Colors of a Lady (15 page)

She crept up the stairs to the first floor.
Still silence. Not even the pesky whistling windows that she had
sworn to be ghosts growing up.

“I suppose he must be entertaining his guest
in his private chambers,” she said aloud. Odd, but it was to be
expected. She reached the second floor and let out a breath. She
peered down the hallway.

“Oh...dear.” As expected, there was light
beneath one door. But it was not her brother’s. It was not even her
mother’s. It was her bedroom. “No no no no…” Helena may not be as
worldly as some, but she knew well enough that she did not want
them in her room.

But she needed to pack her trunk.

She tiptoed to her door. Curiosity destroyed
any inkling she had left of common sense. There were some noises.
They did not sound like ones she wished to avoid. So, she placed
her hand upon the doorknob and turned it. It was not locked.

She pushed the door open as silently as she
could. Then she pushed it open all the way. Until she breathed her
last breath, Helena would later regard this moment as the day she
finally began to like her brother.

There he stood, Jasper, Viscount Mallory,
entwined in the arms of his lover. This shock was bolstered by the
fact that his lover lacked the rippling hair and the generous
assets. Instead, his lover was a man.

Helena gasped violently, raising an accusing
finger in the air. “Jasper! Why in my room?”

He shoved the man away from him. She noted
he was a very handsome man with a full head of brown-blond
hair.

“Helena! Why are you back from the ball so
soon?”

She walked further into the room and moved
to her wardrobe. “I am eloping with Nathaniel. You will give your
permission. Otherwise, I would truly hate to resort to
blackmail.”

Two pairs of china-blue eyes met--one amused
and the other questioning.

“Lord Hedgeton,” repeated Jasper. “So he has
finally given into your tricks?” He almost laughed.

“I have no tricks. I am running away.” She
tossed some clothes--dresses, undergarments, boots, and
bonnets--into an open trunk. “Who are you?”

“He is not your concern.”

“You are in my room.”

“It does not face onto the street. I am
discreet.”

“Too true.”

Jasper looked to his nameless lover and back
to his sister. He sighed. “You are free to marry Lord Hedgeton. I
will take care of the matters here and move your dowry into an
account for you. I trust you will write me whenever you are
settled.”

“Oh Jasper, you are not so bad after all!”
She spun around with stockings in her hands. “We are to Dover and
then off to the Continent.”

“Excellent. Though I am more pleased that
the trip will not come from my pockets.”

Helena raised her eyes to the ceiling. She
shoved some books and papers into the trunk. “How am I to take this
trunk downstairs? Take this to the servant’s entrance, please. I
must change from this. It is hardly appropriate for a midnight
excursion.”

“In no way shall we t--”

“Oh come along, Jasper, let us help the
girl.” The vision spoke at last. He did not look frightened or
anxious, but bemused.

“Very well. Meet us downstairs in five
minutes,” he said to his sister. Triumphant, Helena left them to
head into her dressing room. When she returned to London, she was
going to have a long talk with Jasper. She knew that some men
preferred other men to women. These sorts of relationships had been
written about since the ancient world. She simply never expected
her brother to be such a man. Especially when she considered his
public personality.

She shrugged out of her dress. It was none
of her concern. He was unmarried and she was eloping. Life was the
best it had been in years.

When she arrived at the carriage with a
spring in her step, Nathaniel thought little of it. Then she
started chuckling to herself as they rode out of London. Any
questions he asked were met with giggles. He finally gave up and
fell asleep, snores filling the cabin.

Emma crept up the stairs
of the Carradine House. It was too chilly to leave enter the
gardens. No matter how much she heard them being praised, she would
happily stay inside. Gardens at night were an unsafe place for an
unmarried girl. Especially at an event such as this where the wine
flowed freely and anonymity was expected.

So, her feet dragged her into the private
quarters of the Earl and Countess of Carradine instead. The
servants she passed did not say a word to her presence. They
lowered their gazes and continued with their tasks.

She hummed to herself, an aria from an opera
she saw last week. The character was dying and sang out her
desperate love for the disgraced hero. There was some furious
urgency to the singer’s lilting soprano voice that caused Emma to
sob for hours afterwards. Thomas had sat there and held her hand,
not knowing what else to do with his blubbering fiancée.

“It’s not real, Emmy, it is just a
story.”

“But surely it has happened so many times.”
She blew her dripping nose into his offered handkerchief. “Can we
come again tomorrow?”

“I thought that you just--of course we
certainly will.”

Her lips tweaked into a small smile. Thomas
was always very sweet to her and she enjoyed his kisses. Her own
feelings did not prevent him from sharing his lips elsewhere. She
shut her eyes, stilling the jealousy. She breathed in through her
nose and held it for a moment. Then she let out a breath. Her aunt
had taught her this. She said it helped her through those moments
she couldn’t see through her own rage. Emma had never seen her
beloved aunt angry, so she thought it must work.

Emma heard a man’s voice, ranting to an
empty room.

“Soon enough, I’ll never be able to see the
stars while in the city. Progress can be horrible to the sciences.
I should hate to retire to the country to continue my
observations.”

The voice heralded from a study to her far
left. Its double doors were pushed wide open. She saw at once there
was a lovely balcony that looked out onto the gardens. The man
paced his study. He yanked at the cravat at his neck, tearing the
fine fabric. She winced.

His valet may kill him. Emma stepped towards
the study.

This must be the Earl of Carradine. He did
not often go out into society. Even at his own ball, he was hidden
away in his study, muttering about stars. If he were less handsome
and less rich, many would easily mock him.

“Who goes there?” He halted, peering out
into the hallway. He squinted his eyes into the hallway. Only a few
lamps were lit, probably obscuring Emma’s figure. She stepped into
the light given off by his study.

“Lady Emma Wren,” she said with a squeak.
His face relaxed into a slight smile. They had met once before for
less than a minute before Thomas had dragged her to dance a
waltz.

“Ah, Lady Wren, do come in. Is the ball
simply too much cavorting for you?” His chestnut brown hair fell
casually into his eyes lending him a debonair quality similar to
pirates or highwaymen. Not that she had ever seen either
incarnation.

“A bit, yes.” She surveyed his study. It had
a cozy albeit chaotic feel to it. It lacked a woman’s touch. He
probably did not allow Lady Carradine to redecorate as she pleased.
He stood over by his telescope with a drink in his hand.

“Come look at the stars then. Orion’s belt
is quite vibrant tonight.”

Though tempted, Emma shook her head. “No
thank you, Lord Carradine.” She trailed her fingers across a dusty
table. She took a deep breath. “I need to ask you a question
regarding the relationship between Lord Hartwell and your wife,
Lady Carradine.”

“Relationship?” He repeated as if he had not
heard her correctly.

“Yes, relationship. I just saw her pull him
into an empty room downstairs. Whatever could that be about?”

“Old friends catching up?” suggested Lord
Carradine. “They did first meet in Vienna.”

Emma shook her head. “Lord Hartwell said
that she pursued him and he was not interested. When did you meet
Lady Carradine anyway?”

“In Vienna as well. As you said, she had
eyes only for Lord Hartwell. I won her over in the end.”

“You are not concerned that she still has
feelings for him?” Emma bit her lip. That was a great fear of hers.
“I have never understood how those feelings of love can disappear
as if that person never nested in your heart. Surely there is
always some reflection and some nostalgia.”

Lord Carradine lifted his shoulders in a
shrug. “I did love another before my wife. I was but a child, but
that girl meant the world to me. However, once I met Genevieve, I
learned that was not love at all. It was infatuation. There is a
difference between the two. Fire and passion is always perceived as
love, but when that extinguishes, what is left?”

“Regret.”

“You are worried that Hartwell has feelings
for another? Lady Caroline Wren? My wife? You two are engaged.
Surely he loves you.” Lord Carradine watched his guest. Her lips
tightened into a line.

“If you know of our engagement, then you
must have heard the gossip surrounding it.”

“I do not much listen to the wagging
tongues. I rarely go out to the fashionable spots.” He put a
quizzing glass to his eye and peered down at an open tome. He
clicked his tongue and turned the page.

“He did not want to marry me. He has grown
accustomed to me, but it is more out of duty and friendship. We
used to be very close before he left for the Continent.” She let
out a breath. “We had a falling out over matters that seem silly to
me now. We were younger then.” Emma did not mention the growing
insecurity she had over her dark skin. In the grand scheme of skin
tones, she was not so dark. In the high society of London, she
stuck out amongst the creamy complexions. She felt better standing
near Lord Carradine for he was a shade or two darker than she.

“Whenever I hear Hartwell speak of you, he
is full of joy. But also worry. He is quite worried about the
matter of Captain Wren.”

She yanked her head to look at him. Her eyes
narrowed into slits. “Why do you know of that?”

The quizzing glass dropped from his eye. “In
regards to that, Lady Wren, I must say that...oh look!”

“Edward dearest, you must come down for at
least one dance!” sang Lady Carradine as she spun into the room.
Thomas followed at a respectable distance behind her.

“I cannot believe that Nathaniel eloped with
Miss Mallory. I specifically instructed him to leave for Dover at
once to keep an eye on--AH! Emmy, what are you doing here with Lord
Carradine?” His grey eyes looked between the pair, a hint of
suspicion growing. Lord Carradine suppressed a smirk as he patted
Emma on the head. She pulled away with a shout.

“Do not touch my hair. It took Mary two
hours for it to not bush out.” She side-stepped and gently smoothed
down her curls. “Miss Mallory left me, so I wandered up here.
Though now it seems she has run off with Lord Hedgeton.” She rolled
her eyes to the ceiling. “How predictable of them.” Thomas came to
her side and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He whispered some
sweet nothing in her ear that made her wring her hands and
giggle.

“And romantic,” put in Lady Carradine.
“Beside her fiancé was detestable. I had to have him removed from
the premises. Him and that awful little man, Sir Rollings.”

“Good evening, Lady Carradine,” Emma said at
once, remembering her manners. She dipped into a quick curtsy.

“Lady Wren, how lovely to see you again.”
She flashed a bright and sincere smile.

“She paid me a visit after seeing your
assignation,” began Lord Carradine. “I do believe it is time to
reveal it all to her. It is only right.”

Thomas looked to Genevieve who offered him a
raised eyebrow in response. An eyebrow that managed to convey,
“Yes, you fool, we should have done so weeks ago.”

“Very well then. Would you like to sit?”

“I am fine with standing,” replied his
fiancée. She folded her arms across her chest. “I am riveted.”

“First I would like to say that Lady Wren
did ask for my help in secreting her away. She is staying in Dover
until we figure this out, which is why I--”

“Sent Lord Hedgeton to Dover,” finished
Emma. “But why would she ask for your assistance?”

“As you know, Lady Carradine’s father
travels throughout the Continent and has made a great name for
himself. What you do not know is that he is works for the Crown as
a spy. I got wrangled into this mess when I helped catch a renowned
jewelry thief. She was already in her father’s employ and we
decided to team up since we can both infiltrate different
locations. When she returned to England, we kept up our public
relationship of fawning and disdain since it had worked well on the
Continent. I do not do much work for the Crown anymore but focus on
personal matters. Such as the death of Captain Wren and those
people who have been blackmailing Lady Wren.”

“How are they connected?”

“We are not sure. It does not make any sort
of sense. Why would his murderers be blackmailing his sister?”

No one had an answer they wanted to voice.
Emma could not help but hate how Thomas used the word ‘we’ so
freely with another woman.

“I am helping,” Emma announced.

“That is preposterous!”

“That is wonderful!”

Lord Carradine did not answer, but smiled
instead. That determined glint in her eye did not bode well for
Hartwell.

“You absolutely must help. You know your
aunt better than any of us. It shall be wonderful to have a lady
friend again. In secret, of course, cannot break the ruse quite
yet.”

“But, truly it is no place for a--”

Lord Carradine cut him off. “I suggest you
not finish that thought.”