She’d made the right choice. Theonlychoice.
She repeated the words in her head as dawn stretched its long golden fingers across the sky and until they took on the weight of truth. At last, she fell into a fitful slumber, Sir Bacon snugged into the crook of her legs.
Four hours later
A haranguing ofthe door leading to the alley, muffled but distinct, jerked Hortense awake. That, and Sir Bacon’s barking response.
She scrambled out of bed, her eyes only very reluctantly squeezing open, and pulled on the item of clothing nearest at hand, which was her overcoat. Who could possibly need inside her rooms this badly?
She snatched the dagger off her bedside table and dropped it into a pocket. It could get her out of whatever situation lay on the other side of that door. Or, at least, a galloping start.
It was only when she found herself at the bottom of the staircase that she realized she hadn’t as much as glanced into a mirror.
She jerked the door open, and her exasperated greeting froze in her mouth. Mariana stared out at her, expectantly. “That happy to see me?” she asked as she swept past Hortense and up the staircase. Even Sir Bacon appeared bewildered as they obediently followed.
Hortense closed the bedroom door with a quiet click and slowly turned to find Mariana taking in every inch of her surroundings and drawing her own conclusions.
“What are you doing here?” asked Hortense. It was the only logical question.
“I hear there is to be a wedding in two days,” Mariana replied with a bright smile.
“Well—”
“We are to be sisters.” Mariana closed the few feet between them and took Hortense into an embrace that she had difficulty returning with a corresponding intensity.
“The future Marchioness of Clare.” Mariana slapped a newspaper on the room’s central table. “It says so right here.”
Hortense took the paper, gingerly, as if she was in danger of being scalded by its contents.The London Diary.A scandal sheet. There, on the lower right corner of the front page was a blind item that would leave no member of thetonin the dark as to its subject:
What is the saying? Marry inhaste…
Oh, Cl*re, have acare!
But the real questionis…
What lady woulddare?
She would need to bespirited…
She slapped the paper down with more force than necessary. Eyes solemn upon her, Sir Bacon gave a little whine, sensing her distress. But, oh, gossip rags did their dirty work fast.
It wasn’t the main content that upset her. In fact, it was the perfect introduction for a couple looking to generate a little notoriety upon their Society debut. It was the last line that had her jaw tensed.Spirited…Spirits. Clare’s wastrel past was a well-known fact in those circles. But the casualness of the line, well, it seemed unnecessary, and cruel.
“I take it Jamie procured a special license last night?” Mariana asked.
“He must have.” So quickly. Hortense would never not be amazed by how quickly doors opened for the aristocracy.
Mariana strode to one of the room’s two threadbare chairs. “May I?”
Hortense snapped to. Where were her manners? “Of course.”
Mariana clasped her hands in her lap and waited, an expectant expression on her face. “That means you, too.”
“Oh, yes, of course.” Hortense hurried over to the other chair and perched stiffly on its edge. Mariana wasn’t the sort of lady to gad about, wasting her time. She was here for a reason. “I’m not usually so—”
“Scattered?” Mariana finished for her. “The twins will be so excited to attend their first wedding.”
The twins?Oh, no, no, no.“You must not invite them.”
