“Father is away at present,” Lord Tobias explained. “Would you like to come for tea? We love visitors.”
“Thank you. I’ll be pleased to call when your father returns.”
“Our mother is at home. Please do come,” Lord Tobias said with a surprising eagerness. “I’d like to learn more about the renovations to the park.”
“We are most dreadfully short of company,” Lady Diana added, distracting Jason with her dimples.
Smiling, Jason reached into his coat pocket. “We can’t have that, now can we? I’ll call tomorrow at two if it’s convenient.” He handed Lord Tobias his card with his name and address printed on it in silver script.
“Is that the man you wished to see?” Lady Diana asked, pointing.
Jason twisted and caught sight of the back of a dark-haired man walking away through the park. “No. It appears the man I was to meet has been held up yet again.” He bowed. “Enjoy your game.”
“I know my sister, Helen, would like to meet you,” Lady Diana called after him.
He replaced his hat and, with a grin, paced along the path through the trees. The name Diana, that of the mythological Roman goddess of the hunt, the moon, and nature, quite suited the slender young woman, who had displayed athletic grace playing shuttlecock. Tobias was also an ancient Greek name, Jason recalled with amusement. And might Helen be as beautiful as Helen of Troy, daughter of Zeus and Leda? Whether she was or not, he suspected the whole family would have an abundance of charm.
As he tossed a coin to the crossing-sweeper at Piccadilly, his thoughts returned to the failure of his contact to appear. Was it in the Kinsey house that the informant had discovered some plot against the Crown? Lord Kinsey was eccentric, but he was said to be an honorable man. His obsession with ancient texts and tombs could make him vulnerable to the crafty and unscrupulous, however. Jason would be loath to uncover something unsavory within those walls. Where was the missing informant? Why had his letter been so annoyingly obscure? This might not be as easy a mission as Parnell suggested.
Damn, it was a bad time for Charlie to make an appearance.
Chapter Two
When Mary laid out Helen’s floral cambric, Diana gave a moue of distaste. “Why don’t you wear your lilac sarsnet? It makes your eyes look mysterious.”
In her chemise, stays, and petticoats, Helen turned to her with a sigh. “It’s afternoon tea, not a soirée.”
Diana’s golden eyebrows drew together in an exasperated frown. “That’s no reason for you not to look your best.”
“The gentleman is not coming to see me,” Helen said. “You look so pretty in that primrose muslin, Diana, I doubt he’ll notice me at all.”
“Mama has met Lord Peyton. He served under Wellington and is over thirty.”
Helen smiled wryly. “Too old for you, then.”
Diana gave a carefree shrug. “Debutantes often marry much older gentlemen.”
When the maid finished fastening the hooks down Helen’s back and stepped away, Helen smoothed the high-necked collar of the cream, brown, and gray patterned dress before the mirror then, leaning closely, tweaked a curl beside her ear to better hide the scar. They were to receive several callers this afternoon. Lady Moncrieff and her daughter, Charlotte, who she was launching this Season, and the Baker twins, whose mother always reminisced about the success of her own Season many years ago.
Helen tamped down a yearning for the country in spring, as she did every Season. She had to steel herself, aware that they would be inundated with invitations once everyone returned to the city. She ruthlessly banished the idyllic dream of rolling green hills dotted with daisies and black and white cows. She would remain in London and attend a dozen Almack’s dances if need be to see Diana married to the love of her life. “Shall we go down?”
“I am looking forward to seeing Peyton again,” Diana said as they descended the stairs together. “I know you will approve of him.”
Helen laughed. “How can you be sure on such short acquaintance?”
“Well, he has the most wonderful dark green eyes, but there’s much more to him than that, as you’ll see.”
“Not that old dress, Helen!” Mama sighed as she swept down the staircase behind them, the hem of her claret-colored gown raised in one slender hand. With her tall slim figure and long neck, their mother was always graceful. And Father adored her. Helen had once hoped that a man would feel that way about her. But four Seasons on from her first introduction to theton, she no longer considered it possible.
She was forced to accept that, although she’d been born into a family of striking good looks, hers were passable at best. She’d inherited her mother’s abundant chestnut hair and gray eyes, but not her tall, willowy frame. And none of her vivacity. Helen knew she lacked countenance. She was like a small gray dove amongst a batch of showy peacocks. The only time she had reached for the moon it had ended in disaster. She was extremely unlikely to ever do it again.
At a quarter to two, their butler, Fiske, showed Lord Peyton, into the drawing room carrying a valise. Seen at close quarters, he was indeed handsome, with a tall lithe figure and disordered ebony curls that rejected his large hand’s attempt to tame them. Immaculate in a marine blue tailcoat, thigh-tight fawn trousers, and a patterned cream silk waistcoat with etched silver buttons, his lengthy stride took him smartly across the carpet’s swirls of pink and gold to where Helen, her mother, Diana, and Toby, had risen from the twin sofas beside the fireplace.
“Lord Peyton, how good to see you again,” Mama said. “May I introduce you to my children?”
“I have already had the pleasure of meeting two of them.” He smiled at Diana and Toby. “Forgive me for being a little early. I wanted to see you before the rush of afternoon callers.”
“You are forgiven, my lord.” With a smile, Mama placed a gentle hand on Helen’s shoulder, giving her the tiniest push. “I don’t believe you’ve met my eldest daughter, Lady Helen.”
