I almost choke on my teacup. “You mean actual flowers?”
“Roses, lavender, lilies—actual flowers, wrapped in fragrant paper.” Livingston makes hand motions like he’s tearing away petals. “She’s not of the same class as I. That was the problem. Now, she has more money than most peers. More than me, well, while my mother’s not senile and controls the purse.”
“Perhaps being married to your mistress isn’t a bad thing.”
Livingston looks around. Does he spy the gawking peers and wealthy men, many of whom have attended my science meetings? Here, they drink and gamble in the open, and yet they’ll pretend to be paragons and bring their public wives to my ball.
“I used to fear what men like this think,” he says. “Rosa is terrified of being rejected again. I don’t know how to bring her into my world. I don’t think I can function as anything but a drunk in hers. I go to her every night at the place that she’s financing. To make her give up everything to be ridiculed in my world is too much. But I can’t have my child brought up in a brothel. And what if this is my son?”
“Women with businesses, what do you do with them?”
“Who are you looking around for, Torrance? You don’t care what anyone thinks.” He gapes at me and then tries to find what I’m searching for. “Why would you arrange dinner and sit in the most notable spot? This isn’t just about Rosa.”
“There is more, but for now, I want the dowager and Countess of Livingston to attend my ball.”
His eyes get big like teacups. “You want my mother and wife to come? Are you serious?”
“Madame Rosebud and Lady Hampton need routes back to acceptable society. I don’t want the mother of my child, or yours, ostracized. The dowager attendance can make sure both have acceptance.”
“Why my mama? What about Lord Mark’s?”
“Oh, the Marchioness of Prahmn is going to come.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“She got her beloved house back. Prahmn’s extended tour of the Continent gave her the opportunity she needed.”
“Torrance, you are always outthinking everyone. How exactly did you get in such a predicament of losing the woman you loved?”
“I trusted a friend. And thought my wife knew the man I was, but I was wrong. Katherine Wilcox Charles fell prey to rumors. You can’t have doubts about the ones you love or those who claim to love you. Don’t make the same mistake, Livingston. Madame Rosa needs to know you’ll fight for her, for your family.”
“I was public about Rosa before, but she couldn’t withstand the scrutiny. She made her exit from London loud and terrible. She thought that would help me move forward and end our marriage. How can I end the one good thing in my life?”
“You don’t. And you’ll be surprised at how flexible one can become when a woman asks you to do something. You learn to be quiet and very flexible.”
“Flexible? It would be nice not to have everything laundered to remove the rosewater scent.”
He does smell floral, but now so do I. Steele put chrysanthemums in my carriage for the other stops I must make. I probably won’t return to Anya House until dawn.
Finishing the last of my tea, I realize it doesn’t pack the punch that Scarlett’s does. Maybe I’ve grown fond of the taste. Or is it how it makes me feel when Katherine’s near?
We loved each other again. And it was as chaotic and crazy and as consuming as I remembered. No other love will be like hers.
“Madame Rosebud did me a huge favor, helping me expose the Marquess of Prahmn. I’m in her debt. I must pay my debts.”
“Mark’s father? Yes, that was shocking. Are you going to expose me at your ball?”
“That depends upon you. Madame Rosebud will attend my ball with or without your escort. Mr. Steele got her word this afternoon. She wants Stilton cheese, and to be acknowledged as your wife in public before hiding her condition is impossible.We’d talked a great deal about this before I became ill. I’m well now. I cannot refuse her request. I must clear my debts.”
“That’s good to hear.” An older man with thick gray hair and a greedy grin, one that reminds me of Tavis, stands near the table.
“Mr. Palmers,” I say. “It’s been a long time.”
“Too long,” he says with his lips curling up.
Every summer, when I visited my father, we spent time at the Palmerses’ estate. The man taught us cards and every game of chance. Those were good memories. It’s a pity all the good fun goes to hell as we age and discover our vices have no restraint. “What can I do for you, sir?”
“Is it true you’re offering twenty thousand pounds to the man who marries Katherine Wilcox?”
