Page 42 of The New Earl’s Convenient Wife

Chapter Thirteen

Two nights later, anxious and wary despite Rafe’s reassurances, Juliana clung to his arm as they entered the Anderson townhouse for their first social event.

‘Relax!’ he murmured, patting the fingers she’d locked in a death grip on his arm. ‘This isn’t a grand ball; just a rout; most of the guests are former army associates, along with a few of the men Hart works with in Parliament.’

‘So Claire said when she took me to her modiste.’

Rafe scanned her with a glance. ‘A fine session it was! You look absolutely charming, Mouse.’

His use of her old nickname—before she was to be introduced as a countess—with its reminder of their long friendship and all the ways he’d supported her in the past calmed her, as she knew he meant to. Still, she felt marginally better knowing she truly did look her best in a simple evening gown of pale green, the tiny puff sleeves threaded through with a dark green satin ribbon echoed in the satin rouleau on the bottom edge of the skirt. The low-cut bodice framed the Thornthwaite emeralds, the matching diamond-and-emerald drops at her ears testimony to a time when the estate had been thriving.

May it be an omen of the future, she thought. Taking a deep breath, she vowed not to allow her trepidation to spoil Rafe’s first evening home among friends.

So she tried to bury all the doubts and still the quell of alarm that shocked through her as the butler intoned ‘The Earl and Countess of Thornthwaite.’ Scarcely breathing, she entered on Rafe’s arm, staring straight ahead so as not to notice all the gazes that turned to inspect them as they entered the ballroom.

Their host, Colonel Anderson of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, having been wounded in the Pyrenees campaign, had returned in advance of the rest of his unit, which was not due back until July. Resplendent in his Guards uniform, he greeted Juliana cordially and Rafe with enthusiasm.

‘So good to see you fully restored to health,’ Rafe said.

‘Dashed nuisance it was, having to be invalided out like that. Your husband and his calvary unit backed us on many an occasion,’ he told Juliana. ‘We must have a brandy later in the card room and catch up, Thornthwaite. If your lovely wife can spare you.’

‘I’d never keep him from his friends. One of them might have saved his life in battle once upon a time, a fact for which I can only be truly grateful.’

‘Well-spoken,’ Anderson replied. ‘Though I suspect the only thing I saved him from was being fleeced by that card sharp major in the 10th corps, that night in Lisbon. You remember?’

‘Oh, yes,’ Rafe said with a laugh. ‘A lucky escape indeed, for which I do owe you thanks.’

‘We shall chat later,’ Anderson told him, nodding a dismissal as the receiving line moved on.

‘Card sharps in the army?’ Juliana asked, amused.

Rafe gave her a rueful look. ‘While in winter quarters or encamped between battles—which were often months apart—card playing is one of most common occupations, once drill and standing duty for the day completed. Some men became…quite skilled.’

‘I imagine one might be “accidentally” shot while on picket duty if one became too “skilled.”’

‘Certainly, if he came from the ranks. If a gentleman by birth, he would have to be more cautious. Nothing would get one ostracized more quickly than to be discovered cheating at cards. Ah, there is Hart and Claire.’

Juliana felt an upswell of relief as Rafe led her over to his closest friend—and her newest one. For a good friend Claire had proved to be. She’d borne Juliana off to her favourite modiste and offered useful commentary on the gowns the proprietress presented that could be completed or altered within two days. Though initially shy at appearing in her chemise before the elegant duchess, Juliana found Claire soon set her at ease, even, to Juliana’s surprise, offering compliments and exclaiming how well the high-waisted, long-columned skirts would display to advantage on her. She’d been gratified almost to tears even if she’d not fully believed her, recalling how often her mother had bemoaned her short stature and woeful lack of bosom.

The modiste, fully mindful of the benefit that would come from having her designs recommended by a duchess and worn by a countess, was all obligation. After a murmured consultation with Claire, she offered several day gowns, a walking dress and two ball gowns—procured at prices Juliana guessed were well below the lady’s usual rates—along with a promise to have the first delivered the following day and the rest by the end of the week.

‘Now I must introduce you to my particular friends,’ Rafe said, breaking through her reverie. ‘In addition to our host, I see Lieutenants Ross and Barnes and Captain Lord Cole, all of whom served in the army with us.’

‘Cole, a baron, took up his position in the Lords last year, when I did,’ Hart informed her. ‘Shall we?’

The duke offered his wife his arm, Rafe took hers and they made a circuit of the room, Rafe introducing her to the men he’d mentioned and their wives, along with a scattering of others Hart knew from Parliament.

‘You should expect to receive invitations to dance from most of those gentlemen,’ Rafe warned her after their transit as he snagged her a glass of wine. ‘But don’t worry. You look lovely and they will find you charming.’

‘I suppose they will expect me to talk with them,’ she said, trying to fight off the anxiety that threatened to revive. ‘I’m not sure what to say. Mama always said, “A lady allows the gentleman to direct the conversation,” but I know so little of fashion or current doings in London, I’m not sure I could hold up my end of the chat.’

Rafe waved a dismissive hand. ‘With army men, ask about where they were posted or interesting experiences they had while serving abroad. With the Parliamentary types, ask what bills they are currently working on. Then, you need only nod and smile.’

His advice made her feel a little better. ‘That I can do, and I won’t venture anything more, no matter what I think about what’s been said. Mama says, “A lady never expresses an opinion, except to agree with a gentleman’s.”’

‘I’m sorry being in London seems to have recalled your store of motherly admonitions,’ Rafe said acerbically. ‘I had hoped you’d left all that claptrap behind with her at Edgerton.’

‘London does bring it all back,’ she admitted.