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Chapter Five
Emmy took Dita’sarm and pulled her through the throng toward the private quarters. “It is time to take a break. I will drag you if necessary if you stop or allow guests to engage in conversation.” Emmy didn’t play the role of the meek companion trailing behind her.
Dita nodded and smiled to her guests, ignoring Dash’s name among the murmurs. “Your timing is impeccable. I am in need of the necessary.”
Both women tittered. Dita was grateful for Emmy’s steady arm as they dodged the guests who mingled in the hallway. She suddenly felt the heat of Dash’s gaze on her back. Was he following her? It would be just like him to barge his way into her private quarters. She steeled herself not to look over her shoulder. She wouldn’t give him satisfaction to know that he still had power over her.
She had been aware of his presence the entire evening—when he left the ballroom to either play cards or join her brother in the library to smoke cigars. The mounting dismay and anger that she wasn’t immune to him was taking a toll on her composure. It was good to have this time to settle her emotions before she had to face him.
Emmy closed the door to Dita’s private quarters. “You’ve done an amazing job of keeping up appearances. No one would know except for me and possibly Aunt Euphemia that you were upset. Aunt Euphemia is quite perceptive.”
Dita had struggled all night to pretend that Dash’s attendance hadn’t rekindled the feelings of the betrayed and helpless young woman.
“Thank you. I appreciate the rescue,” Dita said over her shoulder as she hurried to the dressing room and to the chamber pot. Her maid waited to assist her.
“Rosetta, go down and have your dinner. Emmy will help me if I need anything.” Dita didn’t want Rosetta to hear any conversation about Dash. Her maid wouldn’t share gossip with the downstairs servants, but Dita couldn’t risk the chance. No one but her school friends knew anything about her romantic past with Dash. And she planned for it to remain that way.
“You don’t want me to redo your hair?” Rosetta didn’t hide her disapproval. The maid had grown up with Dita and, like Totty, didn’t hold her opinions in. Rosetta was very skilled and miraculously was able to tame Dita’s curls into a smooth knot on top of her head with a few curls near her face.
To Rosetta’s dismay, Dita liked elegant, unadorned, and unrestrictive fashion with no bows or flounces. The midnight blue dress had a dusty rose ribbon at the bodice and around the hem. Her gloves and dancing slippers had been dyed to match the deep pink.
Dita had chosen a blue gown so she could wear her grandmother’s sapphire as a symbol of taking the next step in her life. When Roddy had shared that Napoleon’s two main advisors Talleyrand and Fouche had a major spy network in English society, including many among the titled, she had been first shocked and then outraged. She couldn’t imagine the pain her grandmere had suffered losing her loved ones, her home, her friends, losing her entire way of life at the hands of her countrymen. Dita would use every skill and resource to stop the French from bringing suffering to English shores.
She was accepted in all households and free to move through the echelons of both English and French society. Her close relationship with the servants meant she also could rely on them to gather information. And her secret skill of martial arts would be very helpful if she ever found herself in a tricky situation. She might never be asked to negotiate with the French like Roddy, but she was adept at observing and understanding people. With the help of Emmy, Olivia, and Charlotte, she had concocted the plan to use her season to test whether she and her team could gather information and convince Lord Rathbourne to allow them to open a school for women spies.
Dita flopped on the settee and raised her feet on the table, placing them next to the tray that Totty had filled with treats. There wasn’t time to untie her dancing slippers. Her legs and feet ached from the hours of standing and from clumsy partners who smashed her toes.
“Your performance was to be admired. No one would have known that you were in turmoil. You’re going to make an amazing spy.”
“That is very generous of you. You didn’t hear me announce in a loud voice that Dash hadn’t been invited or when I called him a presumptuous arse?”
Loading her plate, Emmy’s face shot up. “How delightful.”
And for the first time since Dash’s arrival, Perdita laughed earnestly, not pretending with forced smiles and polite responses. “I would expect such kindness from a vicar’s daughter. I don’t think Miss Danvers would think it was delightful.”
Emmy took a bite of the lobster patty. “Your comments must not have been heard since there was no mention in the ballroom. The dark lord’s appearance after not being in polite society was all the conversation. I’m glad you didn’t pretend and fawn but expressed your feelings.”
“Calling him an arse doesn’t come close.” Dita had always imagined how she would behave when she saw Dash again. Cool and sophisticated, she would act indifferent as if seeing him meant nothing to her. She hadn’t behaved in any way as she had hoped. She had barely been able to hide her anger or her hurt.
“It was unfair of Roddy not to warn you.”
“He was very apologetic for forgetting to mention he invited Dash. A small detail according to him. The message being that he is too busy in his work to be concerned about my social life.”
“Your brother forgets nothing. He has a prodigious memory. It is why he is a brilliant diplomat.”
“I’m suspicious that he is matchmaking. His success in France has gone to his head. Negotiating a truce between Dash and me would be more difficult than bargaining with Talleyrand or Napoleon himself.”
“Matchmaking?” Emmy patted her lips with a napkin. She behaved more ladylike than Dita ever did. “Beldon is a rake and a gambler.”
“Roddy still hopes to reform Dash. I know it has upset him to hear Dash was still gambling. There have been rumors that his estate is in the dun from his debts. My dowry would solve Dash’s debt. I can imagine Roddy in his usual male conceit to believe that it’s a brilliant match between his wayward sister and best friend, who are both in need of reforming.”
“Your brother has no suspicions of what occurred between you in the past?”
“I’ve always wondered, but Roddy would have demanded Dash marry me. And I doubt Dash would share…”
“That he behaved dastardly toward his best friend’s sister.”
“I was a young woman weaving dreams from loneliness. He was the only person beside Roddy and Alfie who showed any interest in me. I considered myself quite mature and sophisticated. It was heady and exciting as first loves must be. I was infatuated with love. But it wasn’t real. Not for me or for Dash.”
