Anna clasped a hand to her chest. “I know you all think I have nothing but silly notions of romance in my head when it comes to this sort of thing, but I feel… uneasy in this instance. That, in and of itself, makes me think this is a terrible idea.”
“I like it,” Matilda interjected, stretching out of her crouch.
The other three stared at Matilda as if she had grown a mustache and whiskers. “You… do?” Leah asked.
Matilda gave a casual shrug. “Anna is right; this is not like Olivia’s situation. This is ingenious.” She began to pace back and forth: her “thinking laps,” as she called them. “Let us have a little revision, and you shall see that I am right. First question: what did Jonathan take from our dearest Leah?”
“Her dignity?” Anna suggested, drawing a displeased stare from Leah. “No, no… her trust in gentlemen?”
Matilda raised a finger. “Both reasonable answers, but not the one I am searching for.”
“Her reputation,” Phoebe said flatly.
“Precisely!” Matilda smiled. “And what does this Duke have that our Leah does not?”
Anna scrunched up her face as if exercising her brain. “Influence?” she said hesitantly.
“Excellent!” Matilda jabbed a proud finger in Anna’s direction. “He has influence, and what else?”
“Wealth?” Anna answered.
Meanwhile, Leah sighed and raised her hand, givingheranswer, “He is in the same predicament as me.”
“Very good.” Matilda set to pacing once more. “So, here are the facts: Leah is already condemned by thetonbecause of Jonathan’s actions, and she cannot repair her reputation by herself. If she could, it would have happened in the three years since that awful day. The Duke is offering a generous service, and our dear Leah would be silly not to accept, seeing it through to the end of the season. She loses nothing in this endeavor and stands to gain everything.”
Anna seemed confused. “How so?”
“It will not worsen her reputation,” Phoebe replied, nodding as if the pieces were coming together for her, too. “And if His Grace is honest and takes the blame, then her reputation can only improve. It might become unpleasant for a while, especially if Leah’s father demands satisfaction, but that can be fielded by us and by Leah.”
“But,” Matilda said, “the main prize is this—if this is a success, it will leave Leah free to live as she sees fit. No parent, no matter how stubborn, would be able to watch their daughter endure two heartbreaks. They will not ask her to find another suitor. They will accept her spinsterhood.”
Leah eyed her friend. “You underestimate my father.”
“And you underestimate your mother,” Matilda replied. “I sense that she will put an end to the pursuit of marriage if you can put on a grand performance of heartache when this comes to a conclusion.”
Phoebe puffed out a breath. “I cannot believe I am saying this, but I think Matilda and Leah are right; this might be the best course of action if you are to avoid being matched in the future. And it is our duty to help you however we can.”
“Well, I still do not like it, and I do not care for so much deception though of course I shall help if I must,” Anna mumbled, scuffing her toe against the parquet. “But do remember that a lot of people might be hurt at the end of this, Leah. His Grace’s mother, His Grace’s brother, your mother, and your father, to name but a few.”
But Leah was not properly listening as Matilda’s words repeated in her head:“… if you can put on a grand performance of heartache when this comes to a conclusion.”She wanted to tell her dearest friends that her courtship with Nathaniel was beginning to feel real, too real, and that the heartache at the end of it all might be very real as well. But she could not do it, dismissing the thought as a symptom of so much pretending that would remedy itself with constant reminders of the ruse.
“You should not worry,” Leah said to Anna. “His Grace’s mother does not like me much, so she shall be glad when I am no longer in His Grace’s company.”
But sheisstarting to like me, and I will ruin all of that,she considered, her heart unable to think about Colin at all. The young man would be crushed, for he and Leah had become firm friends, spending hours poring over natural history books and his personal sketches of flowers and creatures and plants. And he was so eager to come and see the gardens at Druidstone Abbey.
Her heart twinged in protest, for though she could not admit it, it had started to want what it could never have.
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
The night of the Countess of Grayling’s ball arrived with all the expected pomp and ceremony as carriages lined up along the avenue that ran across the front of Kensington Palace. Guests were greeted by footmen with gossamer wings, dressed in vividly colored livery: purples, reds, pinks, greens. Their faces had been painted with elaborate patterns to match the colors of their attire as if they had come from a fairy realm and the gates of Kensington Palace was the mystical entrance to their world, open for one night only.
“Whoisthis lady?” Sarah gawped as the Bolton carriage halted, and a footman in purple livery helped the two ladies down. Ezra had refused to attend, still sour from the unexpected visit from Leah’s friends.
Leah beamed from ear to ear. “The most wondrous lady in all of England. Goodness, how I long to be her.”
“Do not say that,” Sarah chided lightly as the footman checked their invitations and guided them through the gates of Kensington Palace, adorned with twinkling paper lanterns and through to the palace gardens beyond. “The Countess is clearly in want of a husband, or she shall soon run out of money to host such… extravagant events. A lady cannot manage finances.”
Leah rolled her eyes. “If she can persuade the Royal Court to grant her a title, I am certain she is capable of managing finances. Indeed, she is likely richer than most of the gentlemen here. I would not be at all surprised if she has a thousand business endeavors feeding her income, for if she can arrange something like this and convince the Royal Court to allow her the palace grounds for the evening, she can manage business ventures.”
