Chapter One
“You are being dramatic!” Leah tried to sound light-hearted, even as the familiar feeling of dread settled in her stomach. She busied herself with adjusting her skirts on the overly plush settees of their brother’s townhouse’s parlor.
“But I mean it! I can’t believe the Season is almost over and yet you did not secure a proposal, Leah,” Lady Eve Grove said, sighing dramatically as she sat down opposite her sister. “If there were any young lady I’d have been willing to put money on getting a proposal this Season, it was you.”
“Eve!” Lady Celeste Grove said, staring at her younger sister in shock from where she sat next to Leah. “That was very rude. You shouldn’t say such things to your sister!”
“It’s fine,” Lady Leah Grove said quickly, checking to make sure that none of the guests who were sitting near them were listening. The room was crowded with all of her brother’s andsister-in-law’s friends, and she didn’t particularly want them overhearing what her sisters were saying .
Make light of it, she told herself. Don’t let Eve and Celeste see how upset you actually are.“Eve has a point. I’m the eldest sister of the Duke of Dredford. You would think I’d have enough proposals to fill the Serpentine.”
Eve giggled and took a sip from her drink. Leah’s eyes narrowed.Is Eve old enough to be drinking champagne? She isn’teven 17. Perhaps that is what has made her so snarky tonight.
“Well, youdidreceive many suitors this Season,” Celeste said equitably , smiling at her older sister. “There was a week when there were at least three gentlemen visiting here every week asking for you.”
“Yes,” Leah said with a sigh, “but none of them were serious prospects. And they didn’t really like me. They just wanted to use me to get close to Lucien, or else to have some ornament to show off.”
“Are you calling yourself an ornament?” Eve asked, raising her eyebrows.
“No, I just mean--” Leah blushed. She wasn’t trying to be vain. This was actually the impression that many of her suitors had given her during her first London Season: that they didn’t care at all about her personality or character, but that they only wanted a lady they considered to be beautiful, graceful, and titled to show off on their arm.
“She’s only teasing you,” Celeste said, shooting Eve a warning look. “And she’s jealous, of course. She can’t wait until she is old enough to be out. Just you wait, though, Eve: you may find yourself without a single suitor your first Season, and then you will be very sorry that you once teased Leah for not having a proposal.”
Eve frowned. “There’s no way I won’t have a single suitor! I’ll be the most sought-after young lady when I debut.” Her eyes glittered, and Leah had no doubt that her youngest sister was right: she would be a wild success.
Peoplehad always been Eve’s strength. She was talkative, outgoing, and perhaps a little too full of energy sometimes, but this would translate well into her first Season. All the gentlemen would find her charming. And Eve loved to read the gossip columns, so Leah had a feeling she would know exactly how to navigate the strange social dynamics of the ton.
Social dynamics Leah had found much harder to decipher .
“Don’t be sad, Leah,” Celeste said, reaching out and taking her hand, and Leah started and forced herself to smile.
“I’m not sad,” she said quickly. “It’s just my first Season. This means I will get another year at home with you two, Lucien, and Emery. Won’t that be nice?”
“Of course,” Celeste said at once. “And now that Emery and Lucien have finally admitted their feelings for one another andare truly husband and wife, I have a feeling it will be a very happy year.”
All three sisters turned and looked over at where their brother, Lucien, the Duke of Dredford, was speaking to his wife near the mantle. The room was crowded with all the guests that he had invited to celebrate his marriage, but even through the crowd, the Duke and Duchess’s happiness was evident. The Duke was leaning close to his wife’s ear, whispering in it, and she was smiling, even giggling occasionally .
Watching them, Leah’s heart ached . She had wanted to find what they had this Season. A love match. But it seemed that love matches really were as rare as everyone said they were.
“I am sure we will all be as happy as they are,” Celeste said diplomatically, and Leah knew that her middle sister could tell what she was thinking.
“Yes, I’m sure we will,” she said, turning back to her sisters and forcing herself to smile again. She wished someone would change the subject. She was sick of talking about her lackluster Season; sick of thinking about how awkward and uncomfortable she felt in social situations; sick of the way every time a gentleman tried to talk to her, she didn’t know what to say. It was her fault, she knew, that she hadn’t found a match this Season. She just didn’t know how to fit in with the ton.
At that moment, the door to the parlor opened, and the butler hurried in, his face paler than usual and bearing a worried look .The butler headed straight for her brother, bowed before him, and then whispered something.
Lucien frowned. “Lord Dubois?” Leah heard her brother say. “He is here? Now?”
“Yes, Your Grace,” the butler said, just loud enough for Leah to hear him. “He is requesting an urgent meeting with you.”
Lucien’s expression grew even more clouded.
“What is wrong?” His wife Emery, the Duchess of Dredford, asked, looking from her husband to the butler. “Who is Lord Dubois and why do you look so upset at the prospect of meeting him?”
“Oh, he’s no one,” Lucien said. “Just an old neighbor of ours and friend of our father’s. I just never liked him. He is a very rude man, and I never liked…” He glanced over at Leah, whose gaze he met. Leah knew what he was going to say:I never liked the way he looked at my sisters.
Lord Dubois had always stared at Leah and Celeste in the most uncomfortable, lecherous way. After their father had died, Lucien had no longer permitted him to their home.
“Well, now is not the time for a meeting,” Lucien said. “Tell him to come back tomorrow and I will see him then.”
