Georgie jumped up to check her own hair. “Disaster,” she groaned.
Charlie was laughing. “Don’t forget the list.”
“We don’t know that is what he is here for. Does he have two little girls with him?”
“No’m. All alone, he is. And lookin’ like a cat just landed on a griddle, if you pardon me sayin’ so.”
Georgie could just imagine. Throwing a shawl around her shoulders, she ran past the maid, her cousins on her heels.
They knew better than to arrive in such a hurly-burly fashion, of course. The minute they reached the main staircase, the three abruptly slowed like skiffs caught in a cross current and floated down the rest of the way, the perfect embodiment of English womanhood. Except for Charlie, who had limited capabilities for self-control.
“A crown says he runs after five minutes with your mother,” she predicted.
“Nobody is taking that bet, Charlie,” Eddie scoffed, smoothing her pastel-peach skirts.
“He withstood Marshall Soult,” Georgie reminded them.
Charlie chuckled at that. “Marshall Soult is not nearly as determined as your mother.”
No one could argue the point. But even as they stopped to collect themselves outside the South Salon door, they realized the situation had already developed into a full-blown disaster.
“And how did you meet my niece?” demanded a strident voice.
Charlie was already spinning back toward the stairs. Eddie and Georgie neatly caught her by the arms and turned her right back around.
“She’syourmother, Charlie,” Georgie hissed. “If we can stand it, so can you.”
“They don’t want to see me,” Charlie hissed. “They want to see you.”
Before Georgie could change their minds, Eddie and Charlie pushed her through the door.
“Whois not handsome?” was the last thing she heard from them as she tripped into the salon.
The first thing Georgie saw as she skidded to the edge of her mama’s blue-and-rose Aubusson carpet was Greyville, sitting as rigidly as a defendant in the dock, a cup of tea on his knee, his expression that of a person who had been tossed into a bear cage. Trying to protect himself even as he struggled to decide what was going on.
Georgie could hardly blame him. Of course, no one just coming upon the scene would wonder why. He was dressed for a call in a chocolate-brown Bath superfine and buff inexpressibles, his cravat tied in a simple knot. Across from Greyville twoabsolutely identical women sat side-by-side on the cream settee, their aristocratic looks the mirror image of each other, from elegantly upswept blonde hair to commanding brown eyes to an attire of high-waisted, long-sleeve day dresses in identical soft periwinkle, adorned with just a touch of Brussels lace. It could throw anyone off.
Georgie quickly dipped a curtsy to her mother and her aunt, hoping the prompt arrival would gain her credit. “Mama, Aunt Berenice.”
If Georgie were following protocol, she should have called her mother’s twin Aunt Packham. But with all the female Packhams in the family, it had been decided the risk of confusion was just too great.
Her mother favored her with a quiet smile that looked just a bit smug.
Aunt Berenice glared. “You have a visitor,” she announced, as Greyville got to his feet.
Once one heard Aunt Berenice, they never mistook her for Georgie’s mama again. Georgie’s mama was all refinement, subtlety, and calm authority. Charlie’s mama could easily be mistaken for an artillery colonel. The problem was that one wouldn’t recognize the difference until it was too late.
“Yes,” Georgie said, hand out. “I see that.” She allowed Greyville to perform the obeisances. “Lord Coleford.”
He bowed. “Lady Georgianna.”
“He was just about to tell us how you met,” Aunt Berenice stated, her nose wrinkling a bit, as if she could smell Georgie’s brain working overtime on a reasonable lie.
“In the park,” Georgie blurted out, sure her brain was frying. “I was walking with the cousins and came across Lord Coleford and his own little cousins out for an airing.”
“An airing?’ Aunt Berenice barked. “They are not winter blankets, young lady.”
“Yes,” Greyville gently agreed, “but you cannot say that all children don’t need fresh air.”
