Alice groaned. She ought to have listened to Lill. Hadn’t she warned her not to be so bloody reckless as to wear the lavish jewel to an event where half the ton would be present? Yet, if she had not worn it tonight, she never would have had the chance, for when would she next be at such a splendid event? Never. Not as a guest, at any rate. Yet the young man looked troubled, and Alice’s stomach did an unpleasant flip as she realised that was recognition in his eyes.
She had never in her life been more grateful for Izzy’s stoic care for Clara, as the girl grabbed her hand and towed her into the throng.
“Perhaps we ought to split up,” Alice said urgently, glancing over her shoulder to notice the young man was following her though the crowded ballroom with a look of determinationsimmering in his lovely green eyes. To the devil with him! “We’ll cover more ground that way,” she added, feeling wretched for abandoning both Izzy and Clara, who deserved better, but self-preservation was uppermost in her mind.
Izzy nodded. “I’ll check the retiring room,” she said, and darted away.
Relieved to have rid herself of one difficulty, Alice hurried on, making good use of her elbows as she forced her way through the throng. Perhaps she could slip outside before the fellow caught up with her.
“Miss Marwick!”
Alice ignored the upper-class voice that sent prickles of irritation running up and down her spine. She refused to feel so much as a twinge of remorse. Lord Erskine was a vile man, everyone knew it, and he had thoroughly deserved to have a fortune in jewellery snatched from under his nose. If this fellow recognised the piece, he was likely no angel. So it was with no compunction whatsoever that Alice did what she did best and disappeared.
The Dowager Duchess of Hawkney’s Christmas Ball, Hatherley Hall, Little Valentine, 23rdDecember 1815
The Honourable Aubrey Seymour looked around the crowded ballroom and muttered an oath. Devil take the girl, where had she gone? It was like she’d vanished. He’d been certain his attention had been fixed upon her, or at least the back of her head, for her short dark hair had taken his fancy. Thesilver ribbon she had wound through the curls made her grey eyes seem to glitter that very same shade.
And how they had glittered. Intelligence and a razor-like shrewdness had shone there and made him suspect she was unlike any of the other young woman here this evening. Not the kind to delight in polite conversation and social chit-chat. Though she had barely spoken, his interest had been piqued, and he had determined to ask her to dance, and then he’d seen the brooch. His late mother’s brooch. The one that had been in his uncle’s possession the night his Aunt Pauline’s jewels had been stolen.
Yet now Miss Marwick had disappeared, and the likelihood of finding her again in this crush if she did not wish to be found was negligible. Aubrey felt certain she had remarked his recognition of the brooch, and had fled on purpose, which posed some very interesting questions. Questions he was most eager to put to Miss Marwick, if only the vexing creature hadn’t eluded him.
He swore again, quite forgetting his surroundings.
“Young man!” scolded an elderly lady whom he recognised as one of his grandmother’s cronies. She was dressed in the style of the last century and held a large ebony fan which she used to whack him with.
“Beg pardon, Lady Grafton,” he said hurriedly, and escaped before she could read him a lecture on the proper comportment of a gentleman.
“Aubrey! Aubrey, hold a moment, don’t run off!”
Aubrey sighed, having been about to do just that before his sister Vinnie’s voice reached him. Turning, he forced a smile as she hurried up to him.
“Isn’t it a splendid success? Grandmama is in alt. I’ve not seen her so delighted in years,” she said, her green eyes glinting with satisfaction. “And where were you about to dash off to?”
“I wasn’t,” he lied. It was pointless trying to find the woman now in any case. But Little Valentine was a small place and Miss Marwick lived here, so she could hardly evade him for long.
His sister looked lovely tonight, very much like the portrait of their mama that had been painted when she was a young woman. Pain squeezed his heart, a pang of regret that their mother was not here to see her daughter looking so beautiful. Dressed in an exquisite gown of pale gold, she shimmered, her rich auburn hair shining in the blaze of candlelight that illuminated his grandmother’s home.
“I saw you hurrying off after Miss Marwick. Were you hoping to dance with her?” Vinnie asked, a provocative smile curving her lips.
Aubrey glowered, a little irritated she could read him so well. He opened his mouth to deny it, and to tell her about the brooch, but hesitated. Though he was certain it had been his mother’s brooch, for it was a distinctive design, Miss Marwick may have come by it innocently enough, and he did not wish to risk starting a rumour that might hurt her reputation. Not that Vinnie would gossip, but he felt reluctant to tell her all the same.
“Oh, don’t look so poker-faced. I don’t blame you. I think she’s fascinating. Della is head over ears for her brother, you know. Poor Hawk will have a fit if he finds out, and now you too!” She dissolved into laughter, apparently much amused by the allure of the Marwick siblings.
Aubrey huffed. “Stow it, Vinnie. I’m not in the mood for your teasing.”
“Whyever not?” she asked, blinking at him in sudden confusion, for Aubrey had never minded before. Indeed, they were good friends and got on famously.
“Oh, I don’t know. Ignore me,” he said, trying to sound more amiable than he felt.
Vinnie frowned, her expression puzzled as she regarded him. “Well, you’d best buck up, you dull dog, for the orchestra is beginning a country dance. Didn’t you promise that to Meg?”
“Oh, blast,” Aubrey said crossly, realising she was right, and hurrying off to claim his partner.
Ocean View Villa, Little Valentine, 23rdDecember 1815
Alice closed the front door with a sigh and leaned against it.Bloody, bloody hell. Idiot! She banged her head against the wood a couple of times for good measure as she cursed, not that it did her a bit of good.
Quick footsteps sounded from the back of the house and she braced herself, knowing exactly what she was in for.
