“I mean it, Gigi. Do not meddle in my affairs.”
“When have I ever meddled, brother dearest?”
Gigi shot him a guileless look before hurrying out.
He groaned.
Bloody hell. I am doomed.
ChapterTwenty-Six
“I’ve changed my mind, Lady Gigi,” Xenia said nervously. “I should have an early night?—”
“Nonsense. You look too pretty to spend the night in your room,” Lady Gigi coaxed. “You don’t want Colette’s efforts to be wasted, do you?”
“Um, no.”
Xenia was still befuddled over how she’d ended up allowing Lady Gigi’s maid to dress her and do her hair. It had started with Lady Gigi summoning her to her chamber after supper. She’d thought the other needed help with something. Instead, Ethan’s sister had presented her with a gift: the beautiful green dress from Mrs. Sommers’s shop.
To be seen as worthy of such a magnificent gift had overwhelmed Xenia. While she suspected that Ethan was behind the scheme, Lady Gigi was obviously in on it too, and she’d choked out thanks, fighting back tears. She’d also tried to refuse the generous present, but Lady Gigi would hear none of it. The lady had insisted she try on the dress—which fit like a glove—and maneuvered her into a chair. Before she knew what was happening, Colette had descended like a whirlwind.
While the lady’s maid worked her magic, Lady Gigi had distracted Xenia with chitchat.
“You must keep me company in the drawing room,” Ethan’s sister declared. “Parkhurst and Canning are making mincemeat of my toes, and another female dance partner is required to even the balance.”
“I don’t belong with the guests, my lady,” Xenia protested.
“It’s a small and casual gathering,” Lady Gigi said airily. “There will be no sticklers to tell us what we can and cannot do. We need not stand on ceremony, and to that end, I must ask that you call me Gigi. I shall call you Jane, if that suits.”
“I couldn’t, my lady.” Then Xenia heard herself blurt, “But you may call me Xenia, if you wish.”
“Xenia?” Lady Gigi looked puzzled. “I thought your name was Jane.”
What was it about the Harringtons that made Xenia want to unburden herself? While she couldn’t confide her secrets, she did the next best thing.
“Xenia is what my friends call me.”
Lady Gigi gave her arm a squeeze. “Then Xenia it is.”
For the next little while, they chatted like bosom chums. Xenia discovered that she was only two years older than Ethan’s sister. Lady Gigi was charming and witty, brimming with amusing anecdotes. Xenia forgot to protest over Colette’s ministrations as Gigi related stories from her childhood. The ones involving Ethan captivated Xenia.
“Did Eth—his lordship, I mean, truly run away when he was ten?” Xenia asked.
“Yes,” Lady Gigi confirmed. “I was a babe at the time, so I don’t recall any of it. According to Mama, he and Owen had gotten into one of their usual tiffs, and Ethan got blamed for picking on his younger brother. Well, he got so angry at the unfairness of it all that he filched one of Papa’s valises, filled it with food from the kitchen, and took off.”
Xenia felt a twinge of empathy for Ethan’s younger self. Although she was an only child, she imagined being born in the middle couldn’t have been easy. One would have to deal with domineering older siblings and pampered younger ones.
“Did anyone go after him?” she asked.
“No.”
She felt indignant on his behalf. “Why not?”
“Because the valise wasn’t big enough to fit the piano,” Lady Gigi said with a twinkle. “And everyone knew he wouldn’t go far without it.”
Xenia couldn’t help but laugh. “Was his lordship always fond of the piano?”
“One of my earliest memories is of Ethan playing. Even though he was introduced to the piano relatively late—he was eight or nine, I think—he was an instant prodigy. Our grandmama, the dowager marchioness, was especially proud of his musical prowess and insisted on hiring famous maestros to teach him. She was a harridan, but Ethan was her favorite and she loved to hear him play. That Bösendorfer in his study was a gift from her. When he hurt his hand…” Lady Gigi’s voice got a bit choked. “I think it broke Grandmama’s heart. She died that same year.”
