CHAPTER 1
“You should have seen her, Temperance. It was quite the spectacle. Half the room had already fainted before she even reached the dance floor.”
Temperance pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. She had seen her, of course. She had been standing three feet away when her mother swept into the ballroom wearing a pair of perfectly tailored emerald trousers with a silk evening coat that brushed her ankles.
Hardly something that one expects from a lady. But then again, Albina had her own way of doing things.
“All eyes were on her,” Charity went on. “It was really quite the sight.”
“And she’s given thetona lot to chat about,” Alethea chimed in. “As you know, they love a good spectacle. Though, I should think that perhaps some of the ladies were just jealous that yourmother could walk around so easily, not being in a ball gown and all.”
“They certainly had a strange way of showing that they were jealous, though. Lord Pemley’s wifewept,” Charity pressed on, leaning forward. “She said it was an affront to the natural order.”
“The natural order,” Temperance repeated, shaking her head. There was no shortage of dramatic reactions from the ladies of theton, as was to be expected.
“Her exact words.”
“And what did you say?”
“I told her the natural order had been extraordinarily dull up until that point, and that I, for one, welcomed the change,” Charity smiled.
That made Temperance laugh properly. The ladies were at another ball, as was usual for them. Though, she was the only one left out of her group of friends to not yet marry.
These balls, therefore, should be a place where she should be hunting down a prospective husband. But most of the time, Temperance found that she was left chasing after her mother instead.
“In all seriousness,” Alethea said gently, “it has made every scandal sheet in London. Oliver showed me three differentaccounts over breakfast, and well, they definitely have an opinion. From the color of the pants, to the fabric, and to the impropriety of it all.”
“I helped her choose the fabric,” Temperance added, grinning.
“Temperance….”
“What? She asked my opinion.”
“You are not going to tell me youapproved…” Charity said, wide-eyed. It was not every day that one heard stories such as this in the society to which they belonged.
No, ladies and older ladies especially were meant to be prim and proper. That was what was taught to them as right, and it was the only way for women to survive society.
Temperance paid little heed to such notions, though.
“I told her that if she was going to cause a scene, she ought to do it in something that fit well.” Temperance smoothed an imaginary crease from her skirt. “The cut was impeccable, and I will say that much for the whole affair.”
“You are insane,” Charity announced, though she was grinning despite herself. “Both of you. Truly. The pair of you are going to give thetona collective apoplexy before the season is out.”
“We came rather close at the ball,” Temperance allowed. “I did have to intervene before she found the billiards room. She had that look in her eye… you know the one…. And well I had to step in then.”
“Good Lord.”
“She cannot help herself.” Temperance said it lightly, the way she always did, “She spent thirty years being told what to do, and now she is making up for every single moment of it.”
That was the honest truth of it.
Albina had spent most of her marriage strictly controlled, and it was only two years ago that she found the barest sliver of freedom when her husband, Temperance’s father, had passed away.
“She has earned a little freedom, I say,” Temperance’s’ voice turned sympathetic. It was unusual for her to show much emotion, as she usually hid all the less pleasant ones behind a sharp veil of humor and wit.
The room was quiet for a moment. Charity looked at her with that particular softness she occasionally forgot to conceal… the kind Temperance did not especially want directed at her.
“And the new heir?” Charity asked carefully. “Still no sign?”
