The Regency Season: Blackmailed Brides: The Scarlet Gown / Lady Beneath the Veil. Sarah Mallory
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Sutton looked around and gave a little tut of exasperation.
‘Heavens, miss, as if I should forget that!’ She pulled out the sheaf of loose papers again and selected a coloured drawing, which she handed to Lucy. ‘Lord Adversane was most insistent that you should have this gown.’
Lucy gazed at the impossibly slender figure in the painting. She was swathed in red silk, the high waistline and low neck leaving little to the imagination.
‘It is shown exactly as his lordship directed,’ said Mrs Sutton, waiting anxiously for Lucy’s reaction. ‘Even to the diamond set of earrings, necklace and bracelet.’
‘Scarlet and diamonds.’ Lucy pictured herself in such a gown, the jewels sparkling in the candlelight, her skirts floating about her as she danced around the ballroom. ‘Very striking but...it is not suitable for an unmarried lady. What say you, Ariadne?’ She handed the picture to Mrs Dean, who stared at it in silence. ‘Ariadne?’
The widow gave a little start.
‘Oh, I do not...’ She tailed off again, her troubled glance fixed upon the drawing.
‘It is far too grand for me to wear,’ Lucy continued. ‘If we were in London, perhaps, but here in the country, what use can I have for such a creation?’
‘Unless Adversane means to invite the neighbourhood,’ murmured Ariadne.
Lucy frowned. ‘Why should he do that?’
Ariadne made a visible effort to pull herself together, saying robustly, ‘I suppose he thought you must have it. Who knows what invitations you might receive? And everyone wears such colours these days. You will not always want to be wearing those pale muslins, now will you? And I recognise the diamonds. They are a family heirloom. As Ralph’s fiancée I have no doubt he will wish you to wear them.’
‘Yes, of course.’ Lucy dismissed her doubts, relieved by Mrs Dean’s approval of the scarlet gown. To appear in public so beautifully apparelled was every girl’s dream. And what did it matter that it was all a sham, a charade? It would be a wonderful memory for her to take away with her.
* * *
When the dressmaker had departed Ariadne carried Lucy off to the shrubbery, declaring that one needed to clear one’s head after being bombarded with so much detail.
‘I must confess,’ she added, as they strolled arm in arm along the gravelled paths, ‘when you went off so angrily I thought I should be sending Mrs Sutton away and ordering the carriage to take you back to London forthwith.’
Lucy’s free hand fluttered.
‘It was foolish of me to allow such a little thing to make me angry. I assure you, I never had any intention of leaving over such a matter.’
‘Oh, no, my dear, I was not thinking of your intentions. I thought Ralph might order you to go. I thought he would call a halt to this whole business—not that that would be a bad thing.’ She muttered these last words almost to herself and when she found Lucy’s considering gaze upon her she coloured and said, as if in apology, ‘My cousin is not used to having his will crossed.’
‘I am well aware of that. Autocratic to the point of tyranny!’
‘But he is not a bad man, Lucy. It is just that... You should understand, my dear, that he was the only surviving male child, and much loved. Although he was brought up on strict principles he was allowed to go his own way from an early age. I suppose you might say he was too much indulged—’
‘I should,’ put in Lucy emphatically.
‘But he was not rebellious, you see, so his sainted parents never needed to curb him. They had him late in life, too, which I think made them a little more inclined to spoil him, and then, of course, they were carried off within weeks of each other by a vicious bout of influenza, and he inherited the title soon after he was one-and-twenty. From being a carefree young man he suddenly found himself with half a dozen estates and hundreds of people dependent upon him. And things were not so comfortable as they are now. The old lord had spent so much on improvements to Adversane that the finances were severely stretched when Ralph took over. He has had to struggle to rebuild the family fortunes. He needed a steady nerve and a firm hand on the reins to bring it back to prosperity. He demanded that everything should be done his way and it has worked. The fortune is restored.’
‘But he rules his household with a will of iron,’ objected Lucy.
‘All the Cottinghams are strong-willed, my dear, and as the heir and only son, Ralph’s will has never been opposed. Is it any wonder that he has grown used to his own way? That was why his marriage to Helene was so fortuitous. She was all compliance and perfectly suited to his temperament.’
‘Perfectly suited to make him even more despotic,’ declared Lucy. ‘The poor lady must have been wholly downtrodden.’
Ariadne quickly disclaimed.
‘He never bullied her, I am quite certain of it. But then, Helene was so very sweet-natured, I doubt she ever gave him cause to be angry.’
‘Well,’ said Lucy, thinking of the small sum she had sewn into the hem of her travelling cloak, ‘Lord Adversane may be as autocratic and demanding as he wishes, but I shall not allow him to bully me, and so I shall tell him!’
* * *
However, Lucy had no opportunity to tell Lord Adversane anything that evening, for when she joined Mrs Dean in the drawing room before dinner she learned that their host had gone off to visit friends and would not be back for two days. The news left her feeling a little disconsolate and she gave a little huff of exasperation.
‘And how am I supposed to learn everything I need to know if he is not here?’
‘My dear, no one will expect you to know everything about Ralph,’ replied Mrs Dean, looking amused. ‘In fact, I doubt anyone could do that.’
‘I beg your pardon, Ariadne, it is just that... Well, I had worked myself up to challenge him about his high-handed ways and now I feel a little...cheated.’
‘You enjoy confronting him?’
Her shocked expression made Lucy smile.
‘I like matters out in the open wherever possible.’
She thought of her uncle’s unwanted attentions and felt a little guilty that she had not brought that out into the open, but it would have caused too much distress to her mother and her aunt. Lucy had every reason to be discreet in that case. Lord Adversane, however, was another matter entirely. She added a little pugnaciously, ‘If that means confronting your cousin, I will not shirk from it.’
‘Then perhaps it is as well Ralph is away, or we should see the sparks fly,’ retorted Mrs Dean, chuckling. ‘Never mind, my dear, there is plenty for us to do. You can help me with the arrangements for the forthcoming house party. The guests have already been invited, of course—Ralph has seen to that—but there are the rooms to be allocated, furniture to be arranged, menus to be planned.’
‘And just who is invited, Ariadne?’
‘Well, there are Ralph’s two sisters and their husbands,’ said Mrs Dean, counting them off on her fingers. ‘Adam Cottingham—Ralph’s cousin and heir—and his wife, or course. And Sir James and Lady Preston.’
‘Do you mean the late Lady Adversane’s parents? But surely they will not wish to come to Adversane—’
‘Oh, yes, they will! They are even bringing their daughter Charlotte with them.’
‘But—do they know, about me?’
‘Oh, lord, yes. Ralph told them himself when he invited them to come and stay.’
‘And they still accepted his invitation?’
‘Yes. I doubt they hesitated for a moment.’ She patted Lucy’s arm. ‘I do not think I am speaking