Beatrice said nothing, plastering a smile on her face.
They did a slow circuit of the room, accepting greetings from those determined to appear unbothered by gossip.
“Your Grace, you delight us with your presence at such a charitable event.”
“Duchess, I trust you are well after your…travels?”
No one mentioned the reason for those travels, but the evasions were so pointed they might as well have shouted.
Edward kept his hand on the small of her back, guiding her through the crush with practiced ease. Too practiced, she thought irritably. He looked entirely unruffled, which only irritated her further.
A pair of older gentlemen passed behind them, speaking in tones that were anything but discreet.
“I heard the child isnotreal at all. Some cooked-up story or such.”
“Nonsense. Lady Portwell swears she heard a baby crying in Wrexford Hall.”
Beatrice’s breath caught.Of course, Lady Portwell was here.
She saw her a moment later, clad in an extravagant gown of plum silk, surrounded by two equally talkative friends who looked ready to combust with curiosity.
Lady Portwell’s expression brightened the instant she spotted them, as though she had been waiting precisely for this moment.
“Oh,Your Graces!” she trilled, sweeping forward with a speed surprising for a woman encumbered by so many feathers. “How wonderful to see you. I simply had to say hello.”
Edward’s smile was polite but glacial. “Lady Portwell.”
Beatrice could practically hear the unspoken,Please keep walking.
But Lady Portwell never had recognized polite dismissal in all her fifty years, and she certainly wasn’t about to start tonight.
“I must say,” she continued, fluttering her fan dramatically, “it is simply remarkable how you both left Bath without a word to anyone. Why, I told my friends here”—she gestured to the two women behind her, both leaning in eagerly—“that it all happened far too quickly. And abruptly. And mysteriously.”
Her companions nodded like eager sparrows.
Edward’s jaw tightened a fraction. “Lady Portwell,” he said with disarming courtesy, “I recall you visiting us in Bath. Unexpected.”
Her fan paused mid-flutter. “Why yes, Your Grace! Duty compelled me. One must always check on neighbors in distress.”
“Or in privacy,” Edward added smoothly.
A quick flush rose in Lady Portwell’s cheeks.
Beatrice kept her expression serene, though inside, heat climbed her throat at the memory.
Lady Portwell recovered swiftly.
“Oh, but all is well now, is it not?” she asked airily. “I assured everyone it is. Why, I even told Mrs. Alderton that the cries I heard could have been anything—a… an animal, perhaps.”
Her companions lifted their hands to suppress gasps.
Edward’s hand flexed against Beatrice’s back. “Indeed.”
Lady Portwell leaned in, dropping her voice theatrically. “Although between us, some people still insist there is a child hidden somewhere. You know how people are.”
Beatrice met her eyes with chilly composure. “Yes, I am well acquainted with how people are.”
Lady Portwell blinked, surprised by the firmness in her tone.
