Newton shook his head, smiling slightly. “Charlie is quite possibly the most intelligent person I’ve ever known.”
“He hides it so well,” she said as if amazed.
“You’ve said that before,” Ellie said.
“It has been true for a very long time.” She turned to Charlie’s brother and sister-in-law, who had only just arrived at the very front of the line. “Welcome, Lord Lampton, Lady Lampton.”
The earl was, without question, the most flamboyant person of Artemis’s acquaintance. At a time when gentlemen rarely veered from blacks, greys, and dark blues, he wore brightly colored waistcoats and dramatic cutaway coats. His cravat was always tied in intricate and impressive knots. He, in what fell very near a feat of miraculous proportions, managed to be bold and odd in his appearance while still being deeply fashionable and well turned out. She found herself studying him every time she saw him, wishing she knew the secret of it. Fashion, in all its universality and individuality, was endlessly fascinating.
The countess also drew notice wherever she went but for very different reasons. She was a strikingly pretty lady who showed herself to be quite intelligent. She was also very nearly unable to walk. When she had come to London for the first time after marrying the earl, she’d struggled a bit but had seemed to be improving. When Artemis had attended a house party at the Lampton country estate, she had been impressed with how well Lady Lampton had moved about. But something drastic had changed in the eighteen months or so since then. The countess struggled to remain on her feet. Her husband kept her upright while clearly attempting to keep his efforts hidden.
“I would never miss a gathering hosted by His Grace,” Lord Lampton said. “Such evenings always promise to be blithe and lively. I do hope the duke will share all the lateston-dits.”
The countess eyed her husband sidelong. “You are going to get yourself beheaded, Philip.”
“She’s not wrong,” Artemis said. “Adam is not particularly known for his sense of humor, especially when forced to keep company with Society.”
“Nonsense. He is very fond of me,” Lord Lampton said. “I’ll make certain we have a good, gossipy gab.”
“I’m going to have to rely on Charlie to get me home, aren’t I?” Lady Lampton sighed, the sound both jesting and entirely sincere.
“I certainly hope not,” Artemis said. “You do not deserve such acute torture.”
Her rivalry with Charlie was well-known to both their families. They all tended to shake their heads and shrug and otherwise ignore the dislike teeming between their youngest siblings.
“Speaking of acute torture”—Lady Lampton motioned with her head toward Adam—“His Grace would likely appreciate our undertaking the required greetings efficiently and without delay.”
With his voice lowered to a whisper, Lord Lampton said to his wife, “Your legs would, no doubt, appreciate it as well.”
Lady Lampton offered a subtle nod. They moved on, offering quick words of congratulations to Ellie and Newton, then giving their greetings to Artemis’s sister and brother-in-law.
Artemis liked Lord and Lady Lampton. The dowager Countess of Lampton was a delight as well. Indeed, there was not a member of Charlie Jonquil’s family whose company Artemis didn’t find delightful.
Except for Charlie.
And from what she’d heard, she was one of the only people in the entire worldhedidn’t like. She wished that didn’t bother her, but it did. More than bothered, it stung. It stung because it was so horribly familiar. She’d spent far too much of her life earnestly and fruitlessly searching crowds for the one nameless, faceless man who had loved her while living in constant remembrance of another man in her life who ought to have loved her but hadn’t. She was his daughter, and she hadn’t mattered to him in the least. When the weight of that would threaten to plunge her into the darkness of despair, the words of her beloved Papa would come to her from across the years: “Best keep to the light, Princess.”
The light. She craved it, clung to it. Therewassomeone in this world who loved her, and that kept the shadows at bay. She would do her utmost to keep Charlie Jonquil on the periphery of her life and focus instead on finding her refuge, her hope, her Papa.
Chapter Three
Charlie couldn’t have been moregrateful that Sorrel was in attendance at the ball. She, like him, was not overly fond of London. Her deteriorating hip meant she spent most of any gathering sitting, which afforded him an excuse to sit out the festivities as well. Though he felt a little guilty experiencing anything resembling gratitude while she was suffering.
“Your brother is utterly gleeful that you’ve come to London,” Sorrel said.
The feeling was not likely an overly personal one. Philip didn’tneedhim to be in London; he simply felt everyone should be as enamored of Town as he was.
“Philip is always delighted to be here,” Sorrel continued. “I’ll make the agonizing journey here and sit in pain at every ball he wishes to attend simply so I can see him looking as overjoyed as he looks now.”
She could be a little gruff, a little terse, but when she spoke of Philip or of their children, she softened. Philip and Sorrel had chosen well when they’d picked each other to build a life with. All Charlie’s brothers had. They’d found their other half, and they were all deeply happy.
Philip stood not too far off, speaking to a group of attendees. He gestured broadly, injecting whatever tale he was sharing with overwrought dramatics, and he was grinning broadly. A much more subtle smile spread over Sorrel’s face.
Charlie couldn’t help a laugh. “He always was a performer. We all wondered if he would ever meet a lady who could endure him. Wilson tolerates him, but Wilson is a king among valets.”
“He is that.” Sorrel motioned with her head toward Ellie and Newton standing nearby. “Your friends appear quite happy together.”
“They are. They met by accident and fell in love without warning. Though he has a couple of years left of studying the law, he has income enough from his father’s estate to live on while he does. I have every confidence they will be almost nauseatingly happy.” Artemis joined the couple. “The ‘nauseating’ part is due to the company they keep, obviously.”
