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“Ha!” Peggy snorted. “He isn’t my cup of tea. And I mean that wholly without insult. I find him a wonderful person and care for him dearly just not in that way. Besides, I’ve seen from the start that he only ever had eyes for you.”
“Peggy!” Marilee gasped. “What a horrible thing to say.”
“Why is it horrible?” Peggy crossed her arms and leveled Marilee with a knowing glare. “He’s a good man and a fine match I am sure…for anyone who might be interested. That anyone simply is not me. You, however…”
Marilee threw a soaking wet handkerchief right at Peggy’s face. It hit her with a splat and soaked the whole front of her dress.
“That, my dear Kate, is how I know that I am right.” She giggled and tossed the handkerchief back into the cooling vat.
CHAPTER10
It was a fine afternoon where the world was blanketed in a fresh, thick covering of snow when Marilee found herself dressing Lady Lydia for a ride in the park. She added the last of the pins to the lady’s coiffure and had crossed the room to shake out the gown that she had placed behind the dressing screen when there was a knock at the door.
A gentleman entered, a very handsome blond with striking, boyish features.
Marilee gasped and raced to shield Lady Lydia from his sight. She was only wearing a dressing robe and was bare beneath it.
“Oh, Ed, you’ve given poor Kate a start!” Lady Lydia laughed.
“My lady,” Marilee protested. It was simply not done, having a gentleman in your room let alone in such a state of undress.
“Don’t be sourpuss, Kate,” Lady Lydia scolded. “Lord Edward has an open invitation to my chambers so long as papa is out.”
“Your father is out?” Marilee asked with shock. That was all the more reason for concern for the lady’s virtue, although it seemed from the kiss that Lord Edward planted on her lips that her virtue was no longer intact.
“Papa has gone to see his sister,” Lady Lydia offered with a roll of her eyes. “The senile old bat calls him to tea once a month and he cannot refuse lest she raise a ruckus and appear here instead.” The lady cringed at the thought of a visit from her odious aunt. Marilee could hardly believe what she was hearing. First of all, Marilee wished she had a living family, and even if one did not get along with their relatives, such a lack of decorum was most unusual.
“She’s new,” Lord Edward observed with a gleam in his eye that Marilee chose not to evaluate. Something about the man was… off. He made her skin crawl the way that his eyes raked over her form, as if with the simple act he could reduce her to a dressing gown as well, or less.
“Hands and eyes to yourself, my love,” Lady Lydia scolded with a playful swat to his arm. “I’m an only child, you know. I never did learn to share.”
“Only you,” he crooned and kissed her again, his hands going up her neck, but Lady Lydia pulled away. “Don’t muss the hair,” she warned, and with a groan, his kisses went lower, and so did his hands.
Marilee wanted to run, but she stood rooted to the spot. She felt that she wished to be anywhere else in this moment. She had never been with a man, and she certainly had no wish to witness the young lord and lady paw at one another, but they were between her and the door.
“Can she be trusted?” he murmured as his lips moved to the lady’s exposed neck; both hands cupped her buttocks. Marilee was mortified.
“She’s a nobody,” Lady Lydia replied, and that seemed all the confirmation that he needed.
A nobody. Was that the term they used for the women who they kept under lock and key? Women who had nobody looking for them, who had nowhere to go, who according to the outside world barely existed. Of course, she would trust that Marilee and the others like her would keep their tongues. Who could they tell?
“Darling, come to bed,” Lord Edward murmured as he backed Lady Lydia toward the four poster that dominated the center of the room.
“I’m to meet Robert in an hour,” Lady Lydia giggled. Marilee inched toward the door. They had already ceased to notice her. “We’re to be off for a ride in the park.”
“A ride,” he said with a drawl of seduction. “Still, we have half an hour.”
Lady Lydia sighed, but there was an uncharacteristic playfulness in her demeanor. “Alright, but don’t you muss my hair.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he replied as he pushed Lady Lydia back on the bed and pushed up her dress revealing her long bare legs beneath the gown. “I shan’t be anywhere near your hair.”
Marilee bolted. She heard a squeal of delight and a deep chuckle as she raced from the room. She did not look back, but stopped about half way to the laundry to catch her breath. Her heart seemed to be racing in a most unladylike manner.
That evening, Marilee filled her companions in on what she had overheard, while leaving out any bawdy details of the indiscretion.
“Perhaps the money is coming from a relative?” she wondered aloud.
Nikolas shook his head. “Lady Lydia has an annual, but it is only enough to keep one comfortable.”
