With a last wink he couldn’t resist since it made her smile again, he departed the Diamond residence and considered it a morning well spent. Just like that, he had a fiancée.
Purity watched Foxfordleave as her emotions wavered between anxiety and relief. When her mother suggested they visit Clarity and tell her the news, she agreed hesitatingly. She couldn’t easily explain to anyone, not even her mother, how she felt irrationally unclothed. Yet Lord and Lady Varley having witnessed her in an intimate moment had stripped her daily costume of unblemished integrity.
A part of her thought she should remain indoors until the engagement was announced or maybe until after the marriage had occurred, at which time she hoped to reclaim her status of honor and respectability.
It was a foolish thought. She could not hide indoors for however long her parents decided was a suitable engagement. Moreover, if nothing appeared in the newspapers, then no one thought any less of her than they had two days earlier.
Her older sister welcomed the unexpected visit, having left Syon Park before the scene of Purity’s inglorious entrance into the greenhouse and thus was blissfully ignorant. Clarity thought it a simple social call for tea and biscuits.
Not waiting for the tea service to arrive, their mother made the abrupt announcement.
“Your sister is now engaged to Lord Foxford.”
Clarity’s eyes grew as big as shillings, staring at Purity who remained silent. The proclamation didn’t seem possible, not about her, not with Foxford. Surely, she would awaken from a dream to find her mother was talking about someone else entirely.
“Then that is why you took a stroll along the river at Syon Park,” Clarity surmised, “so the baron could ask for your hand. How romantic.”
Purity bit her lip. Would everyone who’d been at the picnic think similarly once her father put word of the engagement in the paper? That would be a welcome misinterpretation of the events.
“He declared his intent for our engagement at that time,” she said, glad she didn’t have to lie.
Clarity gave a clap of joy. “What wonderful news! He is dash-fire handsome, is he not?”
“He is,” Purity agreed, wishing she was as pleased as her sister. His handsome appearance was not in question, but how he had made use of his good looks could not be immediately forgotten.
“Foxford has charm to spare,” their mother agreed evenly.
But Purity shook her head. He had charmed his way under the skirts of many females if the tales were true.
“I sense something didn’t go quite as properly as it ought to for my dear sister’s liking,” Clarity said, finally toning down her jubilance since she was the only one expressing such happiness.
Purity waved the words away with her hand. “I’m simply being overly particular, as usual.”If one could classify being caught by another couple in the throes of a passionate embrace as being overly particular.
Regardless, Clarity put her arm around her. “It will all work out.”
Her words made Purity want to scream. While Clarity wasn’t buffle-headed, she had an outlook that always expected the best and the happiest for everyone around her.
But things didn’t simplywork out, not unless one managed and arranged and kept everyone in order, including herself.
And then she’d broken all her own rules!
Jumping to her feet she began to pace.
“Me! Marrying a rake. My reputation ruined. Me!” she repeated.
“What has happened?” Clarity asked, looking bewildered. “I have heard nothing about you or your reputation being ruined.
The maid entered with the tray carrying the tea service, so they fell silent until she’d set it down and left.
“What happened,” Purity said, “is that I was led away from the rest of the guests at the picnic.”
Clarity laughed. “Is that all? But you know how it is when one is outside of London proper. Certain rules are relaxed, whether at Syon Park or at a country estate. I witnessed a few other people going for a walk. You mustn’t be so hard on yourself,” she continued. “It’s not as though you were caught embracing one another while making noisy horse smacks.” And she laughed.
Purity caught her breath, her glance darting from her quiet mother to her amused sister. Finally, realizing the severity of the situation, Clarity stopped herself in a last hiccup of laughter.
“Oh, dear,” she said. “Youwerecaught.”
Purity nodded. Now her sister and her mother knew the truth. Not only had she been kissing Foxford, but she had also been discovered.
