The Mysterious Governess (Daughters of Sin 3)

Araminta needed something hopeful to concentrate upon, otherwise she would go quite insane. The idea that she, Araminta Partington, could possibly have found herself in the unfortunate position she had was unthinkable. More than she could bear, in fact, and right at this moment, she’d never hated Hetty so much.

It was her sister’s fault that Araminta was...

She couldn’t even put it into words. No debutante could afford to be in such an intolerable situation, which meant Araminta simply had to swap her status as debutante for respectably married woman. And all within a couple of short weeks. Yes, that was apparently the time frame she was looking at, according to Jane, whom she’d taken into her confidence only because Jane knew everything there was to know about such things, and she could offer advice. Araminta had not the first idea about matters like this.

All she knew was that she had to put a wedding band on her left hand within a timely four weeks of the unfortunate incident that had precipitated this disaster.

That left her with a frighteningly short window of opportunity but Araminta felt confident of ultimate success. She had to. If she couldn’t quite get the wedding band slipped onto her finger, then she had to orchestrate a situation in which what had happened with Sir Aubrey, also happened with the man who would soon be her husband.

That, of course, would be Lord Ludbridge.

The arrival of a dress that had been made for the treacherous Hetty—who no longer needed it, because she’d eloped—had, at first, enraged her. It was only as she’d paced her bedchamber, running her hands up and down her stomach and willing whatever was in there to miraculously disappear, that inspiration had struck. The painful reminder of past disappointments could in fact work to her advantage. All that was needed were a few artful tugs of the strings in the background.

To this end, while mingling with the throng at Lady Grenville’s soiree, meekly and quietly at her chaperone, Mrs. Monks’ side, she gained the attention of one of the waiters and handed him the folded note she had prepared back at home.

“Deliver this to that young lady in green that you see in the far corner by the window,” she told him, pointing to a distant figure half obscured by the throng. The cut of her evening dress with its red sash was entirely distinctive. “The lady with the dark hair.”

Within moments, she’d dispatched a second message via another waiter, this time to Lord Debenham.

Turning back around, she received a jolt of surprise and delight to see Lord Ludbridge appear before her. He looked so boyishly pleased that she was here this evening, and immediately began to compliment her on her gown until she giggled and tapped him on the shoulder with her fan.

“You’ll quite turn my head,” she told him. “And unless you plan to give me ideas you have no intention of giving me, you’d better stop now.”

Instantly he sobered, and took her hand to give it a brief squeeze before he dropped it with a look of embarrassment as he glanced about the room. “Then I won’t stop. Will you walk with me in the garden? There are lanterns along all the paths and we won’t be alone. Ask Mrs. Monks. I’m sure she’ll agree.”

Araminta quickly gained her chaperone’s assent and happily placed her gloved hand in the crook of Lord Ludbridge’s arm. Half an hour in the garden alone with the handsome viscount sounded almost too good to be true. He would tell her how much he admired her and make her feel happy, like she deserved, not frightened and wretched. And as long as she ensured Lord Ludbridge was in the library at 11 p.m. at least one of the complications in her life might be eliminated.

***

Ralph, meanwhile, was madly

trying to find clean, fresh linen in which to present himself at the entertainment he’d had no intention of attending until five minutes before. The invitation would have been irresistible, had he known Miss Hazlett would be there, but he’d sadly faced the fact that London’s social whirl would always remain on the perimeter of the real drudgery of their lives.

Ralph had to work for his living, and long days performing often unpleasant tasks left him with little energy, although this might have been different had he been remunerated sufficiently. He often imagined taking the divine Miss Hazlett on lazy boating trips upon the river, or surprising her with presents that would elicit such bursts of excited gratitude that he’d feel her smooth young arms twine impulsively about his neck.

Of course, that would be a very dangerous thing. He realized that the more he had to do with her, the greater his susceptibility to falling completely and irrevocably in love. This would make his daily toil even worse, due to the added torment of knowing how impossible it was for them to be together.

But the hasty, last-minute request from his beloved Lissa was impossible to refuse. She’d assumed he would be attending Lady Grenville’s soiree and had asked simply for him to keep in his sights a young lady in a green dress with a red sash embroidered with flowers.

The message had been short and cryptic. Perhaps she was someone whom her dreadful employer had been asked to sketch. Ralph had no idea who this young lady was, but if Lissa had asked him to discreetly follow her, he would not fail in the enterprise. She would have a very good reason for asking him anything, he knew.

Having finally found linen, clean and crisp enough to do service tonight without declaring him the pauper he was, Ralph was admitted into the midst of the well-dressed throng—where he was immediately confronted with a dark-haired young lady in a green gown embroidered with flowers, the very description Lissa had given him.

Why, he wondered, had Lissa not said it was Miss Maria she wished him to keep within his sights? And there was her brother, Master Cosmo looking the Pinkest of the Pinks with his fashionably tight-fitting trousers, high pointed collar and Titus coiffure. Ralph ran his fingers thoughtfully through his own thatch of hair and immediately dismissed the idea of attempting something the least bit fashionable with it. He’d never aspired to the dandy set, or even desired to be a Nonesuch like his brother.

Not wishing to be observed, Ralph quickly entered into conversation with Admiral Cannington, who was clearly delighted to have an audience for his latest adventures in the West Indies, where he’d apparently distinguished himself and made a fortune to boot.

Meanwhile, he noticed Miss Maria kept looking over her shoulder, as if she were being observed. Or searching for someone. Yes, that’s what debutantes did, didn’t they? Sized up the quarry because, after all, the whole reason they were here was to find a husband.

Perhaps Lissa was worried that the young lady had fixed her interest on someone unsuitable. Well, Ralph would ensure she didn’t do anything rash.

Therefore, even as Ralph indulged in the excellent champagne that was circulating and enjoyed, more than he’d expected, his conversations with a variety of guests, his protective instincts were on alert when he noticed the young lady receive a discreet note from a waiter.

He saw her eyes widen as she took it, and her quick furtive look across the room, before her gaze settled upon a rather portly, fair-haired young man in military attire talking to a middle-aged woman in a purple toque. The young man seemed to feel her eyes upon him, for he turned to look over his shoulder, smiling when he intercepted Miss Maria’s gaze.

She colored and looked away, while Ralph felt both somewhat of a voyeur but also the importance of the task entrusted to him. For some reason, Lissa was concerned, and she needed Ralph to ensure this young lady didn’t get herself into trouble. Perhaps this portly, unassuming young man was the unsuitable object of her interest.

“Baby brother, I didn’t expect to see you here tonight. Not the kind of entertainment you usually frequent.”