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She had been guiding them to the door as she spoke, prodding and waving her fan to force them to move as she lectured. The crowd parted with scandalized expressions, as though the three of them were plague carriers, though there were also expressions of astonishment and poorly masked amusement on many faces. Daniel caught sight of Jackson, looking torn between his personal amusement and the exasperated embarrassment a man of his station might be expected to display when his sponsored guest behaved poorly, and Patricia, who was doing her best to look disapproving and not quite succeeding.
Then the doors were opened, coats and hats presented, and the three of them were unceremoniously herded out onto the darkened cobbles outside, after which the portal was closed firmly in their faces as the Duchess of Devonshire retreated back inside.
The three of them stood in bemused silence for some moments, gazing at each other in the light of the flickering street lamps as they all donned their outdoor gear. Then Henrietta reached out a hand to her friend, hesitating uncertainly. “Eva, I am sorry...truly.”
Daniel braced himself for any manner of reaction, from a storm of tears to a sharp, angry dismissal. He was prepared for threats of social or economic retribution, and for demands that he honor his foolishly issued proposal. He was not prepared for the young lady he had inadvertently slighted to smile and clasp her friend’s hand with her own, quite as if she had not been embarrassed in a public forum and thrown out of the most fashionable establishment in the city because of their actions.
“You think I could not see the way events were turning after the second day? I had some suspicions then, when you were so reluctant to speak of him, or of any plan to orchestrate our meetings. And I was certain of the matter at the masquerade, when you were making such effort to disinterest me without being obvious in the matter.”
Eva Darnell shook her head with a smirk as she folded her hands primly in front of her. “I’ve always hoped a man would catch your eye properly and give you the happiness you try so much to give others. After the way you were talking, I rather thought this might be the match that would finally win your heart, and I am not at all sorry to be proved right.”
She turned her amused gaze to Daniel. “I hope you’ll forgive my bluntness, my lord, but my interests lie in a different direction at present, and I fear that I shall have to decline your proposal. Though it was quite prettily executed, and I cannot fault the reasoning you gave me, I suspect your logic is grounded in false information, and your heart is in fact inclined elsewhere, and I shall not interfere in a proper heart-match.”
Without any intention, Daniel found his attention drawn back to Henrietta. Her tears had stopped, though the track of them was still visible, and the toll of the emotional outbursts of the evening was clearly leaving its own mark. Still, she looked at him hopefully, pleadingly, and the spark had returned to give brilliance to the sea-colored eyes.
The last shards of his fury and betrayal and hurt seemed to drown in the depths of those eyes, and he found his response escaping without any thought on his part. “Indeed.”
Only a day and a half had passed, and it felt like a lifetime since he had held her in his arms. Since their passionate liaison in his studio. He leaned forward, drawn toward her as a soldier might be drawn toward the lights of home and the sounds of peace.
Raised voices on the other side of the door distracted all three of them, a jumble of deep and demanding tones resonating through the wood, though he could not make out the words.
From their expressions, both Eva and Henrietta knew the owner of one of the voices, though he himself could not place it. He tipped his head in the direction of the doors. “Is that, perchance—”
“It is my father.” Henrietta’s expression showed clear consternation and not a little dismay. “He did not know I had been visiting you, nor...nor anything else.” Other voices, two women’s and two men’s could also be heard, muffled but giving no doubt that there was a furious debate on the other side of the paneled wood. “It sounds as if Andrew is attempting to calm him, but…”
“But you doubt his success?” He himself felt curiously calm, a plan already forming in his mind as he subtly linked arms with both ladies and drew them toward the square where the carriages would be parked. He would have to send Jackson’s rig back for him, but he suspected his friend would understand…particularly as he thought he recognized Jackson’s voice as the third male voice involved in the increasingly loud discussion inside.
“Far more likely that he shall only be angry that Andrew did not tell him straight away when he discovered what was occurring. My brother has been part of the entire matter since the morning of our second appointment.” Her expression was rueful.
It was heartening to know that he might have at least one ally in his eventual meeting, and likely confrontation, with the Earl of Crawford. All the same, he was in no way interested in having that first meeting here, outside Almack’s, in the streets, and when the Earl was clearly in a somewhat justified temper.
“In that case, there is only one thing to be done, if we do not all wish to be involved in a second public altercation here in the streets, which will doubtless cause a city-wide uproar and see all of us banned from polite society for Seasons to come.” The incident in Almack’s would take some work to smooth over and mend, but a second confrontation in the streets, as if they were all common tradesmen arguing over some issue, would cause a much greater problem. Fortunately, they were nearly to the carriage park, though he suspected the Earl would not be delayed for much longer.
“And what do you recommend?” Henrietta sounded both amused and concerned in equal measure.
He released Miss Darnell and spun Henrietta fully into his arms. He tipped his head, and this time she needed no encouragement to lift her chin and meet him, lips crashing together as though all the emotions of the past few days could be shared and resolved between them in one moment, a meeting of lips, hearts, and souls that unified them in a single instant of all-encompassing passion.
He broke the kiss only when they were both in desperate need of air, breathing hard as he stared into her half-lidded eyes and at her kiss-reddened lips, the rosy flush adorning her cheeks a match for the heat in his own.
The doors to Almack’s opened at that moment with barely controlled force, and dark figures appeared silhouetted in the golden lights of the salon lamps, whirling cloaks and hats into place. Daniel broke from Henrietta with a smile tugging at his mouth, an almost unfathomable lightness filling his very being to replace the heaviness with which he had arrived. “I shall contact you soon, Henrietta. Very soon. But for the moment…” He glanced back at the doors, where figures were exiting Almack’s and heading in their direction with purposeful strides. “Best to run for it.”
A quick kiss to Henrietta’s hand, and the three of them suited actions to words, separating and making haste to their individual carriages. Eva’s lilting laughter followed him as he swung up into Jackson’s carriage and bade the driver make haste for home.
His last glimpse as the carriage rolled out into the night was of a knot of people, the foremost two he suspected were Henrietta’s parents, if only because of the outraged and offended expressions both revealed in the lamplight. The clacking of the horse hooves and rumble of the wheels was matched by the counterpoint of continued laughter from Miss Darnell, which set him to leaning into the carriage back in helpless laughter of his own as his transportation rolled into the night.
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
Henrietta's family arrived home only a few hours after she sent the carriage back for them. By that time, she had changed into her nightdress and a heavy outer robe. She’d contemplated going to bed so that her family would find her retired, but she suspected that the delay would not make the matter any easier to handle.
She was alerted to the family’s arrival by the sound of hooves on the cobblestones, followed shortly thereafter by the opening and closing of the door. She set aside the book she had been attempting to read and readied herself.
Not three minutes later, there were three quick raps on the door to her chambers, and Sarah opened them to reveal Andrew, still clad in his evening apparel, save for cloak and hat. His expression was as serious as she’d ever seen it. “Father and mother are waiting for you in the family parlor.”
Formality in her brother was not a good sign. “Are they...very angry?”
Andrew huffed. “Madder than a sack of wet cats, sister of mine. I was damn near cut of my allowance for the next week just for knowing that you’d met the Marquess. I do think father would have thrown me out of the house entire, except he didn’t want a bigger scene. Well, and the Duke of Merriweather offered me lodgings if he did, and he wouldn’t stand to lose that kind of face, especially right then.”
Andrew sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I’ll own that I urged you to tell the truth, but really Henrietta...I rather thought you’d do it in a more appropriate setting.”
