CHAPTER1
“There exists not a worse plight than standing in these shoes, pinch-toed and perspiring, on display at a market in which I do not wish to be sold.”
Augusta Curtis held her elaborate fan in front of her face, half to keep the beads of sweat threatening to break out on her forehead at bay, and half to hide her mouth as she despised the gathering in which she stood.
"Oh, sister, must you say it that way?" her younger sister, Nancy said, clearly entertained, her green eyes flashing with mirth.
"But I did not lie. I do not wish to be married anyway, so the Season is pointless for me. Perhaps, I shall stop attending." Augusta raised her nose, slightly miffed.
Nancy chuckled softly, lifting her own fan up to block her face. Augusta cast her a look from the corner of her eye, her expression plainly a question. “Well, out with it then. What’s on your mind? You seem to find enjoyment in my displeasure.”
“Quite,” Nancy admitted easily. “However, I wonder. If you stopped attending the Seasons, what would become of your favorite hobby?”
Nancy clutched her hands dramatically in front of her chest and gave Augusta a doe-eyed look. “Who would save innocent, naive women from the clutches of wicked lords? Those base monsters, lurking through the ton, seeking the virtue of unsuspecting ladies?”
Augusta scoffed playfully and rolled her eyes. “Who indeed? But you are mistaken. What I do is no hobby, but a necessity. I only look out for fellow ladies, to keep them from ending up in miserable marriages. Open your eyes, Nancy, and you’d notice that the rakes are numerous tonight, and I have my eyes on all of them.”
Augusta’s eyes swept over the ballroom in a slow circuit, taking into account every little detail, cataloging names, and profiling guests. She couldn’t expect Nancy to understand why she did what she did. She was, after all, still young and naive, herself.
Nancy still viewed the ton —and the world at large— innocently. The pageantry and novelty of it all still had her in awe, glittering like a piece of silver that caught the light.
She had no idea how lucky she was to have Augusta as a sister, looking out for her and keeping her from mingling with the wrong sort of men. They came in with charming smiles and tongues dripping with honey, sweeping women off their feet with little more than a few words.
Nancy couldn’t truly understand how dangerous and troublesome they were. Augusta did, though. And she planned to defend her sister, even if the younger woman had no idea what she was being protected from. That was the nature of such things.
Nancy was just a little child when their father died, so she remembered him fondly, if she remembered him at all. She had never really gotten to know the man.
Not as well as Augusta, at least. Augusta knew enough and saw enough. And seven years after his death, she still clearly remembered how much his actions had hurt her mother.
Her father had been the worst rake of all, bless his soul. He had countless mistresses, and she saw how this broke her mother. The fights, the raised voices in the night, the late nights, his sudden disappearances, and more often than not, lipstick stains on his shirt.
She witnessed her mother turn into a shadow of herself, the fire departing from her eyes. If Augusta closed her eyes, she could still see how her mother had looked towards the end, with thick rings under her red eyes, and her face drawn like an old woman’s.
Only after father’s death had she started to look a little alive again. She recovered and looked like she would continue to improve. And she would have, if not for her sudden illness which took her life as quickly as it came.
Now, when Augusta remembered her mother, she remembered her when she was on the mend, after her father’s death. She blamed her father, of course. It didn’t matter to her that her father was long dead. She blamed him every day.
She’d also sworn never to get married. The fear of turning out the way her mother had drove the notion far from her mind. Frankly, Augusta could not think of a reason why anyone would want to get married.
But the women of the ton didn’t think like her. They all imagined happy homes filled with amusement, fat children, and happiness. She knew more than they did and was the wiser for it.
Regardless, she would look out for the unsuspecting women of the ton. She knew the telltale signs of rakes, she’d spent her young life growing up with one. She was determined to save as many ladies as she could from the fate her mother had suffered.
“Augusta?” Nancy called, nudging her gently.
She blinked rapidly and turned to her sister. She had drifted off again, as she was prone to doing when she thought about her mother. “Yes?”
“You said the rakes were aplenty tonight,” Nancy said in a hush. “I was wondering if you could point them out to me?” She smiled a wicked, knowing smile.
“Why, I’d be delighted to.” Augusta drew closer to Nancy, and ever so slightly, gestured with the edge of her fan. “You see that well-dressed gentleman in the black—”
Evan cleared his throat loudly, but his face remained an impassive mask. “Augusta, must you?”
Augusta glanced at her older brother and rolled her eyes. “Must I what?”
Evan took one small step closer and smiled at a passing couple. When he turned to look at Augusta, all the joviality was gone from his face. He wasn’t necessarily angry, but he looked cross. He took a deep breath and wore his mask of impassivity again.
“Now, I know that you have no intention of getting married, for reasons best known to you,” he said to Augusta in a voice barely louder than a whisper. “But I would have you behave, at least for Nancy’s sake. I don’t want you affecting her prospects or filling her head with nonsense.”
