Katherine laughed. “I’m married to the Duke of Roseford, my dear. Before me, the worst brothels in any city were a bit of his specialty. But they can’t possibly be yours. So tell me.”
Aurora hesitated. She hardly knew this woman. They’d barely been passing acquaintances a lifetime ago. But Aurora didn’t have many friends and the closest of those was the reason she had ruined herself. Telling someone else, especially someone she immediately felt she could trust like Katherine…
Well, it was tempting, indeed.
“I-I wasn’t there for me,” she whispered.
Katherine’s eyes widened, and Aurora took a deep breath and then told her everything. From the bad marriages she and Imogen had both been in, to the ruin that had come after the death of both their husbands. To the moment where Imogen’s desperation had led her down a dark path.
When it was over, Aurora realized tears were streaming down her face. She wiped them away with Katherine’s handkerchief and sighed. “And that is the whole story. I am ruined, Imogen is still missing and I have no idea what to do next. I have no resources, no connections unless I want to drag my poor brother and mother into this, and they have their own problems at present. I have no way to save her or myself.”
Katherine shook her head slowly. “The way of this world is infuriating,” she muttered, Aurora thought more to herself than to her. Then she met Aurora’s eyes. “You are wrong, though. Youaren’tunconnected. You and I might have lost contact over the years, never fully developed our friendship, but I’d like to remedy that. You have me. And I’m going to help you.”
Aurora wrinkled her brow. “How? Why?”
“Because I know the cruelty of misunderstanding, and I won’t stand by and let someone else be destroyed if I can stop it. As for the how…” Katherine pushed to her feet and paced the small room for a moment. “My husband and I are hosting a small gathering at our country estate next week. Invitations to Robert’s events are always a premium. If we invite you, it will show you are not alone in this world.”
Aurora blinked. “You cannot mean that. To bring me into your home would be to bring scandal.”
Katherine arched a brow. “Are you pretending you don’t know that my husband’s life before me was a crowning achievement of scandal? I don’t give a damn about that. It will help you, and it will let you escape the whispers for a while. It’s settled, you are invited and you are saying yes.”
Aurora could hardly draw breath at the suggestion. “It is a kindness I never could have expected and I want you to know how much I appreciate it, but…I can’t.”
“Why?” Katherine asked.
“My friend…she’s still out there. Still missing. I can’t run off to the country and engage in frivolity while I know she’s in danger. That place, Katherine…that horrible place.”
Katherine moved toward her. “Don’t let your thoughts overwhelm you. Of course you won’t want to abandon your friend. But may I suggest an alternative to you wandering into dangerous places where you might be hurt or killed?”
Aurora swallowed. “What’s that?”
“I have friends in the War Department,” Katherine said with another smile. “Ones with a very specific set of skills when it comes to finding people who don’t want to or cannot be found.”
“Spies?” Aurora gasped. “I cannot imagine.”
“It’s the most shocking and thrilling thing, I assure you.” Katherine said. “Let me get in contact with them. Put them on the case. They’ll have a much easier time finding someone with their resources than you will. And if there’s trouble, far more ability to manage it.”
“Will I be…kept informed?” Aurora whispered.
“Of course. I’ll have them send reports daily if you’d like.” Katherine stepped closer. “Please, Aurora. I already had a sense that you were being mistreated with these rumors and now that I know they were started because you so selflessly tried to save a friend, I cannot in good conscience abandon you to rumor and ruin. Come with us to Roseford. Enjoy yourself. Make new friends. Please.”
Aurora bent her head. There was but one final reason why she would say no to this remarkable woman. That was the Duke of Roseford’s half-brother: Nicholas.
Just thinking his name shot a shiver of awareness through her. A man with whom she shared a past, a broken heart. A man she thought of every day, despite everything that had happened between them. He was the remaining hesitation to going with this woman.
But everyone knew that Nicholas and Roseford didn’t get along. They were opposites, after all. Nicholas filled with honor, Roseford once the biggest libertine in London. He’d never had a relationship with his brother. So there was very little chance that she’d have to encounter him. Talk about him. Think of him.
She worried her lip. “It’s a kind offer and I’d be a fool to refuse. Yes, I’ll join you.”
Katherine clapped her hands together with a squeal. “Excellent. I cannot wait to renew our friendship and have you meet the others who will be in attendance. A few of them have also experienced scandals in their own right, and you wouldn’t find women better equipped to save the day for a fellow survivor.”
“I look forward to it,” Aurora said, and realized it was true.
Knowing that someone with more resources was trying to find Imogen left her able to look forward to what sounded like a very pleasant gathering, indeed. One where she could clear her thoughts, perhaps even make decisions about the future that had been so foggy in the year since her late husband’s death.
Chapter 3
Nicholas sat in the parlor at Robert and Katherine’s home, a book perched in his fingers, but too distracted to pay attention to the story. Instead, he stared at the crackling fire, his thoughts rolling in circles.
