He drew his head back a few inches and looked her over critically from head to foot—but with a twinkle in his eye. “Ah,” he said. “Then I must ask you to peel off the mask of youth, if you please, and reveal yourself in all your ancientness. If there is such a word.”
She laughed. “Ancientwas perhaps an exaggeration,” she said.
“I would call it an outright whopper of an untruth,” he told her. “My mother has told me about the family losses that kept you at home and in mourning for a couple of years or more. I am sorry about those but delighted that you are here now. Have you met my cousin Jenny?”
“I have not,” she said, “though I have met a lot of other people.”
“Bewildering, is it not?” he said. “I remember my first visit to London. I once sent a groom to fetch my horse as I prepared to leave a garden party and discovered after he had brought it that he was not only a gentleman but also a viscountandmy host. That gaffe will haunt me for the rest of my life, I daresay, for there are a number of persons who were witness to it and will see that I do not forget.”
“Oh no!” Philippa said, and laughed again. “But I do believe you may be telling a bouncer of your own, sir.”
“Not a bit of it,” he assured her. “I have never uttered a lie in my life. Well, no more than a dozen times, anyway. Let me take you to Jenny.”
He was very attractive, Philippa thought as she followed him across the room. And personable and good-humored. And the grandson of a duke, and a baronet in his own right. She smiled with amusement as she realized she was already looking with speculation at the young men in the room.
He stopped in front of one of the few guests who were seated, and Philippa saw a young woman who must be close to her in age.She was thin and pale complexioned, a fact that was somehow accentuated by the dark red of her hair. She was not pretty, but there was something distinguished about her narrow face with its high cheekbones, very straight nose, and slightly upward curving top lip. Her eyes were dark and large. She was smiling at the two people with whom she was conversing. They were all seated in armchairs by the fireplace.
“Jenny,” Sir Gerald said, bending over her. “I have brought Lady Philippa Ware to meet you. She is the daughter of the lady Mama was telling me about yesterday when I called here.”
“The dear friend and partner in crime of her youth? Lady Stratton?” Lady Jennifer spoke in a low, musical voice, holding out one thin hand toward Philippa and smiling up at her.
“Lady Jennifer Arden,” Sir Gerald said, completing the introduction. “My cousin and a granddaughter of the Duke of Wilby, Lady Philippa. You must not learn only names while you are in town, you need to understand, but also titles and relationships. And at the end of the Season there will be a test to decide if you qualify to return here next year.”
“Take no notice of him, Lady Philippa,” his cousin said as Philippa took her hand. “He is an incurable tease. Will you not be seated? And do call me Jenny.”
The two people who had been talking to her had moved away and Philippa took the chair vacated by one of them.
“Then you must call me Pippa,” she said.
“It must appear to you that I am sitting here holding court when I ought to be on my feet mingling with my aunt’s guests,” Jenny said. “I would do so with great pleasure if I could, but alas, I cannot. I am crippled.”
“I am sorry,” Philippa said.
“You need not be,” Jenny told her. “I have been more or less crippled since I was five years old and have adjusted my life accordingly. I donotbore friends and acquaintances with details, but I do like to explain to those who do not know me so they will not think me lazy and horribly bad-mannered. This is your first visit to town? And your first Season? That is what Aunt Kitty says. What was your very first impression of London?”
“That it is not as magnificent as I had expected,” Philippa said. “The streets are not paved with gold. What a colossal disappointmentthatwas. My second impression somewhat contradicted the first, however, for it turned out that Stratton House is not after all a house but a mansion, just as this is.”
“You have probably not seen a great deal of London yet,” Jenny said. “I especially love visiting the galleries and the grandest of the churches. But I enjoy the social life too—going to the theater and parties at which I can be in company with others. I enjoy it all for just a few weeks at a time, however. I am always glad to return to the country afterward. I am comfortable with my neighbors and friends there and my books. Enough about me, however. Tell me about yourself. Tell me about your family. You have brothers and sisters? Indeed, I know you have one younger sister here in town with you.”
“Stephanie,” Philippa said. “She is sixteen years old and caught in that frustrating middle land between childhood and womanhood. Though fortunately she is not jealous of me, or even envious, I believe. She is enjoying London but claims to beveryglad she will not be expected to waste her time at parties. I have three older brothers and one younger. And I have one niece. Oh, and one sister-in-law since Christmas. Gwyneth. She and my brother Devlin will be coming to London soon.”
They continued talking about their families and homes after Sir Gerald had moved away with someone who had approached to shake his hand.
“You must not feel obliged to remain here with me indefinitely when I am sure you must wish to meet everyone else, Pippa,” Jenny said after a while. “I will not be left alone if you step away, you know. People are very kind, and since most of them know I cannot go to them,theycome tome.I am truly delighted to have made your acquaintance, though, and hope quite sincerely that we will be friends.”
“I would like that very much,” Philippa said in all honesty. She had felt comfortable with Jenny from the first moment. She should probably take the hint, however, and move on to another group. It was what happened at parties, and there were many people yet to meet. Jenny should be left to receive more of her aunt’s guests.
Before she could get to her feet, however, Jenny spoke again. Her eyes were fixed upon the door, and her face had lit up with surprise and pleasure.
“Oh,” she said. “Luc has come.”
Philippa turned her head to see the person at whom her new friend was gazing. A tall man stood in the doorway, looking around the room. Her first impression was not only that he was immaculately and fashionably dressed but also that he was extraordinarily handsome and indeed physically perfect in every way. But in the very next moment she felt herself turn cold, as though all the blood had drained from her head. Jenny’s voice seemed to come from far away.
“My brother,” she was explaining. “We were not expecting him in town yet.” She raised one thin arm to attract his attention, and he looked toward them and smiled.
He had hair like his sister’s but a shade darker—thick, shiningred hair that would have drawn admiring attention even without his perfect physique and handsome face.
He also happened to be the Marquess of Roath.
