Without waiting to see if they followed, knowing they would, Jasper turned on his heel and strode back up the makeshift aisle between the chairs.
“Miss Tufton, may I introduce to you Mr. Furley and his illustrious mother, the Viscountess Pomony.”
Louisa Tufton raised her puzzled gaze.
“As a special favor to me,” Jasper added, “I would appreciate if you would make them feel welcome here beside you.”
There!Jasper congratulated himself on how he’d honored her, too, by allowing her to act as his hostess. And she believed it, if her gracious nod and proud tilt of her chin were any indication.
He waited only long enough to see them move into the row before pushing his way back through his guests to find Miss Sudbury. He had a plan. The farther they sat from the musicians, the less anyone would notice them. In fact, he had a particular window seat in mind for the next forty minutes.
However, when Jasper got to where he’d left her, the woman had vanished.
“Devil take her!” he exclaimed, glancing around. Nearly everyone had taken a seat now, and plainly, she was nowhere to be seen. His quarry had escaped.
Why on earth would she do that when she was about to have the pleasure of his undivided attention?
With a shake of his head, Jasper took the nearest chair. He had the gilflirt’s name, and if she was staying with her widowed sister, then he knew her residence, too. Old Worthington had lived at Hanover Square practically since it was built.
Miss Sudbury wouldn’t escape him for long.
Chapter Two
“A certain heretofore unknown Miss S__ has caught the wickedly wandering eye of Lord M__, much to her peril, we fear.”
-The Gazette
Julia awakened to aknocking at her bedroom door, but before she could speak, her sister, Sarah, swept in looking every bit the countess she’d become two years earlier when she’d married the old earl. Conveniently, he’d passed away within a fortnight of their wedding.
It wasn’t as if her sister had planned such a happy occurrence. In fact, the marriage had been entirely arranged by their father, the Vicar of Chislehurst and the Earl of Worthington, who’d taken a liking to the eldest Sudbury daughter.And why wouldn’t he?
Sarah was pretty and sweet. Moreover, she’d given in to their father since the elderly earl was promising not only would she be taken care of, but so would the entire parish of Chislehurst.
Julia remembered crying with her sister the night before the dreaded wedding, but Sarah had been dutiful and determined.
Then she’d been blissfully widowed and had even brought Julia to London to stay with her during her mourning and beyond. It hadn’t taken long for Julia to see for herself the excess and frivolous nature of most members of thebeau monde. Especially when compared to the stark poverty outside the small privileged area of Mayfair.
