Lady Lilias and the Devil in Plaid - Julie Johnstone Page 0,28
tomorrow she would start doing so. For herself, she honestly didn’t care very much, but for Nora and for her mother, she had to try. “And now,” she said, “I see that ‘true love’ is more apt to occur in Gothic novels than real life.” Saying the words made her very depressed, but she needed to accept reality.
“But how am I to be envied, then?” Nora wailed. “We have little money. My gowns will be old. And you will be on the shelf, which will make my prospects even worse!”
Lilias stiffened. “Thank you for your confidence, Sister, in my ability to secure a husband. I’ve had offers, if you recall.”
“I recall,” Nora said, arching her eyebrows. “I also recall you finding something wrong with both men, though they were handsome, titled, and wealthy. It was very selfish of you. I do believe you are part of the cause of Mama’s melancholy.”
Lilias opened her mouth to defend herself but promptly shut it. “When did you get so wise?” she asked instead, shame burning her cheeks.
“Not long ago,” Nora said with a giggle, “after I discovered your hidden hoard of Gothic novels and read them. Very informative!”
“Don’t bother with them, Nora. I have firsthand experience that real life is nothing like a novel. Not everything turns out as you dream it will.”
Chapter Three
“I like what you’ve done to the gown,” Guinevere whispered as Lilias came to stand beside her where the duke and new duchess were gathered with some of their guests. Carrington was telling a story, and Guinevere was smiling fondly at her husband.
Lilias glanced down at the daring bodice she had modified at the last minute after speaking to her sister. She’d pinned a flower at the low V to cover the tops of her breasts the plunge had exposed. She decided just enough was left to show Nash what he’d let slip away but not so much to make tongues wag.
“Do you really think it’s passable?” she asked in a low voice, meeting her friend’s guileless green gaze.
Guinevere nodded, then cut her husband a pleading look, which slightly baffled Lilias until Guinevere took her by the hand and led her away from the guests. It wasn’t the done thing to step away from one’s guests simply because another had arrived, but Guinevere was now a duchess and, therefore, was afforded much leeway by the ton. Her friend greeted people as she wove through the press of bodies and made her way to the edge of the ballroom by the terrace doors. There was a scattering of tables on the right side, which held but one elder woman who looked to be napping, and potted plants to the left of the doors.
“Do you see that woman over there?” Guinevere asked, tucking a strand of her chestnut hair behind her ear.
“The one at the table with the gray hair? Who appears to be sleeping?”
Lilias frowned. That sentence raised so many questions, she hardly knew where to start. “Does your husband know that you’ve ‘borrowed’ your former suitor’s aunt? The suitor your husband detested?”
Guinevere smirked. “First of all, you and I both know Kilgore was never truly courting me.”
Lilias nodded. Guinevere had told her all about how the Marquess of Kilgore had only been pretending to court her because he’d lost land in a card game and the man who held it had wanted Kilgore to stop Carrington from wedding Guinevere. That man, who happened to be Carrington’s half-brother, had wanted Guinevere for himself. Guinevere had also told Lilias how she was nearly completely sure that Kilgore was in love with a new SLARS member, Lady Constantine Colgate.
Lilias didn’t know how inclined she was to believe that, though. Kilgore didn’t behave like a man in love. He had a different woman on his arm every week, and the rumors about his affairs in the ton were legendary. But Kilgore certainly fit the description of a Gothic hero with his dark good looks and brooding and mysterious nature. He was a rogue of the first order. Everyone knew that there had been a wager placed on the betting books at Whites Gentleman’s Club some years ago that Kilgore could not seduce four specific ladies. Two of the women were wed, and two were young, unmarried ladies. Guinevere had been on that list, as had Lady Constantine. If the rumors were to be believed, Kilgore had seduced all the women but Guinevere. It didn’t matter if it