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Edwina looked around nervously, smiling at each of the ladies as Leticia introduced them. If she guessed, they were all within a few years of age.
“It is a pleasure to meet you all,” Edwina said politely.
“And a pleasure to meet you,” Leticia beamed. “You have caused quite the stir this season – a fresh face for the marriage mart. Do be careful, or you might make all of us quite jealous.”
“Oh, I never meant to –”
“No, you did not,” Leticia said more forcefully.
“Has anyone caught your eye?” Polly interjected. “All of the most eligible bachelors are here tonight.”
“Are they?” Edwina asked.
“Polly is only asking because she has her heart set on a certain soon-to-be Duke of Darby,” Leticia sighed. “Even though it would be impossible. He is far too distracted by ample bosoms.”
Edwina gasped at Leticia’s inappropriateness.
“You will have to forgive Lady Leticia,” Miss Beasley said softly, pressing Edwina’s hand quickly. “Ever since she married the Earl of Somersby, she thinks that she can say anything she wants.”
“What is the point of being married if you cannot finally have a little fun?” Leticia laughed smugly. “The rest of you have to be polite and smile and laugh at the men’s bad jokes.”
“I am married, and I do not say such things,” Mrs. Fenton argued, her mouth a thin line.
“True, but you are also not a Countess,” Leticia countered.
“I think you have had too many glasses of punch, Leticia,” Polly warned.
“Hardly! But do you know who has? Mrs. Jones, over there,” Leticia said, pointing boldly across the room. Mrs. Jones appeared to be a plump, older woman, a bonnet tied tightly down over her gray curls. She laughed raucously with an older gentleman who reached over to stroke her face. She only playfully slapped his hand away. “That is not Mr. Jones, but I dare say she will slip up to his room tonight.”
“No, that’s Mr. Pease,” Miss Beasley argued. “He is only flirting with her to get back at Mrs. Simpson, who snubbed him last week.”
“I do not think he will stop at flirting,” Leticia snickered. Edwina sighed quietly, hoping the other girls did not notice her boredom.
“I must be headed home soon,” Mrs. Fenton interjected. “My husband did not want me out too late tonight.”
“Did not want to sleep in a cold bed?” Miss Beasley laughed.
“No, he is worried about that Monster of London that we have been hearing about in the papers,” Mrs. Fenton said drolly.
“Oh, the one that has been attacking women in Kensington?” Polly asked.
“Not just Kensington!” Leticia said, her tone authoritative. “Mayfair, Hyde Park, Paddington. There have been at least seven attacks in the past two years.”
“I hear that it is a gentleman,” Miss Beasley whispered. “The ladies that survived said that it was a man in a nice coat, who smelled of cologne. The attacker was not a common man.” Edwina felt gooseflesh rise up on her arm as the ladies drew closer to whisper.
“Two of the women have died from their injuries,” Leticia continued, shifting her eyes from one girl to another. “All of them went for a walk or a carriage ride at night… alone.”
“Were all the victims women?” Edwina asked, wide-eyed.
“Who knows? Would a man confess to being attacked in the streets at night?” Leticia asked, raising an eyebrow. “If it is the same monster attacking all these people, what would stop him from attacking anyone else?”
“Are you worried?” Miss Beasley asked, looking at Edwina with concern.
“No unmarried woman should be out alone at night,” Leticia said with a luring tone. “Have you been out alone at night, Miss Haverton?”
“No!” she quickly protested. “No, but my father takes walks at night alone.”
“Oh, yes, your father,” she laughed, stepping back from their intimate little circle. Edwina tried to rub her arms to get herself rid of her gooseflesh as she turned to see where Leticia was looking. Her father seemed engrossed in a conversation with two other gentlemen, who nodded politely and smiled tightly at her father’s animated gestures.
