Secret Pleasures (26 page)

“Yes, let’s.
”
Darien managed to escort both his sister and Ivy into the dining room, skirting past three elderly couples compressed in the doorway
.
White linen place cards
, names written
in careful script
,
perched atop every glistening china setting running down the long table
.
Darien dropped his sister off with her husband and sprinted to change the seating to his liking, jostling one older gentleman from his seat
.
Ivy followed, slowed by her tight-fitting dress and long train.

Dr. Shipley and Maddox strolled into the room both still in serious conversation. When Shipley discovered he was sitting next to Darien, he frowned
.

“Darien, I hope you are not going to trouble me with a dozen different questions.
”
The good doctor shook out his napkin and took his seat
.
“I’m famished and am in no mood for foolish speculation.”

“Do you have any different answers to give, Dr. Shipley?” Darien asked as friendly as possible
.

“No, I do not.” The doctor waved over a servant carrying in a tureen and the first course.

“Then I must ask different questions
.
How is my father
?
It’s not like him to miss a meal
.
Perhaps he has heard his betrothed abuse the pianoforte?”

Ivy stomped on his toe and hissed, “She might hear you,”
even
though
Arianna
had been seated on the opposite side of the long table.

“You father is perfectly fine,” Shipley said in-between slurping squash soup wafting of nutmeg
.
“His old knee injury pains him a bit
.
I bled the swelling and he should be fine for the hunt tomorrow.”

“There is to be a hunt?” Darien laid down his fork
.
He had studied every detail of Mrs. Maddox’s schedule from afternoon teas, morning bird watching and what was sure to be a rendition of Vivaldi that would burn his ears.

“Mr. Maddox
,
” Darien called down to the other end of the table, only now realizing the incessant interloper was feasting in the earl’s chair
.
Though that should be Darien’s seat in his father’s absence, he never felt the urge to claim it until now
.
Darien stood abruptly and the room silenced
.
“I hear there is to be a hunt tomorrow
.
The time must have been inadvertently left off my schedule.”

“It’s a private affair,” Maddox said flatly
.
He gripped his knife in a way that hinted he’d like to drag it across Darien’s neck
.
He turned to an elderly gentleman on his left that Darien realized was the duke of the neighboring county
.
A powerful man to be sure.

“Certainly not so private that the earl’s only son may not attend,” said Mrs. Maddox charmingly, despite Darien’s earlier obnoxious behavior
.
The lady even smiled in his direction.

“You don’t hunt, Darien,” Lily said from across the table
.
Her words were heavy with warning.

“But I’m awfully handy with a gun.
”
Darien patted Shipley’s shoulder, causing him to spill soup on his lace
neckcloth
.
“And how convenient that we have the good doctor in residence.”

“I shan’t be joining you tomorrow.
”
The doctor soaked up the orange splatter with his napkin.

“Oh, but you are certainly staying the night
.
You never know when there might be an accident.
”

Doctor Shipley, who had delivered Darien and signed Philip’s death certificate, waved to a servant to remove his soup bowl
.
He ignored Darien to the best of his abilities.

Darien raised his glass to the only other man who had been confirmed to be at the last hunting party the Blackmore family had hosted.

“You shall be joining the hunt, will you not, Henry?”

Maddox toasted Darien in return, appearing to relish the confrontation.

“I would not miss it for the world, Lord Blackmore.”

To that end, I am willing to give up everything
,

Arianna laid down her final card, the Jack of Spades, to win another pot.

“My word, dear, but you are an excellent cribbage player
.
”
Lily Fitzgerald examined Arianna as if she hadn’t really noticed her before
.
“You must play often.”

“Actually, not very often at all.
”
Arianna pushed the pile of chips in the direction of
Mrs. Fitzgerald
.
“I just enjoy the strategy of it all
.
I didn’t intend to take all of your markers, Mrs. Fitzgerald
.
Shall we play another hand
?
I am sure my luck has run out.”

“Luck?
”
Ivy discarded her own hand and gathered the cards to reshuffle
.
Though she’d played more rounds of cards in more gambling establishments than she cared to name, Ivy could hardly hold her own with this wisp of a girl
.
Ivy had not won a single hand the entire evening
.
“I think it is more of a keen mind you are hiding behind that innocent exterior.”

“Arianna has always been quick with games
.
She can be such a ninny when it comes to other things, however.
”
Mrs
.
Maddox glanced sharply at Arianna
.
“I am sure she won’t win again, Lady Lilian.”

Arianna dropped her gaze
.
“My mother is right
.
I won’t win again.”

“I won’t hear of that, dear girl.
”
Lily pushed the pile of markers back to Arianna
.
“You’ll need these
.
That table over there is playing partners
.
You shall be mine
.
I shall be right back after I pinch some of my husband’s chips.”

Ivy laid down the cards and turned to watch Darien at the piano
. 
He missed a note here and there but the concerto filled the room, sweeping Ivy pleasantly away to a
nostalgic
place she dared not wander
.
Ivy turned back to Arianna and Mrs. Maddox, wishing she could stay angry with Darien longer than a few hours
.
Then she saw
Arianna’s eyes widen
as
she stood abruptly.

In nearly the same instant, the music also stopped
.
Ivy turned just in time to see Darien get up from the piano and greet Robert Fitzgerald, who had apparently just arrived.

“I did not know he was coming.
”
Mrs. Maddox gripped her daughter’s hand and urged her to sit down
.
Her gaze darted to Ivy
.
“A shame the music has ended
.
I had no idea Lord Blackmore was so talented.”

“You should hear him play the violin
.
His mother was quite gifted herself and recognized Darien’s talent at an early age.
”
Ivy noted that Darien seemed happy and refreshed after playing his mother’s piano
.

“You are quite fond of him, aren’t you?
”
Mrs. Maddox’s voice held an unexpected note of sadness.

“He amuses me at the moment.
”
Ivy shrugged, though she knew she was not fooling anyone, not even herself.

Mrs. Maddox studied Darien in a way that garnered Ivy’s raised eyebrow
.
“I can certainly see why.”

Robert Fitzgerald glanced in their direction and turned away without so much as an acknowledgement
.
He and Darien found their way to a side table lined with after dinner liqueur
.
Darien had been well behaved after the announcement of the hunt over dinner
, and h
e and Maddox had mercifully avoided each other
.

“Come along, Arianna
.
Your great-aunt Martha came all the way down from the Midlands to wish you well
,
and you have hardly spoken to her.

Ivy followed Arianna’s gaze to the pinched-faced elderly woman in the corner who blatantly glared at Ivy and her very crimson dress
.

“She smells of cod liver oil and has nothing pleasant to say.
”
Arianna’s gaze returned to Robert
.
Lily had joined her brother and son at the buffet table
.
Robert laughed and Arianna’s frown deepened
.
“Miss Templeton is so much more amusing.”

“Miss Templeton is welcome to join us.
”
Mrs. Maddox’s genuine sincerity momentarily startled Ivy
.
“I would not dream of leaving Ivy to sit alone
.
Come dear, I shall make the introductions.”

“Oh, you are too kind, Mrs. Maddox, but your poor aunt would likely keel over if I dared to address her
.
I am lucky to be in the same room with such proper and respectable folk.
”
Ivy smiled and winked at Mrs. Maddox
.
“Do not worry about leaving me on my own
.
I’m quite used to making a spectacle of myself.”

Mrs. Maddox stood, glanced nervously at the matron who watched them with undisguised contempt
.
“I understand, Miss Templeton, though I hope you know I do not share those views
.
Women sometime do not have the luxury to choose the life that they would
.
Is that not right, Arianna?”

“Aunt Martha is looking quite unhappy
,
Mama,” Arianna said, though she could be describing herself
.
“I think she needs another sherry
.
I shall stay here and keep Miss Templeton company
.
Though she claims otherwise, it would be unpardonably rude to desert her.”

“Very well
.
I shall return shortly.
”
Her mother stood and rushed over to the elder woman.

Immediately, Arianna moved her chair closer to Ivy’s
.
She grabbed her hand and held it under the table
.

“I have been hoping to speak to you alone for some time, Miss Templeton.”

Ivy withdrew her hand and sat back
.
“You may call me Ivy if you promise to sit properly in your chair and to appear as if we are speaking of nothing but the weather.”

Arianna nodded
.
She cast a smoldering glance at Robert
.
Lea had joined them and they appeared to be teasing her about her dress.

“Look at me, Arianna. Not Robert.”

“He is ignoring me
.
Perhaps he doesn’t love me, but he doesn’t have to pretend I don’t exist.”

Ivy glanced in Robert’s direction
.
Though he seemed completely engaged in listening to his sister, his gaze darted over her head to Arianna.

“He’s not ignoring you.
”
Ivy returned her gaze to Arianna
.
“Watch me and let nature work its magic.”

“I shall need more than magic, Miss Templeton.”

“Ivy, if we are to be friends.”

“Yes, I would like that.
”

She watched as
Arianna glanced around the room
and
Ivy noted that her father was nowhere to be found.

“Might I have a sherry?”
Arianna asked.

“Of course
.
You are a grown woman about to be married soon, are you not
?
You do not have to ask permission.
”

Arianna jumped to her feet
.
Ivy realized she intended to march over to Robert and pour the drink herself.

“Sit, Arianna.
”
Ivy waved to a servant who brought a glass and a cut crystal bottle
.