then Mrs Blake declared she wanted refreshments, heading toward a busy spot where tables had been set out on a wide lawn to serve those enjoying the gardens. Trees hung with lanterns surrounded the area. A quartet played charming music in one corner, and couples danced not far away. They all sat for a time, but Olivia, hearing the plaintive violin and the dozens of conversations around her, grew restless.

“I should like to walk a bit more, Mama.”

Emily moved. “I do too. It’s such a beautiful night. Do you mind, Father? You can stay here and rest. We won’t be long.”

“Be careful, dears,” Olivia’s mother warned, glancing about as if there were thieves in the shrubbery.

The girls quickly took their leave, arms entwined.

“I thought I’d go mad if I kept having to sit there,” Emily confessed.

“Yes, though I’m just happy to be outside,” Olivia said. They proceeded down a side path, fragrant with the subtle scent of hyacinths. The sounds of the crowd faded behind them. “This is lovely,” Olivia sighed, relishing the peace of the night. She stifled the slight feeling of loneliness that had been dogging her the past few days. Though she should not have become used to Adrian’s presence after only one day, she missed him.

“Thank goodness you’re smiling again, dear. You were beginning to look like a ghost…” Emily broke off.

“What is it?” Olivia asked, just as she sensed a presence materialize in front of them.

A warm voice answered. “Good evening, ladies.”

“Lord Norbury,” Emily replied first, her tone polite but still skeptical. “What a coincidence seeing you here.”

“Isn’t it?” he replied. “Miss Blake, you look even more beautiful than you did the last time I saw you. Evening becomes you.”

Olivia found herself blushing furiously at the slight innuendo. “Thank you, sir.”

“I wonder if I could persuade your dragon to wander off for a moment,” Adrian said. Olivia felt him take her hands in his own. “Not out of sight, of course.”

“Olivia, dear,” Emily said after a second’s hesitation. “There’s a tree up the path I’m just
dying
to get a closer look at. You’ll wait right here, won’t you?”

“I won’t take a step,” she promised.

“Scream if he even thinks of doing something improper,” Emily warned flatly. Then they were alone.

Olivia felt Adrian step closer, his warmth radiated toward her. “Did my gifts find favor with you, Miss Blake?”

“Oh, those were from you?” she asked, all innocence. “They were delightful.”

“I am glad. I worried you might think they came from another suitor, but I suspected adding my name to them would be folly.”

“Your name is not popular with certain parties at this moment,” she admitted. “I have been told to avoid you.”

“That is unfortunate. Now that I see you again, I have to tell you I don’t think I can avoid
you
, Miss Blake.”

“Really?” she asked. “I should not have thought I’d be so alluring to a man of your…experience.”

He laughed, a bit sadly. “My past is catching up with me. Please, may I call you Olivia?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Olivia, you are beautiful, you know that?”

“I’ve been told so,” she said modestly.

“Well, I only associate with beautiful women, so you may consider that proof. However, beauty can conceal some ugly souls.” He bent to speak more privately. “Olivia, have you ever asked me about my lineage? My title? How many pounds a year I have?”

She was rather offended at the idea. “You know I have not. Why should any of that matter?”

“You asked me instead about what angered me about Society. You asked about my life. What I thought. That makes you unique among all the women I’ve known.”

“I…” Olivia didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry that’s the case, my Lord.”

“Adrian, when we’re alone.”

“Adrian,” she repeated, shyly.

“You
are
alluring, Olivia. I know you can’t trust me yet. I would not ask you to. But do you believe me when I say I need to see you again? That I want to know you?”

“I do,” she said, shivering at the promise in his voice.

“Your dragon is returning,” he noted, before catching her chin in his hand, tilting her face up. “Olivia, will you let me get to know you?”

“I would like to,” she said. “But I am not entirely free to make that choice.”

“I’ll find a way,” he promised. “One kiss, before your dragon reaches us.” He folded her into a loose embrace. She felt his mouth on her own, and then a jolt through her body when he grazed her lower lip with his tongue. All too quickly, he released her.

Olivia was still recovering her breath when Emily returned. Adrian drew away, and Emily’s hand gripped Olivia’s again.

“Good night, ladies,” he said. “You’ve reminded me how much I like these gardens.”

Emily led her back to the table where their family sat, vowing she’d get the story out of Olivia when they retired. The girls had only been gone for a quarter hour, though Olivia felt as if a year had passed. She felt much older, and more bewildered at the world.

* * * *

The next morning, Olivia rose early and appeared in the front hallway, anticipating something delightful. The heady scent of flowers rose to meet her as she stepped through the door.

“Lilies,” she said, inhaling. “How beautiful.” The hothouse flowers permeated the foyer, their scent rich and somehow suggestive. The lilies in the garden never smelled quite like this.

“They were sent this morning,” her mother tutted. “With no note, again.”

A note should not be necessary, Olivia thought. The flowers spoke for themselves. She smiled, inhaling again. “Have them taken up to my room, please.”

“Olivia! Her mother gasped. “You can’t have….”

“Flowers in my room?” Olivia asked. “Will the flowers seduce me, Mama?”

“I don’t think you understand…”

“I don’t. Flowers are meant to be enjoyed. I want the lilies in my room.” Olivia sensed her mother relenting, and reveled in this one small victory.

* * * *

“Calwell, are you plotting something really nefarious?”

At that question, Adrian looked up from his seat at the club to see his good friend, the Honorable Robert Griffin, looming over him. Robert was as fair as Adrian was dark, with blue eyes and bright hair that hinted at a Norse ancestry.

“What gives you that idea?”

“There’s been talk of you,
you
of all people, pursuing some sweet little deaf maiden. I thought it sounded like madness. Didn’t you just duel against the Earl of Perceshire over a few letters from his wife to you? That’s more the thing I expect.”

Adrian waved a hand to indicate his disdain. “The affair with Victoria ended two years ago. He just happened to find those letters recently. Regrettable, but it’s over with now. He was a terrible shot, but thankfully, he agreed one shot was sufficient.”

“So you aimed wide? Good,” Robert said, sitting down across from his friend. “Now what about this other thing?”

“Miss Blake is blind, not deaf.”

“You really are seducing a virgin?”

Adrian glared at him. “Does that sound like something I would do?”

“Not to me, but rumors are flying.”

“I met her by chance about a week ago, and quite liked her. So I called upon her at home a few times, and saw her last night. At Vauxhall—don’t look at me like that, Griffin. She’s actually delightful, apart from her dragon.”

Robert raised an inquiring eyebrow. “
Dragon?
”

“Her companion has a sharp tongue, which I suspect she is only too happy to use to terrify would-be suitors.”

“Her charge’s suitors?”

“And her own. They are actually very close in age, though Miss St George is far more worldly.”

“Sounds interesting. So you are making friends with these two little debutantes? That’s dangerous, you know.”

“I’m thinking of making one into more than a friend.”

“Calwell!” Robert looked exasperated. “You can’t ruin a girl like that for a little amusement. I’m no saint, I know, but there are limits. Taking advantage of a blind woman?” He narrowed his eyes. “Tell me this isn’t some bizarre initiation for a secret society,” he said, only partly joking.

Adrian snorted. “Please. As if anyone needs the Hellfire Club to be reborn. As for Miss Blake, I was thinking of a more permanent arrangement.”

“You’re going to set her up as a mistress? You’re daft.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

It took Robert a good minute to fully understand his implication, and Adrian enjoyed watching his friend’s face grow into a look of wonder.

“Marriage?”

“I should probably settle down eventually. That’s what my mother is so fond of telling me. And the life of a rake has bored me for years. I simply hadn’t seen any possibilities I wanted to pursue. Olivia, now,” he paused, smiling. “Olivia would do very well.”

Robert was shaking his head. “And you think her family will accept your suit? Good luck to you, friend, but I still think you’re mad.”

After conferring with Adrian on some other matters of gossip, Robert took his leave, still not convinced his friend was in his right mind. Adrian remained where he was after Robert left. He sat, lost in thought, considering his options. Then another man approached him.