“You know, when a lady smiles at you, it is an invitation to ask for a set, not to run away.”
Three
WAYLAND’S, LONDON - JUNE 5, 1816
CELINE
The drawing roomof Hasket House was redecorated annually. It also looked precisely as it had the first time I laid eyes on it more than a decade ago. The extravagant furnishings had changed, but the sharp angles and stark colors remained. My late husband’s mother knew what she liked.
“Sit down, Xander. If you pace any more you’ll wear out the carpets,” Davina demanded. My sister-in-law loved to needle her elder brother, and it was never an easier task than before a ball.
“Technically, they’remycarpets, Dav,” he grumbled, reaching a hand to run it through his perfectly styled hair. He remembered himself inches from the coiffure and pulled his hand away. Behind his back, his sister let a frown slip.
“Do you suppose they’ll play hazard tonight? I find myself in need of funds.”
Xander’s pacing ceased for a moment as he turned to stare incredulously at his sister. “Davina, you cannot—you must behave with decorum tonight. And these people will be playingfor real coin. And what could you possibly need funds for? Your pin money is more than generous.”
“What on earth else would they play for? And it is hardly your business.” She crossed her arms petulantly over her chest, mussing the peacock feathers billowing from the embroidered bird across her bodice.
“Davina—” Xander’s tone had jumped an octave, the way it always did when he had reached the end of his patience.
“Davina, darling, perhaps you might go see if your mother is in need of assistance?” She rolled her eyes at my suggestion but shoved herself off the settee without complaint.
In her absence, Xander collapsed across from me, head tipped back to stare at the ceiling. He took after his mother when it came to fabric selections, his black waistcoat, shirt, and cravat standing in contrast to the white damask of the settee.
“What has a bee in your bonnet?”
His head rolled to the side so he could eye me warily. “We’re taking my mother and my sister to a gaming hell. To a masquerade, no less. Mother will certainly expose herself to ridicule, and Davina to ruin—and I shall be left with nothing but the scattered pieces of my dignity.”
“Surely it will not be so bad as all that.”
Xander shifted to sit up properly, though his posture remained relaxed. “You have, in fact, met my mother and sister, yes? Gabriel always made it a point to arrive far later than fashionable, merely so he would miss Mother’s grand entrances. And that was before Davina was in society.” He wasn’t wrong about Gabriel, though that was hardly the only reason for his perpetual tardiness.
“It’s a masquerade; a certain amount of pageantry is to be expected.”
“Remember that sentiment when you see her,” he retorted ominously.
“I’ve been warned. Is something else wrong? You seem…”
“Agitated?” he supplied.
“I was searching for a more tactful choice, but yes.
“I ran into Parker and Beaumont—at the club.”
“Always an unpleasant state of affairs.”
“There were some… insinuations bandied about.” Xander’s hands always danced in front of him when he spoke. But they were pinched and agitated now, held tight against his form.
“What did they say?”
“Nothing fit for a lady’s ears.”
“I was married to your brother. I’ve heard a great many things not fit for a lady’s ears.”
He sighed, looking at the floor. “There was an implication that I would be better able to secure a wife if I feasted on a lady’s... flower the way I feast on a man’s… well, you know. Then there was the generous offer to demonstrate the proper technique on Davina.”
I could not have contained my gasp for the world. “Which one?”
