Ambersley (Lords of London) (31 page)

“
Derek, what a lovely surprise. We weren’t expecting you in London so soon.” Rosalie beckoned him to take a seat. Her actions paid no heed to the difficult terms on which they’d parted.

“
Hello, Derek,” Olivia stopped on the threshold. Despite her polished appearance, she looked too frightened to enter the room.

Derek reached out to her. “Come here, Livvie. Let me look at you. You’ve changed.”

She rushed to grasp his hand with tears glistening in her eyes. “If you only knew, Derek. I know how angry and disappointed you were with me when—” She faltered and looked at the ground.

Derek squeezed her fingers gently.

She lifted her eyes to his and found the courage to continue. “When I was at Ambersley. I know what I did was wrong. I hate knowing I ruined Johnny’s future, that I spoiled the friendship between you. I didn’t want to disappoint you, and yet, that’s exactly what I did.” Her dimpled chin quivered slightly, and Derek was reminded of the first time he’d seen it, of the child she’d been, seeking approval and love. She still sought them, he realized, because she didn’t get them from her mother. Derek knew too well what that was like.

Rosalie interrupted his thoughts. “I’m sure Derek has forgiven you, my dear.”

“
Of course,” Derek agreed at once. “My temper was at its worst that day, but you needn’t fear me in future. I was very angry, not so much with you as with the circumstances. As for Johnny, his destiny was not ruined, merely changed. He’ll make a new start in America.” Derek smiled at the way his words masked the real situation. “I would have you tell me the truth from now. I don’t appreciate lies of any sort. Do you understand?”

Olivia nodded shyly, but when he smiled at her, she cast herself into his arms with a single gulping sob. “I’ll never do it again, Derek. I swear!”

While Derek soothed her agitation, Rosalie stood by, smothering a yawn. Emotional displays still bored her, he noted.

Derek pulled back to look upon Olivia’s wet face. “Are you ready for your presentation?”

Her eyes sparkled between tears and excitement. “I think so. Mama and Miss Trent have had me practicing for weeks. Exactly how to curtsey, exactly where to look, exactly what the Queen or the Prince will say. My dress arrived a few days ago. It’s so beautiful. Mama says you paid for it, thank you!”

Rosalie dared him with her smile. “It was quite generous of you to buy it for her.”

Of course, she wouldn’t tell Livvie he paid for all her clothing. “Don’t thank me, just pray the colts keep winning. Now, have you considered a presentation ball?”

Rosalie’s eyes lit with hope immediately, just as he’d expected. “I’ve considered it, but I wasn’t sure how we were to pay for such an extravagant affair.”

And she would still expect it to be an extravagant affair.

“
I’ve discussed this with Minton, and here’s what we propose. Since Olivia and my ward, Lady Johanna, are to be presented this spring, I shall host one presentation ball for both ladies at Grosvenor Square. Lady Johanna’s funds shall pay a large portion of the bill. This will allow us to make the ball the most lavish event of the Season, and with two such debutantes present, it should be well-attended.”

Rosalie curled her hands into fists, her fingernails biting into her palms.
That Vaughan chit.
It still irked her that the girl had turned up after all these years. Once again, her children had been forced to make way for another of more means and precedence. “Lud, Derek, I cannot fathom why you didn’t put Lady Johanna into my care from the outset.”

Because she’s safer away from you.
Derek looked to his sister. “And divide your attention? You already have charge of one of the true beauties of the Season.” He smiled at Olivia. “No, she needed a great deal of preparation, and Aunt Bess had time on her hands over the winter in Bath.”

Rosalie considered her daughter carefully. She wanted the largest ball of the Season to be her daughter’s success alone, but there was no denying that Johanna Vaughan’s money would allow them to stage an event everyone would remember.

Olivia truly was a beauty with her black hair and bright blue eyes, and she was gaining the polish of a rare gem. Her lips curling into a smile, Rosalie decided she would stake Olivia against any other young woman in London. Lady Johanna might be rich, but she was bound to be a plain little drab having been raised in a priory. “Very well, Derek. I agree to your plan. When shall the ball be held?”

“
A fortnight after the presentation. Everyone will have returned to Town by then. Provide me a list of guests, and I’ll have Pritchard send the invitations.”

This met with her approval. Thank heavens Derek was through flying into the boughs over that whole stable boy incident. “Olivia will need another dress. I’m afraid she doesn’t have anything suitable for a ball.”

Olivia opened her mouth but closed it again when Rosalie caught her eye.

Derek’s lips thinned then bent into a tight smile. “By all means, allow me to buy her a gown. Choose something that will bring out her eyes. Oh, shall I invite Lady Jersey? Perhaps you can procure Olivia’s vouchers to Almack’s.”

“
Certainly, my lord.” Pleased, she dipped a small curtsey.

“
And be sure Curtis attends.” In truth, Derek wasn’t sure his brother was even now in London.

“
He fears you’ll not acknowledge him anymore.”

“
Good God, tell him he’s becoming more dramatic than Olivia.” Derek retrieved his hat. “All men make mistakes. Good men also make amends.”

Their interview over, he let himself out the front door and strolled to his coach. He knew Rosalie would take immediate advantage of his softening toward her. She might be pliant and agreeable now, but once Olivia was launched on Society, he had no doubt his stepmother would revert to her insatiable demands. Were she to discover her attempt to destroy Johnny had been the catalyst to Lady Johanna’s discovery, he hated to think what she would do.

He studiously avoided visiting Portman Square, reasoning he might fare better with Johanna if she didn’t see him for a few days. He’d missed her after she’d left Ambersley. The Hall had never felt emptier.

Through Harry, he learned all the details of her presentation. Dining alone at Grosvenor Square, the two gentlemen nursed their port at the table while Paget cleared supper. All three pretended Paget wasn’t glued to every word.

“
The Prince Regent was on the throne yesterday, and Johanna said he smiled most graciously at her. Being a duke’s daughter, she was permitted to kiss his hand, and he told her she was quite lovely.” Unable to suppress a grin, Harry stared into his glass. “Johanna asked me last night if that’s all a man thought was important in a woman—her beauty. I told her that, of course, the Prince—like all men—wasn’t immune to a woman’s charms, but that he also had a healthy regard for her fortune as well.”

Derek coughed up his last sip of port and dabbed at his lips. “Was she angry?”

“
Furious,” Harry said on a laugh.

“
Paget, remind me to ask Pritchard if he included His Highness on the invitation list.”

“
Yes, Your Grace.” Paget withdrew, a smile on his lips.

Derek poured more port while Harry watched him through narrowed eyes. “Derek, you know I hate to pry—”

Derek snorted. “Of all the outrageous lies, Harry. Why would you say that when you’re constantly doing it? Isn’t that what they teach you at the Foreign Office?”

This last made Harry rise stiffl-backed. “Well, if that’s what you believe, I won’t bother you anymore tonight.”

“
Don’t you dare leave. I’d rather have you prying information from me than bribing my staff.”

“
I
never
—”

“
Then I’m sorry I suggested it,” Derek shot back. “Pour yourself another drink and tell me what’s on your mind.”

Harry pursed his lips for a moment. “Do you plan to marry Johanna?”

Caught completely off guard, Derek blinked at him once then threw his head back and laughed.

“
I’m serious.” Harry relaxed back into his chair. “You’re about to set all of London on her. With her beauty and her fortune, she’s going to attract the bucks faster than a doe in heat. How can you stand for that? Don’t you love her?”

Derek sobered at the final question. Not even to his cousin would he reveal the depth of his feelings for Johanna. In truth, she held his thoughts with an unsettling tenacity. Leaning forward, his elbows braced on the table, he met Harry’s eye and said quietly, “I proposed last month.”

“
Capitol! So, the two of you are secretly engaged?”

“
No. She refused my offer.”

Harry’s euphoria was quickly doused by this surprise. “What? You jest.”

“
I wish I did.” Derek sipped his port. “I proposed in March. It was spring, it was dawn, it was the east meadow. Oh, what the hell—it was foolish. I had this notion she loved me.”

“
But she does,” interjected Harry. “I mean, she
must.
”

Derek eyed his cousin’s idealism ruefully. “That morning she told me she had loved me as a child idolizes a hero, but she didn’t love me in a way to want to marry me. I was disappointed, I won’t deny, but—” He smiled into his glass. “Even the Prince Regent has failed to make any impression upon her. I believe she won’t care for Society. I intend to renew my suit following the Season, when I can do so without the
ton’s
prying eyes.”

“
Then you don’t believe your situation is hopeless.”

“
Hopeless? Never.” Derek drained his glass. “Make no mistake, I’ll marry Johanna before the end of the year.” Love or no, the restlessness in his heart couldn’t bear the thought of living without her any longer.

~

Over three hundred guests replied favorably to the duke’s gracious invitation to a ball honoring his sister and his ward. Nigel Minton found himself among the select guests included for an early supper at the house on Grosvenor Square. “My lord, I’m here, but I fear there may have been a mistake, for surely you didn’t mean to include me at table. I’ll certainly understand and wait elsewhere if—”

Derek drew the solicitor forward. “Pritchard and I made no mistake. You’re one of Lady Johanna’s guardians. Of course you’re to be included at the supper table. Fear not, Minton, it’s not as if I’ve seated you next to His Highness.”

Minton’s eyes widened behind his spectacles.

Knowing the situation could turn explosive as a powder keg if Rosalie recognized Johanna as the former gardener’s son, Derek had laid his strategies with as much care as any precarious battle. The invitation to Minton and the Coatworths asked them to arrive a full half hour before anyone else, allowing Johanna to prepare to meet his stepmother. Dressed in a simple cream-colored gown with aqua colored ribbons drawn under her high breasts, her chestnut hair piled atop her head with a single ringlet of curls allowed to escape over one shoulder, and the prized choker of pearls adorning her throat, Derek could hardly believe the heiress had once been a grubby boy.

The Vaughans arrived punctually. Derek had expected no less since his stepmother was acting as hostess for the evening. He would have preferred bestowing that honor upon Aunt Bess, but saw no sense in baiting Rosalie’s ire needlessly. Derek greeted his family as they entered the drawing room and knew the moment Rosalie’s gaze lighted on Johanna. Her lips closed together in a thin line of displeasure. Derek wisely avoided all eye contact with Harry.

Barely concealing her contempt, Rosalie’s eyes narrowed on the heiress. After all her years of toil and patience, it was galling to meet this girl whose reappearance had robbed her family of their fortune. The girl possessed an uncanny resemblance to the gardener’s son—the same coloring, the same eyes. But then, Curtis and Olivia shared many of the same features. No, Lady Johanna, nervousness reflected in her huge aqua eyes, was a princess who’d never known a day of toil. If she ever learned her dear father had sired a bastard, she’d probably faint.

Rosalie contemplated that lovely possibility as the heiress stepped forward at Derek’s invitation to be presented. “Lady Vaughan, ’tis a pleasure to finally meet the rest of my distant cousins. Thank you for inviting the Coatsworths and I tonight. It was most gracious of you.” She smiled demurely and dipped a curtsey.