AFTER A LONG visit with Rowan in his bedroom, where he was more or less confined until he could manage the stairs, Lily changed into a more comfortable gown for supper. She didn’t need to impress anyone here at Trentingham.
At she reached the bottom of the staircase, she saw Violet coming in out of a light drizzle. “I didn’t know you were joining us tonight,” Lily exclaimed happily, running to kiss her on the cheek. It seemed ages since she’d seen her eldest sister. “Where are Ford and the little ones?”
“At home, pouting.” Violet removed her spectacles and wiped the spatters of rain with a lace-edged handkerchief. “But they can survive one night without me. I wouldn’t miss your sleeping party for the world!”
“My what?”
The front door swung wide again, and a cloaked figure entered, drawing back its hood. “Lily,” Judith cried, “what a sensational idea! Thank you so much for the invitation.”
“What invitation?” Lily said as a footman took her friend’s cloak. “I’m sorry, Judith—and it’s lovely to see you—but I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Her face fell. “But I received a message this afternoon. Was it a mistake?”
“I got one, too,” Violet put in.
“What message? I didn’t send any messages.”
“Then who did?”
Voices from above drew their notice to Rose descending the staircase, carrying a vibrant flower arrangement in a Delftware vase. “Fruit, nuts, bread, and cheese,” she was saying to her maid. “And see if Mrs. Crump will bake nun’s biscuits, since those are Lily’s favorites. We’ll need it all brought to her room at nine o’clock.”
As her maid hurried off to alert the cook, Rose arrived at the bottom of the stairs, smiling wide behind the blooms. “Violet, Judith! I’m so glad you both could attend.”
“Attend what?” Lily demanded, wondering if she were going mad.
“Your sleeping party, you goose.” Rose braced the vase against one hip so she could wrap her older sister in a one-armed hug.
“My sleeping party?”
“Well, I’ve handled the preparations, but it was your idea, remember?” Rose’s dark eyes filled with concern. “You said Violet should come over to sleep. And I thought you would like to have Judith, too, since she’s your best friend.”
“But—tonight?” Lily didn’t want to be rude, but the last thing she needed just now was a party. Tonight she just wanted to crawl into her bed, curl up, and think hard about how Bennett Armstrong’s innocence could possibly be proven.
A flush touched Rose’s cheeks. “You told Rand that two heads are better than one. Well, four would be even better, don’t you think? Perhaps tonight we can hit upon a solution.”
Though she still wasn’t sure she felt up to what Rose had planned, Lily was touched. “Thank you,” she said, “for caring.”
“Gemini,” Rose said, hefting the vase, “you’re my sister. Of course I care. Now, I must get this arrangement to the supper table. I made it specially for tonight—won’t it cheer up the dining room?”
As Rose bustled away, Lily looked after her in wonder. She’d never seen her sister so industrious—nor half so thoughtful.
A soft drizzle continued outside, turning the world gray and dismal to match Lily’s mood. The whole story was told again to Violet and Judith over supper. By the time they all made it up to Lily’s room for their sleeping party, laden with a decanter of wine and the refreshments that Mrs. Crump had prepared, Lily was exhausted to the point of numbness.
She collapsed crosswise on top of her white coverlet. “I’m afraid you’re going to have my party without me.”
Violet set down a bowl of fruit and reached a hand to help her sit. “I’m sure you’re tired,” she said sympathetically, settling beside her on the bed. “But we have a mission to accomplish.”
Even in her state, Lily couldn’t help but notice the faint circles under her oldest sister’s eyes. “You look rather tired yourself.”
“Two babies will do that to you,” Violet said with a tender smile. But it faded as she watched Lily lay a hand on her abdomen. “You’ll have children, too, Lily.”
“We just have to put our heads together and come up with a brilliant idea,” Rose said as she sat herself on Lily’s other side.
The three of them against all the injustice in the world.
“I think I’ve missed something, Rose,” Violet said, swinging her feet back and forth. “Why all of a sudden are you willing to help Lily wed Rand Nesbitt?”
“Baron Newcliffe,” Rose corrected, her cheeks reddening. “And as to why…well…” She darted a questioning glance at Lily, who made a locked lips gesture, indicating her silence. Rose looked relieved. “Seeing them face so many obstacles to be together made me realize I’d never loved him like that. I only wanted him because he’s handsome.”
“And titled,” Violet reminded her, leaning across Lily to send their sister an arch look.
“Well, that, too. I do want someone of consequence, you know. But Lily and Rand—they belong together.”
“Thank you,” Lily whispered, hearing truth in Rose’s words even though it wasn’t the whole story. How bittersweet it was to have her sister finally approve at the same time her betrothal was falling apart.
Seated at Lily’s dressing table with a platter of bread and cheese, Judith stopped eating long enough to release a languid sigh. “You and Rand are so romantic.”
Lily eyed her friend thoughtfully. “You look happy.”
“I am.” Judith’s pale blue eyes shone. “I’ve spent some time alone with Edmund—I mean, Lord Grenville—”
“You’d never been alone with him?” Rose interrupted.
Buttering bread, Judith blushed. “Well, it’s not exactly proper, I know, but Papa managed to talk Mama into allowing it. I was so very unhappy, not really knowing Edmund and thinking I might never come to love him.”
Lily began filling four goblets with wine. “So what happened?”
Judith looked up, her cheeks flushed with wonder. “He’s ever so marvelous. The sweetest man. I cannot imagine why I expected to fall in love at first sight. It takes getting to know someone, don’t you think? What a gentleman looks like doesn’t matter as much as what he’s like inside.”
Rand, Lily thought, was marvelous both inside and out. She would never find another like him.
She handed Judith a cup. “So what is Lord Grenville like inside?”
“Thoughtful. Kind. He answered all my questions and listened when I answered his. He loved his first wife dearly, but he was ever so sad that she couldn’t give him any children. More than anything, he wants children. And I…I want to give them to him.”
“Have you considered,” Rose asked, “that the failure to have children might be due to some lack on his part?” It was just like Rose to say out loud what others would only wonder silently. “After all,” she added, “he’s thirty-five.” She said thirty-five as though the fellow were likely to topple over and die of old age at any moment.
“That’s not so ancient!” Judith burst out defensively. Lily’s sister blinked, clearly taken aback, but Judith went on. “Do you know, Rose, that someday you will be five-and-thirty, too? And for your sake, I hope by then—”
She broke off, leaving the rest of the sentence unspoken. But they all knew what she’d been about to say.
I hope by then you’ll have found a husband.
“Well,” Rose said stiffly. “I hope for your sake that Lord Grenville’s childlessness wasn’t due to his own shortcomings in the marriage bed.”
“Rose,” Violet groaned, raising her gaze to the heavens.
“I think,” Judith said just as stiffly, “I can safely reassure you on that count. He’s a very good kisser.” A hunk of cheese halfway to her mouth, she paused and glanced around as though waiting for a reaction. “Are you not scandalized,” she finally asked no one in particular, “that I allowed him to kiss me?”
Lily laughed. “No, we’re not scandalized. As a matter of fact, Mum always advised us to kiss a man before assenting to marriage. After all, it’s a lifetime commitment, so it’s a good idea to ascertain your compatibility in that area.”
“Oh,” was all Judith said.
In fact, Lily thought she looked a mite disappointed they didn’t think her a fallen woman.
“I’m so glad you’re happy,” she told her. “I imagine that now you’re really looking forward to your wedding.”
“Oh, yes,” Judith breathed.
Lily wished she had her own wedding to look forward to instead of dreading Rand and Margery’s. Five days now. While she was thrilled for Judith, for some reason her friend’s newfound happiness made her own situation seem that much more miserable.
Judith handed her a nun’s biscuit. “Have you kissed Rand, then?”
Lily nodded, biting into the sweet almond and lemon treat.
“She may have done more than kiss him,” Rose said, waggling her brows.
Feeling her face flood with color, Lily gasped. “You have no reason to believe such a thing.”
“Haven’t I?” Rose countered. “This morning—” She stopped, gaping at Lily’s face.
Which was a picture of outrage.
Rose must have seen her return to their chamber this morning, Lily realized. Was she really going to spread tales about her late-night excursion? Just a few breaths after Lily had allowed her to gloss over her own indiscretions?
Rose’s dark eyes widened as she got the message. “Gemini, I was only jesting.”
Lily brushed sugary crumbs off her skirts while she thought of a way to quickly change the subject. “Remember that song I was practicing for Rand? The one he’s always humming?”
“What of it?”
“It has naughty words. And there are others, too. A whole book of them.”
“A book?” Rose sat forward eagerly. “Did he show it to you?“
Lily shook her head. ”He doesn’t own a copy. He said he read it in a friend’s library.“
“And you believed him?” Rose rolled her eyes. “That’s the oldest—”
Violet cleared her throat. “Could you mean An Antidote Against Melancholy?”
“Yes,” Lily said, reaching for her wine, “I think that was the title.”
“Then I believe Ford is the friend in question. I’ve seen that book in our library.” Biting into a strawberry, Violet looked quite unconcerned. “It is naughty,” she added with a grin.
“Let’s send for it,” Rose suggested. The glitter in her eyes belied her solemn tone. “It sounds educational.”
Violet laughed but scribbled a note to Ford. They sent a footman to deliver it and instructed him to wait and bring the book back. “Now,” she said, “while we wait, we must solve the problem at hand.”
Lily went over the whole story again, all the painful details. Then they tossed around ideas. But every solution proposed, no matter how promising at first, turned out to be flawed, impossible, or downright ludicrous.
As it appeared more and more that Lily’s situation was hopeless, the suggestions became fewer and farther between, until an hour later they’d fallen into a heavy silence.
Violet slipped off her spectacles and rubbed her eyes. “Faith, we’re a woebegone bunch. This is supposed to be a party. We’ll discuss this again later, but for now, let’s see if the songbook has arrived.”
Soon they were in the drawing room, giggling, the book propped up on the harpsichord where they could all see the words while Lily read the music.
“Play this one, Lily,” Rose said, her dark eyes wide. She began singing.
“My mistress is a mine of gold—
Would that it were her pleasure
To let me dig within her mould
And roll among her treasure!”
The Ashcroft sisters laughed, but Judith just sipped her wine, looking bemused. “I don’t understand. Dig within her mould?”
“He means the woman’s…you know,” Rose said.
Judith looked even more baffled. “I’m not certain I do know.”
“Truly?” Rose asked incredulously. “I vow and swear, you must read Aristotle’s Master-piece before you get married.”
Now Judith gasped. Although she knew the Ashcroft sisters had all read it, the book was considered scandalous. A desperate look in her eyes, she turned to Violet. “You’re married. Tell me.”
Lily was relieved that she wasn’t the one asked to explain.
While a pink-cheeked Judith learned the facts from Violet, Rose flipped pages in the book. “This one seems amusing,” she said when Violet was finished. “’The Comical Dreamer.’”
Lily set the book back up on the harpsichord and began to play. This time they all sang together, even Judith.
“Last night a dream came into my head,
Thou wert a fine white loaf of bread
Then if May-butter I could be,
How I would spread,
Oh! how I would spread myself on thee!”
By the final verse, they had dissolved into giggles. Lily clutched her stomach—she couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed so hard. Despite everything, she was having fun.
“Sh-shall we,” Judith gasped, “sing another?”