“Without fail. Every morning for as long as I’ve worked here. Oh, my goodness.” The woman’s eyes widened considerably.
Bethany winced to see the maid holding the stays she’d worn to the ball the night before. Or at least what was left of them. Several pieces of the lace and fabric were scattered around the floor.
“Are you all right, My Lady?”
“It… was stuck. His Lordship… er… assisted me out of it.”
Nothing in the world could prevent the heat from flooding Bethany’s cheeks as Polly turned the piecemeal fabric over in her hands.
“I might be able to set this piece together here.” She held it up and another piece broke off and fell to the floor.
The startled look in her maid’s eyes was too much, and Bethany raised her hands to cover her mouth, sending them both into a fit of giggles.
“You had a… pleasant evening then?” Polly grinned. “At the ball?”
The comment threw Bethany into another fit of giggles, this time joined by Polly. She dabbed at her eyes where tears of laughter escaped. She couldn’t remember ever laughing so hard at anything. Or at something so inappropriate. With her lady’s maid!
Almost weak from the fit of hilarity, Bethany wrapped the sheet around her, toga style, and climbed off the bed. The clock on the mantel showed one in the afternoon. “I’ve slept half the day and my sister is probably dying to know how everything went.” She shot a sideways glance at the other girl and added with emphasis. “At the ball.”
Polly stared down at the floor, the corner of her lip twitching. “Of course, My Lady. She and Lady Felicity did stop in earlier, actually. Pardon me. I meant to tell you. She left a message…” Polly dug a slip of paper out of her apron.
Her Ladyship,
Bethany almost snorted. Tabetha was too much sometimes.
If her ladyship would be so kind as to rouse herself at some point so that she could take tea with her mother and sister this afternoon, I would be ever so honored.
Most admiringly,
Tabetha.
P.S. Mother says we can proceed with my come-out
P.P.S. Enjoy your present social status over me, dearest sister. No less than a duke for me!
“I suppose I’m ready for that bath.” Holding the sheet tightly around her, Bethany shuffled across the floor toward her own chamber. Before exiting into the antechamber, however, she glanced back at the bed.
Would they do that every night? It was different than she’d ever imagined. It had been exciting, pleasurable, and… fun.
But could it ever be love?
“Mother saidyour dance card was full.” Tabetha nibbled at a pastry, her yellow curls bouncing.
Bethany’s cardhadbeen full. And her mother had noticed. Bethany sipped at her tea, feeling unusually pleased at the compliment. In the grand scheme of things, the fact that she’d danced every set last night didn’t really matter. What mattered more than that was that she and Chase hadn’t been hurled from Heart Place for their indiscretion in the Willoughby Garden. They had been forgiven.
All of which was secondary, to Bethany anyway, to the night she’d spent with Chase in his chamber—in his bed.
Tabetha selected a second pastry. “Lady Ravensdale arranged all of it with the Duke of Blackheart. Mother said that all those gentlemen were asked to claim at least one set. She also insisted Chaswick take both the first and the supper dance. Were you terrified? I would have been.”
Of course, that had been what happened. Why else would all of those gentlemen have gone out of their way to partner her?
Bethany had suspected as much. She hadknownthat.
But if she’d known that, then why was she disappointed all of a sudden? She ought to feel satisfied, relieved. Because the ruse had been so effective, she’d nearly fooled herself.
It was a very good thing.
Her mother and sister weren’t going to be chased out of London over Bethany’s particularly embarrassing scandal and Bethany wasn’t going to have to hide her face in shame.
