The Scandalous Adventures of the Sister of the Bride (27 page)

Now, in one way or another, the man was going to ruin her life. Or she might ruin
his. It scarcely mattered, she’d soon be rid of him. It would hurt but it would be
over quickly. And she could continue with her life as planned. No reason why she shouldn’t
begin immediately. She raised her chin slightly. She used to be quite pleasant. She
certainly could be again.

It took far longer than she’d anticipated to talk to Mrs. Dooley. In the course of
recovering from the ill effects of the tainted food, the cook had had a dream that
something dire was going to happen. Mrs. Dooley confided her vision in the dark and
forbidding tone of a Shakespearean witch. Given what surely was some sort of premonition,
she wanted to be prepared and go over any possibility. One could hardly fault her
for that. Or stop her. Any number of disasters might well befall Millworth Manor but
Mrs. Dooley’s culinary offerings would not be one of them. Delilah resisted the temptation
to mention the food poisoning.

By the time Delilah finally arrived at the small parlor, Teddy and Camille were already
there. As were sandwiches and cakes and tea. They were gracious enough to keep their
curiosity in check until she had eaten a biscuit.

“Well, here we are,” Camille said in the manner of an older sister. “Now, how can
we help you?”

“What kind of plan?” Teddy’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“This is very difficult for me. I rarely have anything to confess and I hardly ever
have, well, secrets.” Delilah looked from her sister to her friend and back. “I’m
going to tell you this story once. I don’t want to be overwhelmed with curiosity and
queries; this is hard enough as it is. Therefore, I will only answer one question
from each of you. Do you understand?”

They nodded.

“Very well then.” Delilah rose to her feet. This did seem the sort of thing one should
stand for.

“Well?” Camille smiled encouragingly. “Go on.”

Perhaps sitting was best after all. Delilah sat back down in one of the matching chairs
that had been in this parlor for as long as she could remember. Camille and Teddy
shared the settee and waited expectantly. Delilah drew a deep breath. “I did meet
Sam in New York.”

Teddy choked.

“I knew it,” Camille said under her breath.

“He and I . . . well . . . we had . . . oh, I don’t know . . . an adventure you might
call it.” She braced herself. “Of an amorous nature.”

“You?” Camille stared. “Do remind me never to ask you to chaperone again.”

Teddy’s eyes widened. “Why didn’t you tell me?’

“Are those your questions?” Delilah said sharply.

Teddy and Camille exchanged glances then shook their heads.

“No,” Camille muttered.

“Not at the moment,” Teddy said. “Please continue.”

“I thought I would never see him again. Then, of course, he arrived here. Needless
to say I didn’t want a reminder of my adventure, which is why I wasn’t as pleasant
to him as I should have been.” Entirely true as far as it went. “But the more I got
to know him the more I realized he would break my heart if I let him.” Because she
realized as well that she loved him and probably had from the first. And he was so
very wrong. “So I want you to help me get rid of him.”

Camille crossed her arms over her chest. “What exactly do you mean by get rid of him?
And that’s not my question but part of the plan you have yet to explain.”

“When we said we would do something illegal, neither of us meant murder,” Teddy said.

Delilah stared. “Do you honestly think I would kill the man?”

“No, of course we don’t. Do we, Teddy?”

“Absolutely not,” Teddy said with scarcely any hesitation at all.

“Well, I wouldn’t.” Delilah sighed. “He’s quite a wonderful man, really. He’s just
not the right man for me. And the longer he stays here the harder it is going to be
to see him leave.” She shook her head. “Make him leave I mean. And really, I wish
him nothing but the best. But I also wish him gone.”

Both her sister and her friend stared as if she had gone mad before their very eyes.

“Well?”

“I’m more than a little confused,” Teddy said.

“
We’re
more than a little confused.” Camille frowned. “You think he’s a wonderful man yet
you want nothing to do with him?”

“Is that your question?”

Camille huffed.

“We have no common ground. We’re entirely different people. We envision our lives,
our futures, differently. How can I expect love to succeed between two people who
have no commonality of background or desires or ambitions when love can fail between
two people who are completely perfect for each other?”

Teddy stared and realization washed across her face. “Oh.” She nodded. “I see.”

“Well, I don’t but I do have my question.” Camille’s gaze met her sister’s. “Are you
in love with him?”

“Oh, no.” Delilah shook her head. “You had your question a moment ago.”

“That wasn’t my question! I didn’t—”

“Never mind, I still have my question.” Teddy’s gaze bored into hers. “Are you in
love with him?”

“Does it matter?”

“I think so, yes,” Camille said.

The door to the parlor flew open.

“What kind of family meeting could you possibly have without me?�� Beryl stood in
the doorway resplendent in an aubergine-colored traveling dress. A fashionable feathered
hat perched on her head. As always her posture was perfect, her presence commanding,
and there was a slightly wicked gleam in her eye.

“We didn’t know when you were coming.” A dry note sounded in Camille’s voice. “If
you would be so good as to give us some notice or indicate in a manner that wasn’t
as vague—”

“I said I’d be here before the wedding.” Beryl pulled off her gloves. “And, unless
I’m mistaken, it’s still over a week away.” She nodded at Teddy. “Lovely to see you
again, Teddy.”

Teddy smiled. “I’m delighted to see you as well.”

“Delilah.” Beryl’s gaze met hers. “You look tired. How are you getting on?”

“Better than one might expect.” Delilah cast her a grateful smile. “I’m glad to see
you.”

“I knew you would be.” Beryl smiled in a satisfied manner and studied the other women.
“You two look rather pale.”

“It was something we ate,” Teddy said.

“But we’re fine now,” Camille added.

“Good. Now that the pleasantries are out of the way . . .” Beryl took off her hat,
tossed it onto a table, and seated herself in the chair beside Delilah’s. “What is
going on here? When Clement told me you were all in Mother’s parlor I knew there was
something afoot and I came directly upstairs.” Her gaze skimmed the gathering. “Well?”

“Delilah needs our help,” Camille began. “With Mr. Russell.”

“Oh, does she?” Beryl’s gaze shifted to Delilah. “Have you told them everything?”

Delilah nodded. “More or less.”

“Very well then.” Beryl considered her younger sister. “Are you keeping him or are
you getting rid of him?”

“I’m not keeping him,” Delilah said firmly.

Camille shook her head. “I still don’t understand why not. Certainly, he’s not what
she had planned but he is something of a catch.”

“Nonsense, Camille.” Beryl sniffed. “He’s not at all what she wants. He might well
be handsome and obscenely wealthy—”

“And a good man,” Delilah murmured in spite of herself.

“But the fact remains that he is all wrong for her.”

“I don’t see why.” Camille huffed. “Yes, he’s American and they don’t see eye to eye
on any number of—” Her eyes narrowed. “How do you know any of this?”

“I know everything,” Beryl said smugly.

“I saw Beryl when I was in London,” Delilah said quickly.

“And I was a great deal of help.” Beryl cast her younger sister what appeared suspiciously
like a look of affection.

“Were you?” Camille looked from one sister to the other. “Imagine that.”

Beryl smirked.

Camille frowned and continued. “As I was saying, even though Delilah claims they have
nothing in common, I’m fairly certain she’s in love with the man. Are you going to
deny it?”

“Yes,” Delilah snapped.

“None of us believes you.” Camille shrugged and turned her attention back to her twin.
“So her desire to get rid of him makes no sense—”

“Come now, Camille.” Beryl reached over and patted her younger sister’s hand. “Delilah
is simply protecting herself. It’s entirely logical that she would wish to avoid love
with a man who is all wrong. After all, she fell in love with Phillip who was an utterly
perfect match and he broke her heart. One can’t blame her for wanting to avoid heartbreak
again.”

Teddy grimaced.

Camille stared at her younger sister. “Is that true?”

“Which part?” Delilah asked weakly.

“Apparently, this is one detail she failed to mention, an oversight on her part, I
might add, as this particular detail explains all the rest of it.” Beryl shook her
head. “She loved Phillip and he couldn’t love her back.”

“I never told you that.” Delilah stared at her older sister. “I said he didn’t share
my feelings, not that he couldn’t.”

“My apologies, Delilah, if I extrapolated but that part was obvious. At least to me.
I didn’t especially know Phillip but I knew of him. How to say this?” Beryl thought
for a moment. “When a gentleman in our world manages to get through his life before
marriage without so much as a whiff of gossip associated with him—no failed love affairs,
no broken engagements, no scandals with actresses or other women of a questionable
reputation, nothing of that sort—and then he finally marries a young, lovely, unsullied
girl from a good family only to then lead somewhat separate lives, the conclusion
is that he’s simply not especially interested in what else she has to offer.” Her
gaze locked with her younger sister’s. “He wanted the perfect wife or at least a wife
who would appear perfect to anyone who cared to look. He was not looking for love.
And in any number of marriages, that’s acceptable to both sides.

“He never expected love from you. It was not what he bargained for.” Beryl’s gaze
met Delilah’s. “I for one don’t blame you in the least for not being willing to risk
your heart again. After all, the odds of you and Mr. Russell being able to overcome
the differences between you are extremely slim.” She shook her head slowly. “It’s
a wager I would never take.”

“I don’t blame you either,” Teddy said staunchly. Of course, until recently Teddy
was the only one who knew that Delilah had fallen in love with her husband. “And I
am willing to do whatever you need from me to get rid of Sam.”

“I think this is stupid.” Camille glared at the others. “Love is entirely too rare
to throw away.” She pinned her younger sister with a hard look. “You said you and
Sam had an
adventure.
It seems to me one of the necessary ingredients to any adventure is risk. Love, above
all else, is worth the risk.”

“You’re looking at this through the starry eyes of someone who is finally about to
marry her true love.” Beryl’s brow furrowed in annoyance. “You can’t possibly see
it logically. Delilah and Mr. Russell are entirely wrong for each other. Hearts are
bound to be broken. Hers or his or, more likely, both. The sensible course is to avoid
this match altogether.”

“Sensible has nothing to do with love!” Camille glared at her twin.

Beryl glared back. “And therein lies the problem!”

“So what is your plan?” Teddy said in an obvious effort to stop the twins from coming
to blows.

“Sam was engaged once, to a woman he was in love with. As it turned out, she was more
interested in his position and his wealth than she was him. He has vowed to avoid
fortune hunters.” Delilah drew a deep breath. “I intend to prove to him I am exactly
what he doesn’t want.”

“How very clever of you.” Beryl favored her with an admiring smile.

“And how do you intend to do that?” Camille snapped.

“I don’t know, which is precisely why I need your help.” Delilah thought for a moment.
“I had thought that I might, well, throw myself at the first wealthy, titled gentleman
I saw. But as tonight’s party has been cancelled, there is no one available to throw
myself at. Although, there are any number of guests who will be staying at the manor
and Mother made certain their number includes several eligible gentlemen.”

Teddy shook her head. “But most of those won’t be arriving until a few days before
the wedding. I daresay you want to put your plan into effect as soon as possible.”

“Actually, she has a bit of a reprieve.” Camille sighed in surrender. “Grayson says
he and Sam will be spending all their time at the carriage house until the motorwagon
is repaired. So Delilah should have no difficulties avoiding Sam.” She glanced at
her younger sister. “Which I assume you prefer.”

Delilah nodded.

“What’s a motorwagon?” Beryl asked.

“A horseless carriage,” Teddy said.

“Really?” Beryl’s eyes widened. “How very interesting.”

“It’s not at all easy to find an eligible gentleman when you need one, you know,”
Teddy pointed out. “Although, I suppose we could hire an actor.”

All three sisters stared at her.

“No! Absolutely not.” Horror shone in Camille’s eyes. “Actors will not do. Actors
are not at all dependable. There will be no actors.”

“I don’t know,” Beryl said in an overly innocent manner. “That might be a possibility.”

Camille leveled a scathing look at her sister. Beryl bit back a laugh.

“An actor won’t do.” Delilah sighed. “And this is the only plan I can think of.”

“It shouldn’t be discarded simply because there is a tiny problem,” Beryl said. “It
certainly isn’t insurmountable.”

“As much as I don’t agree with what you’re doing—I do like Sam after all—it is a clever
idea,” Camille said in a grudging manner.

“Then you will help me?” Delilah said to Camille.

“Of course I will,” Camille said with a sigh. “You’re my sister and my first loyalty
is to you.”