The First Proposal - Chasity Bowlin Page 0,18
you send someone up to supervise the children?” Percy asked.
The maid’s expression remained passive, but her dread was palpable. “Mrs. Fennelworth stated that if anyone called and you were required to speak with them that I should… that I should stay with the children in your stead.”
Percy nodded. As she left the room, she whispered to the girl, “God speed.”
With a pause to check her already disheveled appearance in hall mirror, she made her way to the morning room where Lady Holland awaited her. She wasn’t entirely certain what she’d expected, but the gloriously beautiful woman with red hair and glowing, alabaster skin was not at all it. Perhaps it was because she looked so very little like her brother.
“Good morning, Lady Holland. Thank you for calling,” Percy said softly. “I am sorry my sister is not here to greet you, as she is out paying her morning calls.”
“I’m not. I wasn’t really interested in speaking with your sister, after all,” she replied with a smile. And that was where the similarities to her brother became apparent. “I came to see you, Miss Blake. You have made the quite impression on my brother. But alas, we have much to do this morning and it will not be accomplished here. Come, my carriage awaits.”
Percy shook her head. “I know that he intended to have you issue an invitation to your ball on Saturday and to provide appropriate attire for me… but I can’t accept such gifts from him.”
“Don’t be silly. The gown will be a gift from me. I have very few female friends, you see. They don’t like me for some reason… It could be because my reputation was in tatters before and has only been salvaged by my recent marriage. It could also be that they are a bunch of jealous cats. What do you think, Miss Blake?”
“I think they certainly have every reason to be envious,” Percy answered honestly.
The Viscountess Holland laughed at that. “That pretty compliment just earned you a lovely ball gown that will make my brother salivate.”
“Do I want him salivating?”
“Most assuredly yes. Come along, Miss Blake. I always get what I want, you know? It’s easier just to agree with me.”
Percy sighed. “You are very much like your brother regardless of what I first thought upon entering this room.”
“Indeed. Will it help if I offer to tell you embarrassing stories about him while we shop?”
“No,” Percy lied.
The Viscountess narrowed her eyes. “Do you deny that you are intrigued?”
“No, I do not. You knew I would collapse under the weight of temptation, didn’t you?” Percy demanded.
“Absolutely. Get your coat.”
Perched on the edge of a very uncomfortable chair in a very dour morning room, Daphne Fennelworth smiled at her hostess. There was no bigger gossip in all of London than Lady Habersham. If anyone would know who Algernon Dunne’s former lover was, it would be her. Persephone could not marry and leave her, after all. As horrid as her monstrous children were at the moment, they were better behaved for her sister than anyone. Every reputable agency in town had refused to send another governess to them and those exalted few who were willing to work with such difficult children were beyond any amount that Daphne would ever consider spending on something so wasteful. They were children, after all, what could they possibly need beyond food, shelter and clothing?
“Tell me, Lady Habersham, are you acquainted with Mr. Algernon Dunne?” Daphne asked, a sweet and utterly phony smile plastered on her face.
“I know the man. I wouldn’t call him a friend though,” Lady Habersham said. “The sister was quite scandalous!”
“I’d heard that,” Daphne replied. “I came to see you at the urging of my friend, Lady Middlebrook. You see, Mr. Dunne is my neighbor, and I’m afraid that he’s paying addresses to my sister under false pretenses. I think he’s only toying with her emotions to make another woman jealous. I thought that you might know who that woman was.”
Lady Habersham’s eyes lit up with glee as she leaned in and answered in a loud stage whisper. “Oh, my dear, that certainly is the case. He was involved in a long standing liaison that has only recently ended, you see? Lady Sheffield. Aurora. Beautiful woman. Stunning even. And after two years of their not so secret trysts, he proposed and she turned him down flat.”
“Why on earth would any woman turn him down? He’s quite handsome, very well set, connected in society… I simply can’t fathom it,”