a startled curtsy.
“Bligh, do you have any more jewelry in the amethyst
set?”
“A pendant, miss, but I prefer the necklace.”
“Might I suggest you use the pendant in my sister’s
hair, so the stone sits just here.” Amanda touched the
center of her forehead. “It will add to the exotic look of
the purple sari fabric.”
“Lord Spenford wishes her ladyship to wear the
Spenford diamonds,” Bligh said.
Constance gave a gasp of outrage at her perfidy.
“The amethysts are much more distinctive,” Amanda
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said. “Besides, the diamonds will be set in gold, which
isn’t nearly as good with Constance’s complexion.”
With that, she swept out of the room.
Belatedly, Constance thought how stunning she
looked in her simple white muslin.
Miriam began to rummage through the ivory box.
“What are you doing?” Constance asked sharply.
“Beg pardon, my lady, but the young miss was dead
right. That pendant will cause a real stir. Ah, here we
go.” Triumphant, she pulled out a silver chain, with a
teardrop-shaped amethyst stone hanging from it.
“I have no interest in following my sister’s advice—
and expect you to say nothing to anyone of the
argument you witnessed.”
“I wouldn’t,” Miriam said, hurt. “But, my lady,
there’s no point cutting off your nose to spite your face.
You’re the lady everyone will be watching tonight, and
you need to look your very best.”
Constance shuddered at the prospect of all that
attention.
She wanted only the attention of one person.
What would it take for Marcus to find her beautiful?
What dress, what accessory, what cosmetic artifice?
Not, she suspected, spurning the Spenford diamonds
in favor of cheaper stones set in silver.
But diamonds wouldn’t transform her into the kind of
wife he wished for, either.
“Very well,” she said. “Do whatever you choose.”
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264
Chapter Twenty-Three
When Constance started downstairs for dinner, Marcus
was in the hallway below, talking to her father. He must
have heard her step, for he glanced up, then away.
Then back again.
His gaze stayed fixed on Constance as she descended,
one hand firmly on the banister. He came forward to
greet her, held out a hand for her as she took the last
two steps.
“Good evening, my lord. Good evening, Papa,”
Constance said.
“Good evening, my lady.” Marcus’s voice was rich,
its timbre warm. He took her other hand in his.
“Constance, you look…” He paused, as if searching for
the right word.
Beautiful, she completed in her head. Say I look
beautiful.
Not to the world, she didn’t need that, but to him.
“Charming,” he said.
She felt her smile slip the tiniest degree.
“Delightful,” he added. He kissed her hand.
Silly to be so attached to one word. Especially when
God cared more about the heart.
“I’m not wearing the diamonds,” she confessed.
“I suspected you wouldn’t,” he said.
“How on earth…?”
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“Harper dropped a hint. He suggested you would look
unique, which he assures me every countess or duchess
aspires to be these days.” To Constance’s father he said,
“Harper recited a long list of quirks adopted by the
females of the peerage. By the time he’d finished I felt
I’d be quite glad if Constance’s only foible was to
refuse my diamonds.”
“You won’t find me complaining about her lack of
fine jewelry,” her father said. “Mind you, Constance, I
wouldn’t object to seeing you in diamonds, if that’s
what you wish.”
“That’s because you’re the best father in the land.”
She kissed his cheek. “Marcus, why are we standing in
the entry hall, and not sitting down to dinner?”
“Ah.” Marcus looked a bit sheepish. “That’s because
I have another surprise planned for you.”
“Oh, no!”
“Constance,” her father protested.
“She has reason to fear my surprises.” Marcus
winked at her—actually winked one eye!—and didn’t
reveal that the reverend’s presence was a former
unwanted surprise.
From outside, she heard the rumble of a carriage over
cobbles.
“Our surprise dinner guest,” Marcus said.
Dallow crossed the hallway and opened the front
door. Constance saw a carriage bearing a crest she
didn’t recognize. A groom was letting down the steps.
“Marcus, who—”
A fair-haired young woman, dressed in white silk
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266
with a gold overlay, disembarked from the carriage.
“Serena!” Constance squealed. She darted forward
and caught her older sister in a hug. “I can’t believe it!”
“Lord Spenford told me in a letter that he wished to
surprise you.” Serena laughed as she squeezed
Constance back.
Drawn by the noise, Margaret Somerton came
downstairs, and managed to outsqueal Constance. As
she embraced her oldest daughter, Constance turned to
Marcus.
“Thank you, this is the best possible surprise.” She
laid a hand on his arm.
His eyes settled on her lips, but when he leaned in it
was for a respectable kiss on the cheek. “I’m glad
you’re pleased.”
Dallow managed to herd them all—including the
dowager countess, wearing a fetching silver turban and
helped downstairs by two footmen—into the dining
room by warning Constance that Cook was about to
sink into depression because her dinner would be
ruined.
“I cannot believe we’re