“Good evening, Lady Isobel.” Carenza curtsied along with Allegra. “Thank you for the invitation.”
“Wonderful!” As usual Aragon seemed oblivious to his mother’s fury, which Julian enjoyed immensely. “I’ve been mounting Lady Carenza in the park.”
“Your son has been very kind, Lady Isobel,” Carenza said.
“Of course he has,” their mother said with something of a snap. “I brought him up to be civil to people of all classes.”
“Even lowly folk like us.” Allegra entered the conversation, her chin raised at a dangerous angle. “I’m amazed that we aren’t swooning at the great honor, Carenza.”
Aragon laughed and lightly punched Julian on the arm. “Lady Allegra is quite the wit, isn’t she?”
“Indeed,” Julian murmured, aware that Carenza was giving him a rather pointed stare. “Who else have you invited to your dinner party, brother?”
“Well.” Aragon looked at Carenza. “I didn’t want you to feel that you didn’t know anyone, so I took the liberty of inviting the new earl and his wife.”
“The Smythe-Hardings?” Carenza asked.
“That’s the ones.” Aragon turned to the door. “They’ve just arrived. Come along, Mother, I’ll introduce you to them.”
He placed his mother’s hand on his sleeve and went off, leaving Julian facing two accusing faces.
He held up his hands, aware of an unfortunate desire to laugh. “I swear I had no idea Aragon was going to do this.”
“How on earth are we going to sit around a table together when they won’t even acknowledge I exist?” Carenza demanded.
“I’m sure Aragon has thought of that,” Julian said.
“And I’m fairly certain he hasn’t,” Carenza hissed at him.
The butler appeared to announce dinner, and Carenza managed to smile at Aragon when he offered to escort her into the dining room.
Julian offered his arm to Allegra. “This should be fun.”
Allegra looked up at him as they approached the dining room. She was wearing her favorite shade of blue, which made her eyes sparkle. “Or it might be a complete disaster.”
“Either way, my mother will hate it,” Julian said. “And I know I can rely on you to help me soothe the stormy seas.”
She threw him a challenging glance as they approached the table. He pulled out her chair and set her napkin on her lap. His mother sat at the top of the table, Aragon on her right and the new earl on her left, which meant Carenza was directly opposite Lady Harriet, the new countess. Julian was next to Lady Harriet and opposite the curate of the church his mother favored in London. There were two more couples whom he thought were distant relatives come to visit London who were suitably overawed by the present company and unlikely to utter a word.
Aragon smiled at everyone. “My first dinner party.”
“Hardly, dear,” his mother responded. “We’ve enjoyed hundreds of such events.”
“Not ones that I’ve planned all by myself,” Aragon said. “I set everything up with the housekeeper and cook. I didn’t want you to be bothered with all the details.”
“I’m sure you didn’t.” For once his mother sounded slightly annoyed with Aragon.
“Are you enjoying the Smythe-Harding town house?” Aragon asked Lady Harriet, oblivious to his mother’s tone. “As far as I remember it is very conveniently situated.”
“The house is in an excellent location,” Lady Harriet, the new countess, agreed. “Unfortunately, the interior does not match the exterior. We’ve had to tear out all the decor and sell off most of the furniture.” She paused and raised her voice. “Everything had been done in such bad taste we could barely manage to live there.”
The gloves are off… Julian couldn’t help but look at Carenza. Her face bore an expression of polite interest.
“Whoever decorated the house had no discernable elegance or style. In truth, it reminded me of some gaudy theater or something.” Lady Harriet gave a little laugh. “The former occupant of the house might disagree with me, but—”
“Oh, no,” Carenza said sweetly. “I didn’t like the decor myself, but Hector’s mother was responsible for it, and I didn’t feel it would’ve been right to change a thing when his whole family loved it so much.” She sipped her wine. “I’m sure you’ll get some comments on your decision when you host the Christmas party this year.”
“Christmas party?” The earl looked over at Carenza.
