The Fallen Woman (A Regency Romance) (24 page)

“He’s usually an impeccable gentleman, I assure you.”

“Well, he
does
look like one,” Bess said, waving her fork in Andrew’s direction. “He’s dressed to the nines. Is there some special occasion I’m not aware of?”

“If there is, I’m not aware of it either,” Tristan answered.

Grumbling, Andrew took a break from his binge so he could answer the witch’s question. At least, to him she was a witch. He didn’t understand why Tristan went on and on about how sweet his aunt was—she was always nasty to Andrew. “I’m trying to eat quickly because I have somewhere I need to be!” he confessed. “I don’t usually make a habit of eating like a pig, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Bess dropped her fork on her plate and raised an eyebrow. “You have somewhere you need to be? At this hour?”

“Why is that such a surprise?”

Bess raised her shoulder at Andrew, who was sitting on her left. It looked as if half of her body was cringing. “A tryst with some woman, no doubt.”

“Even if that’s the case, I’m not likely to confess it, am I? Besides, I hardly think my penchant for romantic exploits is an appropriate dinner conversation. There are ladies present!”

“Mr. Lamb, the only two ladies present are Lady Randall and myself. If she’s that easily offended, I
do
apologize. But I’m not the sort of woman to bat an eye at the mention of a tryst! And I’m not afraid to call out a man’s bad behavior when I see it!”

Andrew locked eyes with Tristan for a few seconds, which gave him the strength to hold his tongue. He didn’t want his clash with his friend’s aunt to escalate any further. “I’m not doing anything bad, ma’am. I never would!” He took the tiniest piece of roast between his teeth and nibbled on it.

It was apparent, by the look in Bess’ face, that she was only tolerating him for her nephew’s sake. “I’m sorry if I’m being hard on you, young man… it’s just that you remind me of every man who ever broke my heart. I’m sure you’re out there breaking hearts as well.”

Tristan started to nod, but he felt Andrew kick him under the table.

“Well, then…” Andrew cleared his throat and rose from the table. “I guess I should get going. I don’t want to be late, you know.”

“For your tryst,” Bess murmured.

“For my
meeting
,” he corrected her. He’d only met three women in the world who were impossible to win over, and they were all under the same roof. Andrew swore there had to be some conspiracy against him.

“No breaking hearts!” Bess called to him as he retreated from the room.

“No breaking hearts,” he agreed. “I promise!”

Too bad it was a promise he couldn’t keep.

* * *

Molly walked into the room with a sneer on her face, which was her usual expression when she was in Mary’s company. With one hand on her meaty hip, the unpleasant maid bellowed, “Ya got a package outside.”

Mary, who had been enjoying a rare moment of solitude, sat up in her bed. “What?”

“Do you need to clean your ears out, girl? Didn’t you hear what I said?” Molly grumbled. “You got a package.”

She slid off the bed and walked over to Molly, not letting the larger woman intimidate her. “Where is it? Outside this room?”

“Yeah. ‘Tis.” Molly grabbed the doorknob and threw open the door. Sure enough, there was a large box sitting on the floor. “Go on and get it. I can’t be trippin’ over that every time I want to come into me room, can I?”

Mary carried the box into the room and sat on the bed. She started to open it, but her eye was caught by a note on the top of the box. “Are… are you sure this is addressed to me?”

“Of course it is!” Molly said with a roll of her eyes. “Why wouldn’t it be yours? It’s got your name on it, dunnit?”

Mary pulled the note off the box and sighed. With a heavy heart, she stared at the carefully-drawn letters. “I can’t… I mean, I…”

“Ye can’t read?” Molly finished for her. “Goodness, girl… I’m right, ain’t I? You mean you can’t even read yer own name?”

Mary shook her head with shame.

Molly reached over and snatched the note from the other maid’s hand. Mary started to protest, but she decided not to. She had no other way of reading it. Maybe Molly actually wanted to help her—for a change.

Molly unfolded the note and grimaced. “Hm… hmm… eh…?”

“What does it say? Who is it from?”

“That gentleman. The other one. Mr. Lamb,” Molly said. “There’s a dress inside that box.”

“A dress? Well… what does the note say? Can you tell me exactly?”

“A summary’s good enough.” Molly tossed the letter and let it flitter to the floor. “He wants to take you somewhere.”

“Are you sure? Where is he taking me?”

“You ask too many questions. You’re disturbing me peace.” With a groan, Molly flopped down on the bed adjacent to Mary’s. The bed popped and squealed when she sat. “Just open the box and close yer mouth.”

Mary didn’t care for the other woman’s tone, but she thought her advice was sound. She opened the box and peered inside, half-expecting Molly to be mistaken about the contents of the box. There was, indeed, the most beautiful dress inside, softer than any fabric Mary had ever touched. The dress was the color of wine, and it was trimmed in crème-colored lace. She nearly gasped when she saw it. “This is… for me?”

“I thought I told you to be quiet!” Molly grumbled.

“He shouldn’t be giving me gifts like this. It’s… not proper,” Mary whispered to herself. Gentlemen weren’t supposed to give such lavish gifts to ladies—of course, she wasn’t a lady. Nevertheless, she knew she would have a hard time accepting such a thing. Raising her voice a bit, she asked, “You said he was taking me somewhere. When? Does he want me to wear this now?” As soon as she spoke, Mary cringed at her own words. She didn’t want to sound too eager or too hopeful where Mr. Lamb was concerned.

“The letter di’nt say whether to put on the dress or not,” Molly answered with a shrug, sounding considerably more tolerant of the fact that her peace was “disturbed”.

“But--”

“But I would assume ye should. He’s definitely takin’ you someplace tonight.”

“I didn’t agree to go anywhere with him, just so you know.”

“As if that’s any concern ‘o mine!” Molly rolled over. “If you have anything else to say to me, you’ll have to say it to me back. I know
you
haven’t been working since you been here, but
some
of us have to get up before dawn breaks.”

Mary frowned. She couldn’t remember the last time she had encountered such rudeness. She had no idea why Molly disliked her so much. Mary couldn’t bring herself to imagine it might have anything to do with jealousy—there was nothing to be jealous of! The attention Andrew paid her couldn’t possibly be a reason to envy her. Whatever Andrew was playing at, Mary knew it couldn’t be genuine. She had to keep reminding herself that over and over again, because she was starting to like Andrew too much for her own good. It was so much easier to distrust him than it was to like him, because at least there wouldn’t be any adverse side effects to mistrust.

Her conscious told her not to play Andrew’s game. It told her to return the dress and refuse to go anywhere with him. But her curiosity was too great. The idea that he might really like her—even a little bit—was enough to seduce her out of her bed. Mary removed her clothes and slipped into the dress, shaking her head the entire time. What was she thinking?

Standing in front of the looking glass, she started to twist her hair into a bun. Such a plain hairstyle did nothing to complement the fancy dress, but she didn’t know how to style her hair any other way. True, she styled Leona’s hair every day, and she was very good at it. But her
own
hair was an entirely different story.

As soon as she was finished with her hair, a knock on the door made Mary’s heart leap. Was it him? Was it Andrew? What if it was someone else? What if the dress really wasn’t meant for her? What if Molly was lying to her about who the box was meant for? When she heard the knock, a hundred different scenarios sprang into her mind, each one ending with the day becoming the most humiliating day of her life, even worse than the day she overheard Andrew saying she was “ghastly.”

She turned the doorknob with a trembling hand and took a deep breath. Indeed, it was Andrew on the other side of the door.

“Good, you’re wearing the dress,” he said. Wave after wave of relief washed over her as soon as she heard him say those words. “You look lovely. No… you look
beautiful
. That dress looks beautiful on you.”

Mary heard a groan behind her. It was Molly, of course… groaning into her pillow.

Mary pinched the cuff of her dress. “Did you really mean to give this to me?”

“Of course!”

“I don’t know if you should give me something like this, Andrew. This dress is ten times prettier than anything I’ve ever owned!”

Andrew smiled, secretly pleased that she called him
Andrew
instead of “Mr. Lamb.” He was starting to think she might never warm up to him enough to discard the formalities. “I think it looks perfect on you, Mary. I want you to have it. I’d give you a million other gifts, if I could… each one more grand than the next. Actually…” With a grin, he slipped his hand into the pocket of his greatcoat and pulled out another box. “This is also for you.”

She stared at the box with wide eyes, as if she expected it to bite her. “What is it?”

“Another gift.” He held it out to her. “Why don’t you open it?”

Taking the box in hand, Mary joined Andrew in the hallway and closed the door behind her. She didn’t want Molly’s prying ears to hear any more of their conversation. When she opened the box, it was all she could do not to gasp. Inside the box there was a necklace literally dripping in diamonds.

“This can’t be for me!” she exclaimed. “I can’t accept it!”

“You’re really bad at accepting gifts, you know. Here.” He plucked the necklace from the box and made a twirling motion with his finger. “Turn around. I’ll help you put it on.”

“Andrew! I can’t!”

He ducked behind her and slipped the necklace around her neck. “Yes… you can.”

“Why do I have to be dressed up like this? Where exactly are you taking me?”

“To see an opera.”

“And why would you even assume
I’d be willing to go with you?!” she complained. “You shouldn’t make those kinds of assumptions!”

“I went through a lot of trouble to arrange all this, you know… to get the dress, the tickets, the necklace. I want to show you I’m serious about you, Mary. I want to show you how much you mean to me. If you turned me down after all this, you’d break my heart! I just want you to give me a chance.”

“Well, I...” she locked gazes with him for a few seconds, and her brain froze. It was almost impossible to feign indifference when he had such a handsome face and entreating eyes. “Ignoring the fact that it’s highly improper, I see no reason why I shouldn’t go with you.”

He held out an arm. “We better get going, then. We don’t want to be late.”

When she took his arm, he led her outside the manor, where a small carriage was waiting for them. He took her hand and helped her into her seat.

“You make me feel like a lady,” she said.

“You
are
a lady.”

“You know what I mean.” Mary sighed. “In the strictest sense of the word, I’m not a lady any more than a farmer is a gentleman. I’m not one of your… fancy society people.”

When the carriage started to move, Andrew leaned back and clasped his hands behind his head. “Who cares about that?”

“Oh, it’s not that I care. I just think it’s nice to get a glimpse of what life would be like if I’d been born into a different family,” Mary said. “You know… it’s not that I don’t enjoy your company, Mr. Lamb. I like the attention.”

A smirk twitched on Andrew’s mouth. “Oh?”

“It’s not that I’m thinking of you as a suitor or anything like that… don’t get me wrong. I’m not naïve enough to think something like that could happen between us. I do enjoy your companionship, though.”

“So, am I naïve to think something like that
could
happen between us?” he asked. “Surely you must know that’s been my wish all along?”

Mary didn’t know how to respond to that, because it was getting harder and harder to be adverse to the idea of letting him have his way with her. She tightened her lips and turned her attention to the carriage window, choosing to remain silent for the rest of their journey. Fortunately, it wasn’t a long journey, or her silence might have turned awkward. A few minutes later, they stopped in front of the theatre. Andrew hopped down from the carriage, looking like a gothic hero in his sleek black coat. He offered Mary a hand and helped her to the ground.

“I’ve never seen an opera before,” she quietly admitted as they walked through the opulent entryway. “I’ve never even been to a theatre before.”

“Then I’m all the more pleased to be sharing this experience with you,” Andrew said, taking her arm and tucking it under his. “I’m sure the theatre in York isn’t quite up to snuff with the theatre experience in London, but I’m hoping you’ll enjoy it nonetheless.”