A Little Bit Scandalous Page 0,44
she would gladly sacrifice it all. When she’d agreed to the board position for the orphanage, she hadn’t counted on it affecting her social calendar to such an extent. Not that she begrudged the orphanage her time, but she certainly would have been happier if her time while she was in London allowed her to avoid appearances in polite society. Nonetheless, she knew that Millie was right and this was a part of it, especially while she was reintroducing herself to Society.
It had occurred to her that perhaps Mr. Bishop saw their pending visit to the opera as a courtship type scenario, and she hated that she’d somehow misled him. She hoped for an opportunity to dismiss his intentions this evening without ruining her chances of gaining him as a benefactor for the orphanage. She did not want to hurt the sweet man.
She ran the brush through her hair and counted to ten. Next she made three large braids then wound them around the crown of her head. It was the only clever thing she could do with her hair. And for whatever reason she hadn’t wanted the maid’s assistance with that for the evening, perhaps because that made it feel as if she was taking too great of care with her appearance when that shouldn’t matter at all.
She donned her evening gown of cobalt, and inspected herself in the looking glass. No creases in the lush fabric. She leaned forward and peered closer. She patted her cheek.
Good enough.
She wasn’t attending the opera with Roe, so what did it matter how she looked? After all, she wasn’t a young miss on the marriage mart. She was the insignificant daughter of a lowly Baron. No one would be looking at her. In that respect, Mr. Bishop was the perfect match for her. They were equally unremarkable.
Mr. Bishop was right on time. He looked handsome—or as handsome as a man with a not-so-handsome face can look. Smart was a better description. Tailored. Yes, that was it. He looked very tailored in a nice black coat with tails and matching black breeches. He lifted his top hat when he saw her and bowed slightly.
“Good evening, Miss Jellico. You look lovely tonight.” He bent his head over her hand and kissed it lightly.
She blushed like a fool and wished for a moment that this were a real courtship, that she were attracted to Mr. Bishop, and that someday they’d find themselves in love and married. But this was none of those things. This was merely an outing to the opera. “Thank you, Mr. Bishop.”
He assisted her into his carriage and seated himself across from her.
“It is a beautiful evening. The clouds are quite remarkable tonight,” she said.
He leaned forward to peek out the window. “It looks as if it might rain. I’ve noticed London gets plenty of rainy weather.”
“How long will you be here in London?”
He shrugged. “I’m not certain. I’ve always been fascinated by your fair country and decided recently it was finally time for a visit. I amassed quite the fortune back in Maryland, seemed time to spend some of it.”
“Do you not have charities in America?”
“Of course, but I felt drawn here.” He smiled at her. “Perhaps now I know why.”
They rode in silence the rest of the way. Caroline kept her eyes on the window, but was able to see that Mr. Bishop kept his eyes on her. It was unnerving, being watched. She wondered if this was what it would have been like if she’d stayed in London so many years before. Would she have felt all the young men turn and stare when she walked into crowded ballrooms? A wistful ache surged in her belly and she took a deep breath to suppress it. But as it was, she had fled back to the country where she knew her place. Being the daughter of a baron and the ward of a duke was a very strange thing. Though she was raised as a gentlewoman, she was not truly a member of the gentry, certainly not at the level of Society in which Roe and Millie circulated. Perhaps if she had stayed in London the first time she would have been accepted among those ranks. But, instead, she’d chosen to return to the country to nurse her broken heart. As a result, she now felt hopelessly unsophisticated.
It was one thing to don a disguise as a man and play in a gaming hell. It was quite another to wear