13

Diana was eating her toast and marmalade in the breakfast room the next morning when Regina entered, carrying the silver salver from the hall. It was conspicuously empty.

“Diana, you did not remove any cards from the hall tray, did you?”

“I did not.”

“How very odd,” Regina said, setting the tray down before pouring herself a cup of tea and joining Diana at the table. “Have you noticed that we have not been receiving as many invitations recently?”

“Frankly, I was glad to have a respite. It felt like we were burning the candle at both ends for a few weeks,” Diana said. “But now that you mention it, there do seem to be fewer invitations of late.”

“And many of the ladies who had been calling on us have not been to call in over a week, at least,” Regina said, frowning. “And they appear to have developed very poor eyesight as well. When I nodded to Lady Jersey when I passed her in the park a few days ago, she did not even acknowledge me.”

“Yes, I noticed something similar but I hoped I was mistaken,” Diana said. “Lady Gordon still calls very regularly, and we see Miss Jarmyn often as well. And what reason could the ladies have for avoiding us? It makes no sense. We’ve all been very busy since Vauxhall, and they may just be tied up with their own affairs.”

Regina seemed to accept this reply, but Diana knew that despite her friend’s prior boasting about not caring whether she was accepted by London society or not, she was still very sensitive to slights such as these. Diana had never aspired to be part of society; hers was no more than a genteel family with no connection to the nobility. But Regina was of noble birth, the daughter of a marquess, and this entitled her to a position in the society that had shunned her. Diana also knew Regina to have been wounded by her previous rejection, whatever she might say otherwise, and that she had delighted in being accepted and included once again.

Not only that, but it was Regina who had founded their group; hers was the idea behind the grand ball that had resulted in society clasping all of them to their collective bosoms, and if the other women had now forgotten her, and might even be purposely excluding her, it was an undeserved and hurtful snub.

However, Diana greatly hoped that they were both mistaken, and that it was all a coincidence, or, at worst, an easily resolved misunderstanding.

They had the answer less than an hour later, when Lady Gordon came to call. This was surprising in itself, as it was much earlier than the time for traditional “morning” calls, which typically occurred in the afternoon.

Lady Gordon said as much when they joined her in the drawing room. “I beg your pardon for calling so early, but I needed to speak to you in private, before any other callers arrive.”

“If any other callers arrive,” Regina said, with a twisted smile.

“What, has no one been calling?” Lady Gordon asked, looking concerned.

“Just the usual: Mr. Dean, Lord Jerome, Mr. Boyle, and sundry other impoverished gents,” Regina said lightly, as if it was not a matter of great concern to her.

“No ladies have been to call?” Lady Gordon asked.

“Miss Jarmyn has come a few times with Mr. Pryce,” Diana said, but Lady Gordon waved a dismissive hand as if Miss Jarmyn was of no importance. And Diana supposed that from society’s viewpoint, she wasn’t.

“That jealous cat,” Lady Gordon said vehemently.

“Miss Jarmyn?” Diana asked, surprised and a little disappointed. She liked Miss Jarmyn and did not think it was kind of Lady Gordon to disparage her.

“No, definitely not Miss Jarmyn. I am very pleased to hear that she, at least, has the courage to stand by you all,” Lady Gordon said, to Diana’s relief. “No, I’m referring to Lady Jersey. She has decreed Lady Regina, and you as well, Diana, by virtue of your association with Regina, unwelcome in London society. She has rehashed that old elopement scandal and claimed that Regina is attempting to buy her way back into favor by means of her fortune. Sally Jersey, of all people! The richest woman in England! And one who has made very obvious her disregard for the marriage bond. But she cannot bear it that when Regina entertained, it drew guests away from her stuffy old Almack’s assemblies, and that Regina’s favor was being courted as much or more than hers. Also, when Regina rewrote some of the rules of society for our ball, that was a slap in the face to Sally, who considers herself its queen.”

“We should have listened to you when you advised us not to hold the Vauxhall excursion on a Wednesday,” Diana said worriedly. “I didn’t think it would matter to anyone what we did, and it was so difficult finding an available evening, but Miss Ballard had two of London’s most eligible bachelors escorting her there instead of Almack’s, which I’m sure also enraged Lady Jersey.”

Lady Gordon nodded her agreement with Diana’s statement before sitting down next to Regina on the sofa and taking her hand. “I’m more sorry than I can say, my dear. I know this is a painful reminder of your past mistreatment. I wish I could do something, but I haven’t the influence she has.”

Regina smiled bravely. “Thank you for your concern, Lady Gordon, but it does not matter. As you are aware, I survived once, and I will survive again—” But her voice began to wobble and her face crumpled, before she dropped her face into her hands to hide it.

Lady Gordon pulled her into her arms, patting her shoulder, which caused the tears Regina had been restraining to trickle forth. Diana’s own eyes welled up; she hated seeing her friend’s distress. She also felt some of Regina’s pain. Now that she knew, for a fact, that the ladies were snubbing them, it felt like the worst kind of betrayal.

“Are the Ladies of the Registry still calling on you?” Diana asked Lady Gordon. “After all, everyone has been so busy, we haven’t had one of our meetings in weeks.”

“That is true,” Lady Gordon said. “I don’t think any of us anticipated how hectic the social whirl would become. I’ve been going out more often myself. Perhaps we’re leaping to conclusions about them, at least. I will invite them to call upon me, and we shall see.”

Regina had stopped crying and pulled away from Lady Gordon. She blew her nose in a handkerchief and attempted other repairs to her appearance before smiling at her two friends. “Dear Lady Gordon,” she said, squeezing that lady’s hand. “I apologize for being so poor-spirited and weeping upon your shoulder like the heroine of a tragic novel.”

“Nonsense, you had good reason to be upset and I was happy my shoulder could be of service to you,” Lady Gordon replied bracingly. “Though I imagine Lord Jerome’s shoulder would have been even more to your liking.”

Regina laughed and denied that she’d found Lady Gordon’s shoulder lacking in any way. Diana was surprised Lady Gordon would tease Regina about Jerome; it seemed out of character for the dignified widow, but Diana soon realized it was done partly as an attempt to distract Regina from her troubles. This was confirmed when Lady Gordon winked at Diana behind Regina’s back.

Soon after Lady Gordon took her leave, the ladies received an unexpected call from the very man Lady Gordon had just mentioned.

The fact that Lord Jerome had called wasn’t surprising; he was a regular caller and both ladies saw him frequently. Especially Regina, who had seen him more times in the last two months than she had the entire two years of their engagement. But it was midmorning, and still earlier for a call than was strictly polite.

“Perhaps it’s a good thing we had no invitations last night, since this morning is proving to be so busy,” Regina said to Diana, upon hearing the arrival of another caller. When Lord Jerome entered the room, his eyes flew to Lady Regina’s with such a look of concern that Diana was surprised. She’d never seen the highly polished Lord Jerome appear so agitated.

“Mrs. Boyle,” he said with a bow. “I apologize for calling at such an early hour, but I would appreciate a word with Lady Regina in private.”

Diana had started walking toward the door before he’d even finished his sentence, having already realized her presence was unwelcome. After Diana left the room, Regina, who had not quite recovered from her last visitor, attempted to assume her usual insouciant demeanor.

“Jerome, this is unexpected. Please, take a seat. Have you breakfasted? Would you like anything?” Regina asked him, but her voice quavered a little when she met his intense gaze.

He ignored her question, striding over to the sofa and sitting close beside her. “Regina, I am sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but there is a rumor—”

Regina interrupted him. “If this is about Lady Jersey’s pronouncement that I am no longer welcome in polite society, I already know. Lady Gordon was just here.”

“Lady Gordon? She is willing to stand by you against Lady Jersey?”

“Yes, she has proven to be a true friend,” Regina said, with a fond smile.

“A better friend than I was to you,” Jerome said bitterly. “It never occurred to me at the time, but if I’d stood by you publicly after your failed elopement, you might not have been ostracized in the first place.”

“That is very gentlemanly of you, and I very much appreciate the sentiment, but you are entirely blameless in that affair. I had already written to you that our engagement was at an end; I had no claim on you at all.”

“We had been friends, though, even if we were no longer betrothed,” Jerome said.

“It’s true that I thought of you as a friend, but I know you just thought of me as an annoying younger sister,” Regina said with a self-deprecating smile.

“Is that what you believed? Is that why you ended the betrothal?” Jerome asked, his voice rising.

“Why, yes. I knew you had no romantic feelings for me, and then, when it appeared there was a gentleman who did—” Regina jumped up from the sofa and walked quickly to the window. Just speaking about that time caused a recurrence of her feelings of humiliation and worthlessness and she couldn’t look Jerome in the eye. “I should have realized, however, that he didn’t care for me, either. It appears my fortune is my only desirable trait,” Regina said, in a tone of voice she tried very hard to make jovial, but instead sounded pathetic to her ears.

She heard Jerome come up behind her but she continued looking unseeingly out the window until he placed his hands on her shoulders and gently turned her to face him. “Regina, you are the most desirable woman I have ever known,” he said, and in proof of his statement, the gaze that met hers was positively scorching. “When I learned that our parents had arranged our marriage, I couldn’t believe my luck. But what kind of cad would I have been to have demonstrated my feelings to a girl of fifteen, or even sixteen? I was waiting for you to grow up. I was so proud of myself for my patience, which, I can assure you, is not an easy quality for a young man of nineteen or twenty to display. But as soon as you’d turned seventeen, when I was beginning to think you were old enough and I could finally show you my true feelings, you jilted me.”

Regina was deeply moved by this confession, and was also shaken by the look in Jerome’s eyes and his grasp on her shoulders. But she was determined not to make the same mistake she’d made at seventeen and be taken in by a fortune hunter. If she could just think clearly, she had this nagging feeling that there was something more that needed to be explained.

She took a few steps back, pulling out of his grasp, so that she could concentrate on her thoughts and not his touch. He obviously assumed this to be a rejection and his face fell, before he smiled in his usual satirical manner. “I beg your pardon for embarrassing you with this unwanted confession. It’s apparent that you did not have similar feelings for me,” he said.

“That’s not true. I did care for you, very much. It’s just, you so recently called on Mrs. Boyle, and I, I cannot bear to be made a fool of a second time . . .”

Jerome dropped the care-for-naught demeanor that Regina was beginning to realize he used to mask his true feelings, and his earnest expression returned. “Regina,” he said, “had you never wondered why I didn’t marry in the years since our betrothal ended? You were the only woman I’d ever considered marrying, and after you jilted me, I had no interest in marrying at all. It wasn’t until you came back to live in London earlier this year and I saw you once again and you didn’t even acknowledge me . . . I’m not sure if you recall; it was at the theatre, in March, before I’d even heard of that blasted directory. When you wouldn’t speak to me, wouldn’t even nod at me, well, it made me feel ridiculous that I’d let a boyhood infatuation with a woman who cared nothing for me cause me to eschew marriage completely.”

“I beg your pardon, Jerome; I didn’t even see you. I was very intentionally not looking at anyone, I was so scared to receive the ‘cut direct’ from one of my former friends. You don’t know how hard it was for me to even make an appearance at the theatre that night.”

“I can understand, now. But at the time it seemed to confirm that you’d never cared for me as I had for you, and I was determined not to wear the willow for you a moment longer. However, if you seemed too young when there was just four years separating us, imagine how childish the ladies making their come-out at seventeen seem to me now that I’m two-and-thirty. I chose Mrs. Boyle’s name from that ridiculous directory precisely because she was unknown to London society, was no debutante, and did not live in town. And then, of course, after I’d called on her, I saw you at the theatre again, and you finally acknowledged me; you smiled at me. I cannot tell you how beautiful a sight that was, your smile. I had been missing it these eleven years. At first I was just relieved to have you again as my friend, but I also thought, now that there was no betrothal between us, I could show you that you were the bride I would choose of my own free will, if I were allowed to make that choice.”

Regina couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It was what she’d wanted Jerome to say to her since she was fifteen, although she would never have admitted it to him at the time. She remembered her father leaving them in the room alone together so that Jerome could formally propose, and when she’d accepted him, all he’d done was shake hands with her. Then, when he made no romantic overtures over the next two years, she was convinced he had no feelings for her at all, and that by eloping with another man she would be freeing him from an unwanted marriage. She’d had no idea he was being noble and waiting for her to grow up, or that he’d been as pleased with the match as she had been.

“You’re not fifteen any longer, Regina,” Jerome said huskily, tilting her chin up.

“How kind of you to remind me,” she said, and he laughed, before growing serious again.

“May I kiss you now?” he asked her, sounding almost shy.

Regina felt shy herself, and merely nodded in response. His kiss was tentative at first, as if she were still the young girl he’d been betrothed to and not the woman of eight-and-twenty she was today. But after that first light kiss, he pulled back and smiled at her, a smile that was so warm and joyful that it felt like a caress in itself. Then he took her much more securely into his arms and kissed her in earnest.

When Diana finally returned to the drawing room, the couple were seated on the sofa together, holding hands, though Lord Jerome politely rose as Diana entered the room. Diana took one look at their glowing faces and rushed over to Regina’s side.

“Will you congratulate me, Diana?” Regina asked. “Jerome and I are engaged. Again,” she said, with an irrepressible grin.

“I will not congratulate you Regina, but Lord Jerome.” Diana turned to Jerome. “You are a very fortunate man, sir, and I offer my sincere congratulations.”

“You are right, Mrs. Boyle. I do not deserve my good fortune,” he said, with an adoring look at his fiancée.

“When will you marry? Have you decided?” Diana asked, and then realized that she would be affected by their answer as well. If they were to marry soon, she would need to return to Whitley House. She was truly happy and excited for her friend, but the thought of going back to Whitley House with Lucius and Mildred both in residence was a daunting one.

“We see no need for another long engagement,” Regina said, confirming Diana’s fears, “but we have not set a definite date.”

“Will you have the banns called or marry by special license?” Diana asked.

Regina looked inquiringly at Lord Jerome. “Whatever you wish, Regina,” he said. “My preference would be to marry in the next fortnight by special license. I see no need to wait, but I am not sure how long it will take you to prepare and I do not want to rush you.”

“I’ve been prepared to marry you since I was fifteen, so it shouldn’t take long at all. And special licenses are so fashionable, and you know I always like to be in fashion,” she said, with a roll of her eyes indicating that she was joking about her fall from grace.

“I do think marrying Lord Jerome should restore your reputation,” Diana said. “Society can hardly expel you for breaking your engagement and eloping with another man when you’re married to the man you ostensibly wronged. That is, if you even want anything more to do with London society.”

“At this moment I’m so happy I can forgive everyone,” Regina said, with a sweep of her arm, “even Lady Jersey.”

“Let’s not invite her to the wedding, however,” Lord Jerome said, not inclined to be as forgiving as his bride, and looking much more familiar to Diana with his usual satirical expression. She had hardly recognized this new, humbler Lord Jerome, but was thrilled that he had been so transformed by love for her friend. She soon made an excuse to leave the couple alone together again and was in the back parlor doing some needlework when Regina went looking for her a little while later.

“There you are. You didn’t have to run away, you know,” Regina told her.

“I figured you and Lord Jerome had wedding plans to discuss,” Diana said. “And I should probably start making my own plans to return to Whitley House.”

“Don’t be silly, Diana! You are my guest, whether I am married or not. Jerome will feel similarly, I’m sure.”

“Regina, you’re the one being silly. I couldn’t intrude upon a pair of newlyweds.”

Regina was stymied for a moment. “Well, perhaps you could go home to Whitley House the week after the wedding, but then you’re welcome to return here.”

“I don’t know, Regina. I cannot live with you permanently, you know. I do have to go back to my own home sooner or later.”

Regina sighed. “I suppose you do. It’s such a shame. It’s been lovely having you here.”

“I’ve enjoyed it, too. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been so happy,” Diana said, and the two women smiled at each other.

“Speaking of your home, Jerome told me that he will be back at noon with Mr. Dean, who is hiring a chaise for the trip.”

“You still mean to go to Whitley House?” Diana asked. “I completely understand if you’d rather spend time alone with Lord Jerome. It’s not every day you become engaged.”

“And it seems a wonderful way to celebrate the engagement, on an excursion with our closest friends,” Regina assured her.