Dangerous Gentlemen (Daughters of Sin 2)

“Is she all right?” Hetty asked anxiously.

Araminta shrugged. “She was fine when she went to bed last night so I can’t imagine anything’s changed. Now I must find Jane and ask her to see if my walking shoes have been cleaned. I shall be highly annoyed if they haven’t.”

Hetty heaved a sigh of relief when Araminta left her to her own musings and ablutions.

The excitement that had consumed her earlier became a weight of doubt and misery. Sir Aubrey had pledged to go walking with Araminta this afternoon? What sort of betrayal was that? Was he not supposed to be choosing a house today where he could visit her?

The kernel of fear and doubt grew. By all that was great and good, how was she going to get around that one? Very well, he’d said he preferred Hetty and perhaps he did. But Araminta was the sister he was able to meet respectably in public and Hetty was the secret.

The lying, deceiving sister who had such a secret.

Unable to settle, she paced the room, chewing her fingernails as she thought how little time she had to extricate herself gracefully from the mess she’d created.

Tomorrow when she met Jem, she told herself, everything would magically resolve itself.

* * * * *

To her surprise, her father greeted her with a great show of fondness when she stepped into the drawing room. Fondness and a surprising degree of admiration.

“My dear Hetty, but you are blooming,” he told her as he put his hands on her shoulders to study her more closely. “You’re turning into a beauty before my eyes. Isn’t she, Sybil?”

Araminta, seated in a chair by the window, flicked a page of The Lady’s Magazine she was idly perusing and said, “A couple of people have remarked upon it but she still hasn’t the figure to fit into any of my clothes. Mama, what do you think of this walking dress?” She tapped a fashion plate in front of her. “I could have it made up in blue. Blue sets off the sheen of my hair. Sir Aubrey remarked upon it the other night. You know he is escorting me on a walk through Hyde Park this afternoon.”

“I thought Mama said you were not to associate with Sir Aubrey,” Hetty said balefully.

“What’s this?” Lord Partington, now ensconced in a leather armchair, looked up from the newspaper he’d just opened. “Sir Aubrey? The fellow whose wife took her own life after he was mixed up in the Castlereagh affair a year or so ago?” His complexion turned a noticeable shade darker.

“Nothing was proved.” Hetty spoke the words so sharply all heads turned on her.

“Stephen will accompany you,” Lady Partington said in decided tones. “I shall send a note ‘round to him this morning. If he knows it’s important, he’ll put aside whatever he’s doing.”

Her husband harrumphed as he turned the page he was reading. “I’m sure all it will require is a note from you, my love, and he’ll come running.”

Hetty noted his tone with surprise but Araminta had moved on to other topics. Namely the entertainments to which she’d been invited. “Of course I’ll see that the invitations are extended to Hetty.”

Hetty felt her heart bloom as her sister smiled warmly at her, though some of the gloss was taken off by Araminta’s next words. “Papa is right, you are looking a good deal better these days and it’s my duty to ensure that you are noticed, also, Hetty.”

Ensure that she was noticed? It was a painful truth that Hetty had been overlooked for most of her life, having a sister like Araminta, but Hetty wasn’t sure that now was quite the time she wanted to be noticed.

Surprisingly, Lord Partington evinced a desire to take a walk with his wife and two daughters just after luncheon. Hetty didn’t think such a thing had ever happened before but as the sky was a clear azure blue and the breeze fresh and fragrant, she supposed her father was motivated by the weather.

In fact it was so they’d not be overheard by the servants.

“Several things have happened since you girls came to London, which has necessitated my going away for a while.” He cleared his throat and stared straight ahead as they made their progress along the busy pavement.

Hetty glanced at him. His complexion was unusually ruddy—a deepened reddish hue not caused by the outdoors. And while his wife had fixed her gaze upon him, he seemed unable to meet her eye.

Hetty was surprised when her mother said, more sharply now, “It’s high time you told the girls, Humphry.”

After further throat-clearing and prevaricating, Lord Partington got to the point. “The truth is, there have been several financial difficulties at home—”

Lady Partington cut in. “Both financial and domestic. Let’s not beat about the bush, Humphry. The girls need to know so they can be prepared.”

Humphry’s shoulders slumped and his chin nearly touched his chest.

Araminta was the first to speak, or rather gasp, “It won’t affect my dress allowance or my portion, will it, Papa?”

More loud throat clearing was little comfort and it was their mother who explained in crisp tones, “Your father has made a rather large and unwise financial decision. H