“Ah, you made it!”she said, getting to her feet and coming around the table with her hands spread out in front of her.
“I am so sorry I am late,” Johanna said, exchanging cheek kisses.The butler had already melted away among the greenery.“I was in Hyde Park with Lady Stark and the duke…”
“Enough said.”Lady Astrid laughed, pulling Johanna’s arm through hers to escort her to the table.Her red hair was piled loosely on top of her head, several strands having worked their way loose and brushing against the amber and cream stripes of her gown.The necklace around her throat was a simple amber drop, which matched her earbobs.“It must have been a Herculean task to escape that in time.”
“It was,” Johanna said fervently, making everyone laugh.Some of the tension that had wound its way around her chest loosened.She recognized all the ladies there, though Lady Astrid made introductions anyway, which helped dispel the initial awkwardness.
Mei, whom she’d met the day before, sat serenely sipping her tea, not at all perturbed to be surrounded by nobility.The matchmaker was the only one who was not of theton, but she seemed perfectly comfortable sitting there, clothed in an emerald outfit much like the one she’d been wearing yesterday, but more brightly colored.Her hair was pulled back into a bun today, held in place with carved wooden sticks that were both simple and lovely.
Baroness Ashfield, who immediately requested that Johanna call her Delilah, was the eldest of the group, though only by a few years.She was a widow, the younger daughter of an earl, and a stunning beauty.Her hair was as dark as Johanna’s was light, her eyes a bright amber that became almost golden when the light hit them, and she had a sultry, throaty voice that made Johanna feel positively squeaky in comparison.The canary-yellow day dress she was wearing made her eyes appear even brighter and lighter and gave her dusky complexion a soft glow.
“I must be Tiffany to you,” the Duchess of Clarence said, right after Delilah made her request for given names.Another stunning beauty, she was a true English rose, with her hair caught somewhere between blonde and brown, hazel eyes, and a pink-and-cream complexion.She was garbed in cornflower blue and was even more sumptuously curved than Delilah.
The Duchess of Hereford, who had been introduced as Miss Little at the house party, was still wearing her signature pink with pink diamond jewelry to set off her darker coloring.Mahogany skin, raven-wing-black hair, and midnight eyes were stunning against the lighter shade of dusky rose.
“And I am Kalina,” she said, smiling brightly with welcome.Miss Little, who had been bolder than Johanna but far shyer than Delilah at the house party, seemed to have come into her own with newfound confidence.
Johanna only hoped she could do as well.Perhaps there was something about actually becoming a duchess that automatically made one more confident.At the moment, she did not particularly feel like she belonged with this group of elegant ladies.Even Mei seemed more comfortable than Johanna felt, despite not being a noble, much less a duchess or soon-to-be duchess.
But she smiled and greeted them and hoped they did not see how her stomach was churning or her hands were shaking.If they did, they were kind enough not to look at her askance.She put a finger sandwich and a scone on her plate and hoped no one noticed she was crumbling the scone between her fingers rather than eating it.
Not from guilt, this time, but from sheer nerves.
“Gregory and I saw the announcement in the Gazette this morning,” Tiffany said, smiling in the same friendly way that she had at the house party.“We are so happy for you, but we are dying to know how it came about.”
“Especially since you had to leave the house party early,” Kalina said sympathetically.“We were all hoping to spend more time with you there.”
Tiffany laughed.“Yes, you missed all the excitement.”
“Excitement?”Johanna echoed curiously.She had not realized something had happened after she left, other than Kalina’s engagement to the Duke of Hereford.
“Oh yes, Kalina’s scandalous manner of snagging a duke,” Delilah teased, making Kalina roll her eyes.
“My father’s, you mean.”She looked at Johanna.“Most of thetondoes not know and think that Nathanial and I were a love match from the beginning, but everyone else who was at the house party knows the truth.My father noticed the growing feelings between myself and Hereford but knew that Hereford was not considering me for his wife because of the scandal around my grandfather disowning my father.As well as my newness to thetonsince he has three younger sisters who all need to debut and be guided through their Seasons.”
“Which all of us are more than capable of helping with, if you even require it.Nathanial was being foolish,” Lady Astrid said with a tone that made Johanna glad she was not the Duke of Hereford.Lady Astrid had little patience for ‘nonsense,’ which is what she clearly considered Hereford’s reticence over Kalina.
“Yes, well.My father decided the best way to handle the situation was to get Nathanial drunk and leave him in my bed,” Kalina said in exasperation while Johanna’s mouth dropped open in shock.
She’d heard of mothers attempting such tactics, though usually it was to leave the young lady in the gentleman’s bed, and it was an extremely risky maneuver relying on the gentleman’s honor to offer for her after being so heinously tricked.This was the first she’d heard of a father attempting such a thing.
“I am averydeep sleeper.I did not even wake the night that you left, and apparently, everyone else did.”
“It was rather noisy, I’m so sorry,” Johanna said, glancing at Lady Astrid, who waved her hand as if to wave Johanna’s guilt away.
“You needed to attend your mother.Think nothing of it.No one else did, especially after Kalina woke us all screaming when she found Nathanial in bed with her.”Lady Astrid smirked while the others laughed.Kalina included.
“You try waking with an unexpected naked man in your bed,” Kalina retorted.
“He was naked?”Johanna’s hands flew to her mouth in shock.
“Well, not entirely,” Kalina admitted.“But I did not know that.And he was not wearing very much.”
“The best ones never do,” Lady Delilah quipped, causing another round of laughter.Once again, Johanna was uncertain whether she belonged among these ladies.Not because of their stations, but because of their experience in marital matters.
Hopefully, she would feel more like she belonged once she had the experience as well.
“So,” Lady Astrid said, putting down her teacup and leaning eagerly toward Johanna.“You must tell us exactly what happened with Matthew.Did the two of you have atête-à-têteat the house party?”
