“A curiously amiable fellow,” Neville said. “He would have gone all the way to Leicestershire merely to show me the countryside if he had known I was five miles away from his uncle’s estate? And yet I scarcely know him. Perhaps he believes he owes me a courtesy because he was a guest at Newbury in May. But he came as an acquaintance of Lauren’s grandfather. At least he has gone out of his way to show that he bears me no grudge.”
They smiled at each other.
“You have not, I suppose,” he said, leaning toward her, the interruption forgotten, “been to Vauxhall Gardens yet, have you, Lily?”
“No.” She shook her head. “But I have heard of them. They are said to be enchanted at night.”
“Will you go there with me,” he asked her, “if I can get up a party?”
It might well be a most dangerous place to go if upon careful consideration she decided that she could not after all change her mind about him. She should perhaps refuse outright now. Or at least she should say no more than that she would think about it and talk with Elizabeth about it.
But she found herself leaning eagerly toward him until their faces were only inches apart.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “Yes, please, my lord.”
21
“Iwonder,” the Duke of Portfrey said, “what Mr. Calvin Dorsey’s interest in you might be, Miss Doyle.”
Elizabeth and Lily were members of a party of guests the duke had invited to share his box at the theater. Lily had been enthralled by the whole experience so far—by the sumptuous elegance of the theater, by the audience in the other boxes, the pit, and the galleries, by the first act of the play. She had been swept away into another world as soon as the performance had begun and had lost all sense of her separate identity—she had become the characters on stage and had lived their lives with them. But now there was an interval, and the box had filled with visitors come to greet Elizabeth or other members of the party—and to get a closer look at the famous Lily Doyle.
His grace had wasted no time on idle chatter. He had suggested that Lily stroll outside the box with him for a while.
“What isanyone’sinterest in me, your grace?” she said in answer to his remark. “Bytonstandards I am a nobody.”
“He has never been in the petticoat line,” his grace said, “or into any particular gallantries to the ladies. But he has deliberately sought you out on two separate occasions that I am aware of.”
“I believe, your grace,” Lily said, “it is none of your concern.”
“Ah, that flashing of the eye and jerking upward of the chin,” he said, shaking his head. “Lily, what does one do when…Well, no matter.”
“Besides,” Lily said, “Mr. Dorsey was more interested in the Earl of Kilbourne than in me at Gunter’s. He would have gone to Leicestershire himself a few weeks ago, he said, if he had known his lordship was there.”
“Kilbourne was in Leicestershire?” the duke asked.
“At Leavenscourt,” Lily said, “where my father grew up—my grandfather was a groom there.”
“He is still alive?” his grace asked.
“No,” Lily said. “He died before my father did, and my father’s brother has died since then too.”
“Ah,” the duke said, “so there is no one left. I am sorry.”
“Only an aunt,” Lily said, “and two cousins.”
“My wife was from Leicestershire,” the duke said. “Did you know I was once married, Lily? She grew up at Nuttall Grange a few miles from Leavenscourt. Calvin Dorsey was her cousin. And your mother was once her personal maid.”
Lily stopped walking abruptly. She stared at him, not even noticing other strollers, who almost collided with them and were obliged to circle about them. Suddenly, for no reason she could name, she felt very afraid.
“How do you know?” she asked almost in a whisper.
“I have spoken with her sister,” he said. “Another aunt.”
During the past week Lily had discovered certain facts about her parents’ roots. And she had just discovered that both had surviving family. She was not quite as alone in the world as she had thought. But instead of exulting, her mind was churning with unease—worse than unease. She could get no grip on the feeling, though. Of what exactly—or ofwhomexactly—was she afraid?
“I believe,” his grace said, “it is time we returned to the box, Lily. The second act will be beginning soon.”
Lily was extremely fond of Elizabeth, who exemplified for her all the finer qualities of a true lady. Lily respected and admired her. She was also aware of the fact that she was Elizabeth’s employee, who did almost no work for her very generous salary. All Elizabeth required by way of service was that Lily apply herself to the lessons she herself had dreamed of and that she display as much as possible of her newly acquired knowledge and skills by attending certain social functions with her employer.
