Even the dimpled one?
Once properly shoed, Bethany rose with as much confidence as she could muster. “I rather feel as though we’re leading one another to the gallows.” She’d make light of this. What else could they do?
“That’s the spirit, Beth.” Polly draped a velvet cape over her shoulders and then Chase led her down the stairs and outside. His carriage was modern, plush, and as it carried them across Mayfair to her mother’s house, the well-sprung wheels softened every bump and crater.
Chase sat beside her, both of them facing front, and although her skirts overlapped on top of his thighs, the two were not touching.
“You smoked a cigar,” she commented knowingly, sending him a sideways glance. He was not as unaffected by the evening ahead as he pretended.
Chase narrowed his eyes but then winked.
The carriage drew to a halt, and they didn’t have to wait even a minute as her mother was already exiting through the front door, her companion in tow.
There was no turning back now.
H-u-s-b-a-n-d. Seven letters.
M-o-t-h-e-r. Six.
D-i-s-a-s-t-e-r. Eight.
Chase and Bethanyhad both moved across to the rear-facing bench to allow her mother and companion to face front. “Is that a new gown, Mother?” Bethany asked, doing her best to keep everyone from feeling uncomfortable—including herself. A taffeta cape had been draped around her mother’s shoulders, more for adornment than to protect her from the chill of early spring.
“Madam Chantal sent it over special today,” her mother answered. “Tabetha informed me that Madam Chantal provided you with something appropriate as well.”
Bethany fidgeted with the ties of her own cape. Would her mother approve of Madam Chantal’s choice?
“You’ve done something different with your hair,” Mrs. Crabtree commented with pinched lips. Did that mean the middle-aged woman disapproved? Bethany licked her lips, making certain she wasn’t doing the same.
“Felicity convinced her hairstylist to make a special visit to Byrde House after we returned from Madam Chantal’s boutique.” Bethany touched her coiffure self-consciously. She was used to a sleeker, tighter style but had to admit that the feel of curls tickling her neck and shoulders gave her a sensual feeling. The diamond on her ring flashed and Bethany wondered that these little things made her feel almost pretty.
“It can’t have hurt.” Her mother stared out the window. “We’ll require any advantage possible. I do hope Josephine knows what she’s doing.”
“Josephine?” It was the first time Chase had spoken to her mother since she’d joined them in the coach.
“Lady Ravensdale,” her mother answered.
Bethany’s heart skipped a beat. “What if this doesn’t work?”
“Then we return to the country and hope to try again after a decade or two have passed,” her mother snapped.
Bethany couldn’t prevent herself from whimpering softly at such a hopeless thought. S-h-u-n-n-e-d. Seven!
“We’ll have Blackheart’s support,” Chase inserted into the conversation. “ In addition to the other Spencers, the Marquess of Greystone, and Viscount Manningham-Tissinton.” His hand found Bethany’s, hidden amongst her skirts, and squeezed.
When his thumb drew a lazy circle on the back of her wrist, her heart raced for a different reason.
“Is Tabetha going to have her come-out?” Bethany couldn’t simply ignore the other two occupants in the carriage.
“That depends upon how tonight plays out.” Mrs. Crabtree had never been one to withhold her opinion.
The coach drew to a halt and then intermittently crept forward as they waited in line with other guests.
Mayfair manors, by their very definition, exuded luxury, position, and wealth, but a handful of them were comparable with no less than the Palace itself.
And Bethany had been inside of two of those. The Willoughby Mansion, of course, and Burtis Hall, the Ravensdales’ London residence. Tabetha, as the social butterfly of their family, had visited the Blackheart twins at Heart Place on a few occasions. The fact that she’d returned nearly awestruck should have prepared Bethany.
The manor was set some distance from the street and hidden by thick clusters of trees. Bethany gasped as it came into sight. No wonder Tabetha had been so impressed!
