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Over Jonah’s shoulder, Paget House blazed with candlelight, not giving the slightest indication that behind its golden windows, elegant persons were vomiting fish paste. On the other side of the street, a line of graceful mansions loomed against the dark sky.

As Bea looked up, the clouds parted, and the moon seemed to shake free of a curtain. All of a sudden, the roof opposite was graced with a weathervane, a four-sailed clipper floating over velvet-dark skies, silver glinting from the tops of its masts.

In comparison to the country, Bea considered London foggy, ever-darkened by a relentless cloud layer. But tonight, she could see a star or two, and the huge bulk of the cathedral loomed comfortingly over the city. London had its own glittering beauty, albeit very different from the gentle country life she adored.

Marrying Jonah, becoming a duchess, would mean spending time in London. She could make her peace with it.

“One of Lady Paget’s upstairs maids, Elsie, has kindly agreed to accompany you home, Bea,” Jonah said, ushering forward an older woman with a beaked nose and cheerful eyes, her round forehead ringed by a thick braid. “Lady Paget would be grateful if Elsie could stay the night and return in the morning.”

As Jonah escorted the maid to his carriage, Bea curtsied to Lady Paget, who twinkled at her.

“You didn’t obey me, child. I was about to come to the library when the duke came to find me.”

“No,” Bea said. Then her smile broke free. “No need.”

“I had a delightful feeling that my interference may not be required. I thought of informing the duke that I’d ask Lord Peregrine to escort you home instead, but decided the prompt was not needed.”

Bea shook her head. “You are mischievous, Lady Paget. I wouldn’t have thought it.”

“I do like to get my own way,” the lady said with satisfaction. “My husband complains of it regularly. Though I must say that Lady Regina casts me in the shade on that front.”

Bea’s heart thumped. It was only nerves. In time she would hear Regina’s name and have no more reaction than she did to hearing news of the family cat. “Oh?” she managed.

“I’ll leave it to her brother to share the lady’s latest machinations,” Lady Paget said. “Nothing too terrible, dear. She’s a tiresome little gnat. There’s one in every family.”

After saying farewell to Lady Paget, Bea accepted Jonah’s hand to climb onto the mounting block and into the carriage, holding tightly to the cloak covering her damp clothing. The vehicle was lit by small lamps hanging at each window, creating a snug little room braced against the cold and dark.

She didn’t know London well, so she found herself puzzling over Jonah’s instruction to the coachman: Why go around Whitechapel?

And why did Lady Paget call Regina a “gnat”? Because she’s a small insect that buzzes around one’s hair, yet is harmless? Was her ladyship trying to reassure Bea, or merely expressing irritation?

After a few final words to their hostess, Jonah jumped in, pulling the door shut and seating himself beside Bea. “Are you comfortable, Elsie?”

The maid grinned. “Believe me, this is a fair treat, your lordship. The household’s been scrubbing hard for two hours. The number of guests heaving up Jonah is mad.”

Jonah—who was so close to Bea that their legs were touching—broke into a rumble of laughter. “A reference to the Biblical vomiting whale?”

“All the pails of hot water that’s gone up the stairs already! The scrubbing and the smell! I’m plumb exhausted. I hope you won’t mind if I rest my eyelids.”

“Of course not,” Bea said warmly.

Before they turned the street corner, Elsie was tucked in the corner, a brown wool cloak pulled over her head.

“I can scarcely believe the tales of woe emerging from the ballroom,” Jonah said. “We were lucky to have been upstairs and avoided the fishpaste.”

“Actually, I should thank your sister for that.”

Jonah raised an eyebrow.

“I stopped eating food at balls because she would mock me,” Bea told him.

His brow drew together. “I shall speak to her again. I apologize for her unkindness.”

“Lady Alcon holds to the same rule,” Bea said. “What if a spot of grease found its way onto a lady’s gown? One should never eat in public.”

He picked her up and popped her down on his other side. “I hear you better on this side.”

“I will remember,” Bea told him.