Tenacious Trents 03 - A Reluctant Rake (33 page)

He returned a moment later. “Lady
Bentley is in the green salon.” He stood back and gestured up the
stairs. “I will take you to her.”

“It is no bother,” Grace assured him.
“I know the way.”

Audrey followed Grace up the marble
staircase, trying not to gawk at the priceless paintings along the
wall. Jordan had lived here on occasion as a child and young man,
when he wasn’t in the country or at school. Her background, in
comparison, was quite provincial. Did he realize how humble her
upbringing was compared to his? Would it matter to
Jordan?

They turned down a corridor covered in
a rich gold carpet. Her slippered feet practically sank into the
thick softness. Dark paneling covered the lower portion of the
wall, and shined as if just polished. More paintings were hung
along the wall at even intervals with gold sconces placed between
them.

Grace entered the second door on the
left and Audrey followed her inside. A gentleman, who had been
holding a boy of about three on his lap, rose at their entrance.
Audrey vaguely recalled meeting him at one time but could not
recall his name.

“Jamie,” Eleanor said as she came to
her feet. “Go find your brothers and you may play with
them.”

The little boy darted toward them.
Grace and Audrey quickly split apart, allowing him room to pass.
She hadn’t been aware Lady Bentley had children. Had she been
married prior to meeting Lord Bentley?

“Jamie,” Eleanor called out but it was
too late, he was already between them almost tripping between their
skirts. There would have been more room to go around them, but he
was too set on the door.

“I’m sorry,” Eleanor said as she came
forward. “Jamie gets to spend so little time playing with his
brothers because they are with their tutors most of the
day.

“Brothers?” Audrey found herself asking
before she closed her mouth. It was rude to ask.

“Jamie is my youngest brother.” She
smiled. “I also have two other brothers and a sister. They became
my responsibility when my mother died a few years ago.”

“I am sorry.”

“Thank you,” Eleanor smiled sadly. “I
miss my mother, but am grateful that Bentley tolerates them enough
so they can remain with me.”

“Tolerates?” the gentleman questioned.
“Those children have him wrapped around their finger and it will be
even worse with his own children.”

Eleanor laughed. “Yes, but a year ago I
simply hoped to find a gentleman to marry who would take on my
family as well.”

The gentleman’s features softened.
“Yet, you ended up with so much more.”

She sighed. “Yes I did.”

Audrey suspected there was more to the
story but she wasn’t going to be so rude as to ask. Besides, she
wanted to know if there was any news. Before she could voice the
question, Eleanor focused on Grace and Audrey. “Is there any
news?”

Disappointment settled in at the
knowledge that there wasn’t anything new to report.

“No,” Grace responded.

Eleanor heaved a heavier sigh. “Please,
come in and join us for tea.”

As they approached the sitting area,
Eleanor introduced them to the gentleman. “This is my good friend
of many years, Viscount Acker.”

He bowed before the ladies. “It is an
honor to be in the company of such three lovely ladies.”

Eleanor rolled her eyes as they took
their seats. Audrey chose a chair at the side of the grouping,
wondering if she could manage to sit calmly and take
tea.

The footman entered a moment later and
placed a new tea set on the table and removed the one previously
used by Lord Acker and Lady Bentley. Eleanor poured two cups and
handed one to Grace and the other to Audrey before offering cakes.
Audrey declined. She could not eat a thing. Besides, eating a piece
of cake now would only remind her of kissing Jordan and she was
liable to burst into tears.

“I haven’t seen much of you, Drake,
since you have come to London,” Eleanor addressed the lord.
Apparently Drake was his Christian name.

“I’ve been busy searching these past
few days,” he answered before taking a sip of tea.

“For someone or something?” Eleanor
prompted.

He smiled and placed his teacup on the
table. “A someone, if you must know. A female someone.”

“Oh, are you finally going to seriously
think about marriage?”

His eyes met Eleanor’s. “I was serious
before.”

“You would have been
miserable.”

Who had he proposed to and why had she
turned him down. Audrey looked at her future sister-in-law. Had it
been Eleanor? One day she hoped to find out, but now was not the
time to pry.

“Is it a particular someone or are you
still searching?”

He grinned. “I’ve already met her, but
I lost her.”

Audrey looked over at him. “How do you
lose someone?” It was probably rude of her to ask as she didn’t
know him but curiosity had gotten the better of her and it kept her
mind occupied.

He glanced at her. Was he angry at the
question?

“I am sorry, I shouldn’t have
pried.”

“Oh, on the contrary. It is an
interesting story and since all three of you are ladies,” he held
his hands out, palms up gesturing. “Perhaps you could help me solve
the mystery.”

Audrey blew out a breath. At least he
hadn’t thought her impertinent.

“Where did you last see her?” Grace
asked.

“Covent Gardens,” he
announced.

Eleanor leaned forward. “Perhaps this
isn’t the proper gathering for such a discussion.”

Acker threw back his head a laughed.
“Of all people, Eleanor, I thought you knew me better than
that.”

Eleanor’s cheeks turned a lovely shade
of pink before she titled her head down and sipped from the
cup.

“I sit on the board focusing on
national culture at The Theatre Royal.” He turned to Grace. “Drury
Lane Theatre,” he said as if to clarify.

“You met her at a meeting?”

“No.” He smiled.

Were ladies even allowed to sit on the
board? So many times these were run by gentlemen and most thought
women too delicate to hold such positions.

“It was as I was leaving.”

Eleanor lifted a brow and settled into
her chair.

“She was there to inquire if there
would be auditions or if the company and troupe are already set for
the Season.”

“Are they?” Grace asked.

Audrey had no idea how the theatre
actually worked. She simply knew she enjoyed attending.

Acker shrugged. “I do not know, which
is what I told her of course.”

“There are auditions and now you are
looking for her?” Eleanor asked dryly.

Acker shot her a look. “Our
conversation continued and I learned that she is not an actress but
a ballerina.” A slow smile came to his lips. “I should have known
by the sight of her. Tall, thin, elegant with a long, swanlike
neck. Her hair was the loveliest shade of reddish gold. As
beautiful as the morning sunrise. And she had the clearest green
eyes I had ever encountered. Emeralds are not as
beautiful.”

Eleanor slowly leaned forward, studying
Acker. “I have never heard you speak so of any female. Are you in
love?”

He gave her a half smile shrugged his
shoulders. “I will admit I am a bit smitten, but beyond that, I am
not sure.”

“I so enjoy the ballet,” Audrey sighed.
“Not nearly enough are performed.”

Acker turned toward her. “I was saying
the very same thing just the other day.”

“I am sure it had nothing to do with
the ballerina you recently encountered,” Eleanor offered
dryly.

Acker frowned at Eleanor again. The two
acted more like brother and sister than friends. Audrey had always
wanted a sibling. She longed to have someone she could share
everything with and who she could count on no matter what. Jordan
had three brothers and a sister, as did Eleanor,
apparently.

“There will be a ballet on
May twenty-sixth.
Adolfo E Chiara
is being performed at the King’s Theatre for the
benefit of Mr. J. Naldi.”

Audrey brightened. She would need to
see about obtaining tickets. Would Jordan go with her? Did he even
enjoy the ballet? Given what she knew of his reputation it was
highly doubtful.

What if he wasn’t free by May
twenty-sixth? It was a horrible thought. She could certainly not
enjoy the production while he was locked in Newgate.

“As I am not associated with King’s
Theatre, I did not know if the show had a full cast, but I provided
her the directions.”

“Is that the last you saw of her?”
Eleanor asked.

“No. I glimpsed her a few days
later.”

Eleanor stared at Acker, waiting for
him to continue. Instead he picked a cake up off the tray and bit
into it.

“You aren’t going to tell us more?” She
demanded.

“I was cutting through the flower
market on my way home. It was still early.”

Eleanor lifted a censuring eyebrow.
Everyone knew the area was known not only for the theatre, flower
market, but also brothels and prostitutes.

His cheeks brightened but Acker
hastened to continue. “There was a young woman picking out flowers
and at first I thought it was my ballerina because they looked so
much alike.”

“She wasn’t?” Grace asked.

“No, but her younger
sister.”

Audrey found herself
nodding.

“But my ballerina soon came along and
she remembered me from the theatre. She could not find work
dancing, unfortunately. I would love to see her on
stage.”

“Does she have a name?” Eleanor asked.
“Or do you simply call her “my ballerina”?”

“It is Juliette Mirabelle.”

“French?” Audrey asked.

“Yes,” Acker brightened and turned
toward her. “She was raised in France but now lives here with her
mother and two sisters. One sister is an actress and another is an
artist.”

“Is that the last time you saw her?”
Audrey could sense Eleanor’s frustration. She was feeling the same.
Acker had pulled her into this story and she wanted to know how he
lost her. If there had only been two encounters it isn’t as if she
was his to lose.

“We met two mornings later and this
time she allowed me to escort her to a coffee house while her
sister chose flowers. I was preparing to ask her direction since I
did not know where she lived and wished to meet her mother and
further my courtship.”

“What happened?” Grace
asked.

“Her sister rushed in, arms loaded with
a bouquet, and insisted that Juliette had to leave. The sister was
pale and frightened. I didn’t get a chance to ask what was wrong
and the two were gone in the blink of an eye. She has not returned
to meet me.”

“You’ve not been able to locate her at
all?” Audrey asked.

“No. It is as if she disappeared. I’ve
asked around and nobody seems to know the family.”

“This is very odd,” Grace
muttered.

“Those are my thoughts as well. But I
must find her.”

“Do you intend on offering for her?”
Eleanor asked.

Acker shrugged. “I do not know. I don’t
know her well enough to make that determination but I am not ready
to let her disappear from my life either.”

“Your mother wouldn’t mind you marrying
a dancer?” Grace asked and then colored. It was an impolite
question but everyone knew that gentlemen, especially lords, did
not marry actresses and such. Audrey assumed ballerinas fell into
the same category.

Acker laughed. “My mother would be
happy if I married anyone. She wants to see me settled and have
grandchildren to spoil.”

A loving smiled pulled at
Eleanor’s lips. “He is right,” she directed her statement to Grace.
“Lady Acker wouldn’t care if the woman came from the tobacco fields
in America as long as her son was happy
and
married.”

“Ah, I see you have been telling them
about your lost lady.”

They turned toward the door at the
sound of Bentley’s voice. Audrey was on her feet instantly. “Is
there any news?”

“But apparently you didn’t take their
mind off their troubles,” he chastised Acker.

“As if we could forget Jordan is
sitting in Newgate,” Grace argued.

Eleanor narrowed her eyes at her
husband. “Did you send Acker to keep me occupied?”

“I knew you would worry and when I ran
into him in the flower market this morning I knew he could keep you
entertained for a short while.”

“What were you doing in Covent Garden?”
Eleanor asked, eyes raised as if his explanation had better be
convincing since he wasn’t holding any flowers to gift her
with.

“I had two perfectly good reasons for
being there,” he defended. His gaze shifted toward Audrey and he
cleared his throat. “I was going over Jordan’s movements up until
the time he was arrested.”